How Dogecoin edged out Litecoin despite latter’s 2-year head start

• The percentage of DOGE’s long-term holdings was more than LTC.
• Social dominance and active addresses on both networks fell.

Dogecoin [DOGE] has managed to outnumber Litecoin [LTC] in terms of long-term holdings, IntoThe Block data showed. While both cryptocurrencies have garnered their share of attention and communities, recent data showed that DOGE’s supply, which was removed unmoved for five years, sat at 17%.

Realistic or not, here’s DOGE’s market cap in LTC’s terms

Unsurprisingly, Bitcoin [BTC] led the cohort, boasting of a 29% holding rate. But the bewildering part was how Litecoin could only account for 17% of long-term holding out of its entire supply.

Older doesn’t mean stronger

One reason why this data is astonishing is Litecoin’s “age difference” to Dogecoin. While Litecoin launched as a lighter version of Bitcoin in October 2011, the memecoin was created in December 2013.

Despite the two-year difference in existence, the data suggested that more investors have a solid conviction in DOGE’s long-term price action than LTC. 

Nonetheless, the 2021 bull market could have also played a part in the flip. Recall that it was during this period that DOGE gained enormous attention from the crypto community. 

Also, its price performance at that time was able to increase its adoption as many crypto newbies and experienced traders joined the DOGE bandwagon.

However, Litecoin and Dogecoin had some similarities. One notable mention is the 30-day active addresses. According to Santiment, Dogecoin’s active addresses in the last 30 days have fallen to 392,000.

Active addresses show the number of addresses used by individuals, exchanges, and miners on a network. Like Dogecoin, Litecoin’s active addresses also dropped to six million. 

Source: Santiment

The wide margin of this metric could be linked to the fact that Litecoin enjoyed more years of adoption before Dogecoin’s got its hype. 

DOGE leads in price but…

Price-wise, DOGE has incredibly outperformed LTC. According to CoinMarketCap, DOGE’s all-time performance is capped at 22,394%. LTC was much lower with a 1,926% hike since its introduction into the market.

However, Litecoin has the chance to improve this performance considering that its next halving is close. Historically, LTC’s value has increased exponentially after each halving. Therefore, there could be an opportunity to replicate it, this time around. 

As for social dominance, Litecoin has failed to grab a substantial share of discussions in the market. At press time, LTC’s social dominance was 44. 

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This drawdown means the coin was not getting enough hype. If this trend continues, then it could be challenging to see an LTC uptick in the short term.

Source: Santiment

DOGE, on the other hand, was worse off. With a social dominance value of 13, the memecoin’s social data was not encouraging compared to other assets.