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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.
FAQs
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.
1 Based on revenue excluding FX (published financial statements, June 2020).
2 Excludes any daily funding charges.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Options are complex financial instruments and your capital is at risk. Losses may be extremely rapid.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.