Key Insights:
- Litecoin price is up 7% to $56-$58 but down 55% yearly, as whales bought Feb. 8 before the rally.
- T. Rowe Price filed a crypto ETF including Litecoin on Feb. 17, with an SEC decision expected Feb 26.
- Active addresses grew 6.5% to 342,000, while the spot-driven rally avoided excess leverage risks.
Litecoin price jumped 7% in the past 24 hours. The token is trading around $56 to $58. That sounds positive, but year over year, Litecoin is still down 55%. The broader trend remains negative.
What makes this rally interesting is the timing. Whales started buying on Feb. 8, three weeks before the move started. Then, T. Rowe Price filed a crypto ETF including Litecoin on Feb. 17. The SEC decision is expected today, Feb. 26.
Did whales know something early? Or, did they just read technical signals correctly?
Whales Started Buying on Feb. 8, before T. Rowe Price Filing
Large wallet holders began accumulating Litecoin crypto on Feb. 8, 2026. These are addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million LTC. Their collective holdings increased from 6.13 million tokens to 7.15 million tokens. That’s an addition of 1.02 million LTC.
The timing is notable. Feb. 8 was nine days before T. Rowe Price filed the ETF paperwork. The filing happened on Feb. 17. It listed Litecoin among approximately 15 eligible digital assets.
The fund includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Avalanche, and others. T. Rowe Price manages $1.8 trillion in assets. Their involvement adds institutional credibility.
Whales possibly anticipated this news. Or they saw technical setups suggesting a move was coming. Either way, they positioned themselves before the public knew about the ETF filing. That gave them an edge. From their Feb. 8 entry, around $50 to $51, Litecoin rallied to current levels near $57. That’s roughly 12% to 14% profit in less than three weeks.
Active Addresses Growing as Litecoin Price Stays Spot-Driven
Network activity shows healthy growth. Active addresses on Litecoin jumped approximately 6.5% in just three days. This indicates organic participation. Users are transacting. The network is active. It’s not just whales moving tokens around or leverage traders gambling in futures markets.
Open interest in Litecoin futures stayed relatively cool. Despite the price rally, open interest hasn’t reached the elevated levels seen in early February. That suggests the move is spot-driven. Real buyers purchasing actual tokens rather than traders opening leveraged long positions.
Leverage-driven rallies tend to reverse sharply. When funding rates spike and open interest climbs too high, liquidations happen fast. Litecoin’s rally avoided that pattern. The funding environment remained calm. Spot demand drove the price higher. That creates a healthier foundation for sustained moves if more buyers enter.
SEC Decision Today and LitVM Launch Create Dual Catalysts
The SEC decision deadline for the T. Rowe Price crypto ETF is Feb. 26, 2026. Today. Approval would open the door for institutional inflows. Traditional finance investors could gain exposure to Litecoin through a regulated fund. That typically drives demand higher.
But there’s another catalyst. LitVM announced on Feb. 25 a Layer-2 solution adding smart contract capabilities to Litecoin. The announcement positioned it as more than just payments. DeFi yield markets, real-world assets, and AI ecosystems. All are built on the Litecoin infrastructure.
Technical analysis supports the bullish case. Bullish divergence formed between Jan. 31 and Feb. 24. LTC price made a lower low, testing support. RSI made a higher low during the same period. That signals weakening selling pressure. Reversals often start with this pattern.
Critical resistance sits at $58.98. Litecoin price needs to break above that level to confirm a bullish structure, just 4% away from current prices. Breaking through opens targets at $70. But if support at $49 fails, weakness returns. The rally could reverse back to $45 or lower.
Whales who bought on Feb. 8 are already profitable. Whether they hold for more upside or exit depends on what the SEC decides today.