BTC China, one of the world’s biggest bitcoin trading platforms, has officially launched trading in litecoin, another virtual currency. The move will have a huge impact on the bitcoin market, as it will help litecoin become more mainstream, according to IT168, a Chinese tech site.
Litecoin, called the silver to bitcoin's gold, is one of the world’s largest digital currencies, second only to bitcoin in terms of global market value. According to market observers, there are a number of reasons behind BTC China’s move.
Firstly, BTC China may be responding to calls from users, as many have requested the company to add litecoin trading to enrich its transaction items. Secondly, and more likely, litecoin founder Charlie Lee is BTC China CEO Bobby Lee’s brother. The move may have been planned awhile back, and they might have just been waiting for the most appropriate time to announce the launch amid security concerns.
Earlier this week, bitcoin bank Flexcoin announced it was closing down after it lost bitcoins worth about 3.7 million yuan ($600,000) to a hacker attack. This came after Mt Gox, the world's largest bitcoin exchange, declared bankruptcy after a massive data loss.
No word on whether BTC will handle Dogecoin.
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