Litecoin Price Prediction: Google Banning Crypto Ads, Bottom Falls Out of Prices
Daily Litecoin News Update
Cryptocurrency prices are crashing on Wednesday. Again. Usually, it’s difficult to put your finger on the exact cause. Sometimes there are none. That’s when prices move on the wishes and whims of speculators. But on Wednesday morning, we may have a culprit to blame.
In a little over two months from now, the world’s largest search engine will limit cryptocurrency exposure to its users. Naturally, the crypto market is flipping out.
In case you didn’t hear, Google is banning cryptocurrency ads on its search engine, beginning in June this year. All cryptocurrency-related content will be aggressively vetted. Moreover, ads related to initial coin offerings (ICOs), and crypto products and services like mobile and hardware wallets, payment applications etc., will be banned.
Google justifies the move, saying it’s for the sake of consumer protection. It makes sense. Far too many crypto-related phishing scams and hacks have been reported in recent days. Third-party ads on Google are the cheapest, yet most effective means for targeting gullible consumers. So this may be a double-edged sword. It’s both good and bad at the same time.
But the $9.0-billion question is, does it affect Litecoin prices? Not directly.
You see, cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and Bitcoin do not rely on formal advertising to attract investors. Their promotions run through word-of-mouth.
The cryptos to be most affected in Google’s crackdown are mostly ICOs or ones that run initial coin offerings, like Ethereum.
Pure digital currencies like Litecoin and Bitcoin, which have nothing to do with ICOs, will have little to worry about.
However, since Google’s ad ban will also affect crypto products like wallets and crypto applications, this is where new crypto users may find some barriers to information. But our guess is that Google’s strict oversight will ensure that investors are redirected to the most reliable sources.
Nonetheless, the news is adversely affecting investor sentiment. The Litecoin price is down about 4.97% in the past 24 hours. By the time of writing, the average LTC to USD rate slipped to $166.57.
Chart courtesy of TradingView.com
The average 24 hourly volume, however, gives us some solace. It’s hovering over $400.0 million, which is the lower end of the average for the past couple of months.
It goes to show that not many investors have taken the bait thrown in by the bears. So we expect the Litecoin price to find a bottom at or around $165.00.
Analyst Take
Google’s decision to ban cryptocurrency ads doesn’t affect Litecoin directly. It does, however, affect the crypto market at large, which is why we may see a ripple effect on Litecoin prices. This should, however, only last in the short run. In the long run, we expect prices to regain momentum.
Therefore, we stay optimistic in our Litecoin price prediction for 2018, maintaining our $400.00 LTC price target.
