Why Does Litecoin Follow Bitcoin Closely?

Litecoin founder Charlie Lee often refers to the cryptocurrency as the “silver to Bitcoin’s gold”. Apart from sharing the same codebase, both cryptocurrencies also exhibit mostly similar price movements in cryptocurrency markets, rising and falling in tandem. 

They also complement each other. Bitcoin’s original mandate was to become a medium for daily transaction. But scaling problems have prevented it from fulfilling that role. Meanwhile, Litecoin has picked up the mantle and incorporated scaling technologies into its ecosystem to enable digital payments on its platform. In 2017, Litecoin had, what some analysts called, a phenomenal year.

The resemblance between the two cryptocurrencies might seem baffling to observers, especially since the cryptocurrency ecosystem is premised on a diversity in applications. But it came about largely due to a conscious decision by Lee to have Litecoin follow bitcoin. In a recent interview, he explained the rationale for his…