Litecoin news

Litecoin reorganized its blockchain over the weekend after a zero-day bug in its MimbleWimble Extension Block (MWEB) privacy layer allowed an attacker to transfer coins to a decentralized exchange. The 13-block reorg rewrote about 30 minutes of transaction history, reversing the invalid transactions. The attacker also disrupted mining pools via a denial-of-service attack. Litecoin later apologized for flippant social media posts about the incident, including a since-deleted post that compared the reorg to flushing faulty transactions. Security experts criticized the tone, urging projects to take user funds at risk more seriously. Aurora Labs CEO Alex Shevchenko estimated that NEAR Intents faced $600,000 in potential exposure and questioned if the bug was truly a zero-day, as some miners had already patched their software.

Valid transactions that occurred during the affected blocks were not impacted and remain on the main chain, the Litecoin development team said.

Litecoin's emergency 13-block reorganization to reverse a zero-day attack has sparked debate over transaction finality and network security. The incident highlights that blockchain immutability is conditional, not absolute, as a coordinated attack exploiting unpatched MWEB nodes forced a chain rollback. The attack succeeded because many nodes ran outdated software with improper MWEB validation, creating a two-tier network. Litecoin's smaller hash rate and security budget make it more vulnerable to such exploits, raising concerns that six confirmations may not suffice if a buggy client can trigger a 13-block reorg. Developers have fixed the issue, but the event underscores the dependence on coordinated node updates. While casual transactions remain safe, the incident questions the finality needed for long-term wealth storage on Litecoin.

Litecoin experienced a 13-block chain reorganization late Friday and Saturday, rewinding about 32 minutes of network activity after attackers exploited a vulnerability in its Mimblewimble Extension Block (MWEB) protocol. The bug enabled a denial-of-service attack against major mining pools, allowing invalid MWEB transactions to slip through nodes that had not updated before the network's longest valid chain corrected them. The Litecoin Foundation said the bug was fully patched and the network is operating normally. However, security researchers pointed to the Litecoin GitHub commit log, which shows the consensus vulnerability was privately patched between March 19 and March 26, about four weeks before the attack. A separate DoS vulnerability was patched on April 25, after the attack began. Researchers argue this timeline contradicts the Foundation's claim that it was a zero-day exploit, suggesting the vulnerability was known but not broadcast to mining pools, leaving some nodes vulnerable. The attack pre-funded a wallet via Binance 38 hours before the exploit, with the address configured to swap LTC for ETH. The DoS attack took patched nodes offline, allowing unpatched nodes to process invalid transactions. The network's automatic reorganization once the DoS stopped indicates sufficient hashrate was running updated code, but only after a 32-minute window. The amount of LTC pegged out and the value of any swaps reversed have not been disclosed.

Litecoin suffered a deep chain reorganization on Saturday due to a zero-day exploit in its MimbleWimble Extension Block (MWEB) privacy layer, the Litecoin Foundation stated. Attackers exploited a bug that allowed mining nodes running older software to validate an invalid MWEB transaction, enabling them to move coins out of the privacy extension and to third-party decentralized exchanges. The reorg lasted over three hours, during which double-spend attacks occurred against cross-chain swapping protocols. The Foundation confirmed that the vulnerability has been patched and that offending transactions were erased, while valid transactions remain unaffected. Some trading venues reported losses, with Aurora Labs CEO Alex Shevchenko noting approximately $600,000 in exposure for NEAR Intents. This is the first known attack targeting MWEB since its activation in May 2022. LTC traded near $56.00, down about 1% on the day, with no immediate market reaction.

Coinbase has expanded its onchain loan product offered via Morpho to include XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA) and Litecoin (LTC) as collateral, allowing eligible U.S. customers—excluding those in New York—to borrow up to $100,000 in USDC without selling their holdings. The existing service already supports Bitcoin and Ethereum, with loan limits of $5 million and $1 million, respectively. Loans have no fixed repayment schedule, variable interest rates set by Morpho’s supply‑and‑demand dynamics, and LTV thresholds of 75% (BTC/ETH) and 49% (XRP/DOGE/ADA/LTC). Borrowers incur a one‑time fee per borrowing event. The platform is currently limited to verified U.S. users, with broader international access planned.

Litecoin (LTC) has fallen almost 60% from its last‑year peak and returned to multi‑cycle lows, yet remains one of the more liquid altcoins. Signals of continued demand appear: Japan’s SBI VC Trade has added LTC to its crypto‑lending program, and CoinGate reports LTC accounts for 17.7% of all payment transactions, up from 16.4% a year earlier. On‑chain indicators further hint at resilience. MWEB, Litecoin’s optional privacy layer, recorded a record peg‑in of over 400,000 LTC, showing growing interest in private transactions. Moreover, the average on‑chain transaction value has risen while the market price has dropped, suggesting potential accumulation by investors. Despite these supportive signs, LTC is trading near $60—about 85% below its all‑time high and 60% below last year’s top—so any recovery will likely be gradual.

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that a victim lost over $282 million in Bitcoin and Litecoin on January 10 due to a hardware wallet social engineering scam. The attacker drained approximately 1,459 BTC and 2.05 million LTC from the compromised wallet. The stolen funds were quickly converted into Monero via instant exchanges, causing its price to surge to a new all-time high near $800, a 74% increase. Monero has since pulled back to around $670, still up about 46%. Some stolen Bitcoin was also bridged through THORChain into Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin.

Litecoin remains 46% below its 2025 peak, but recent whale activity suggests a potential reversal. Whale‑to‑retail delta turned positive in Q4 2024, indicating institutional buying while retail traders withdrew, and Santiment reports a five‑week high in whale transactions. Open interest in derivatives has spiked, hinting at renewed retail exposure. While a rebound would be gradual, sustained whale accumulation and rising on‑chain activity increase the odds of a turnaround.

Retail traders have largely ignored Litecoin, but institutional investors are quietly piling onto the “legacy” altcoin. By the end of 2025, Treasury and ETF holdings totaled nearly 3.7 million LTC, worth more than $296 million, up about one million from August, according to the Litecoin Foundation. The accumulation coincides with a 100 % uptime record and positive sentiment from Binance's top traders, who increased long positions in early December. Analysts now see a possible break above $100, echoing past recoveries of other fundamentals‑heavy altcoins.