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Litecoin trading
Want to take advantage of litecoin volatility? Go long or short on the bitcoin alternative with IG, the world’s No.1 CFD provider.1
Key benefits
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Go short as well as long
Think litecoin's price is headed down? Open a short position
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No exchange account needed
We source prices from multiple exchanges on your behalf
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Improved liquidity
So there’s more chance of executing your full trade at your chosen price
What is litecoin?
Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency, similar in lots of ways to bitcoin. Charlie Lee, the founder of litecoin, even based it off the older currency’s source code – and said he intended litecoin to be ‘silver to bitcoin’s gold’.
However, there are two key differences between litecoin and bitcoin:
- Litecoin is mined faster than bitcoin, which makes transfers quick and cheap
- Litecoin’s supply cap is 84 million coins, four times that of bitcoin
How does litecoin leveraged trading work?
Buying (or ‘going long’ on) litecoin via leveraged trading works in a similar way to buying LTC on an exchange: you open a position that increases in value as litecoin’s price increases (usually against the US dollar). But there are several key differences between the two.
Firstly, when you open a leveraged litecoin trade, you aren’t actually taking ownership of any cryptocurrency. Instead, you’re speculating on the direction in which its price is headed. So you don’t need an exchange account to get started, and you can open short positions as well as long ones.
Secondly, you don’t have to put down the full value of a leveraged litecoin position upfront – just a deposit known as 'margin'. While that makes leveraged trading a powerful tool, it also makes it risky. If your position moves against you, it can even mean that you risk losing more than your original deposit.
Litecoin CFD example
You buy 15 litecoin CFDs when it’s trading at $300. Our buy price is 305 and our sell price is 295.
Buying 15 litecoin CFDs at 305 is the equivalent of buying 15 litecoins for $305 each, giving you a total exposure of 15 x $305 = $4575.
Litecoin’s price rises 40 points to $340, and our price is now 345 to buy and 335 to sell. You close your position by selling 15 CFDs at 335.
335 – 305 = 30, meaning your position has moved 30 points. Your gross profit is 15 x 30, or $450.
If you’d shorted litecoin, you would have lost $750 (40 points plus ten points from the spread).
FAQs
Can I short litecoin with IG?
Yes. When you trade litecoin with IG you are speculating on price movements instead of buying and holding LTC, so you can open short positions as well as long ones.
Where do you get litecoin prices from?
We source our litecoin prices from a combination of the world’s most liquid exchanges, and then offer you the best available price.
Do you offer advanced order types?
Yes. As well as trading litecoin at the current price, you can select your preferred entry level. You can also add stops and limits to your positions to manage your risk or lock in profits.
1 Based on revenue excluding FX (published financial statements, June 2020).
2 Excludes any daily funding charges.
