Litecoin surges in value as it moves a step closer to mainstream use

A new payment system, Litepay, is being rolled out later this month which will allow businesses to accept Litecoin and customers to spend the currency anywhere debit cards are taken

Litecoin prices surged by more than a third on Wednesday as the fifth largest cryptocurrency took another step closer to mainstream use.

Litepay - a new payment system for Litecoin - will allow businesses to accept Litecoin payments, while it will also offer users the ability to “spend dollars anywhere debit cards are accepted, or withdraw cash from any compatible ATM”.

We started because the people asked @Bitpay to accept LTC. They wouldn’t, so we took the challenge. Infrastructure for LTC February 26 ????#PayWithLitecoin #LitePay
— LitePay, Inc. (@LitePayInc) February 13, 2018

It is due to be rolled out at the end of this month and the price of Litecoin reached an intraday high of US$216 on Wednesday, representing a 35% daily rise.

That move dragged the other cryptocurrencies higher as well, with the number one digital currency, Bitcoin, rising almost 10% to trade above US$9,200.