Cryptocurrency giant Charlie Lee has sold and donated nearly all his Litecoin (LTC) holdings – the very same alternative currency he founded in 2011, way before cryptocurrency became a hot topic.
San Francisco based software engineer Lee – who has previously worked for Google and Coinbase – revealed this unusual move through a Reddit post, where he declined to remark on how many coins he has sold, or for what price. He has reportedly kept hold of a few physical coins for collectible purposes.
The reasoning behind his decision appears to be his perceived ‘conflict of interest’ due to his position as founder. In the post, he mentions how he is criticised whenever he tweets about Litecoin – with some people questioning his motives for doing so.
Lee has assured people his decision to sell up will not have an impact on its value which he originally concocted as a faster and more affordable alternative to the king of cryptocurrency – Bitcoin.
In the post, Lee explained:
Over the past year, I try to stay away from price related tweets, but it’s hard because price is such an important aspect of Litecoin growth.
And whenever I tweet about Litecoin price or even just good or bad news, I get accused of doing it for personal benefit. Some people even think I short LTC!
He added:
There will always be a doubt on whether any of my actions were to further my own personal wealth above the success of Litecoin and crypto-currency in general.
Lee confessed:
Litecoin has been very good for me financially, so I am well off enough that I no longer need to tie my financial success to Litecoin’s success. For the first time in 6+ years, I no longer own a single LTC that’s not stored in a physical Litecoin.
He continued:
This is definitely a weird feeling, but also somehow refreshing. Don’t worry. I’m not quitting Litecoin. I will still spend all my time working on Litecoin.
When Litecoin succeeds, I will still be rewarded in lots of different ways, just not directly via ownership of coins. I now believe this is the best way for me to continue to oversee Litecoin’s growth.
Some people have been angered by Lee’s decision; arguing how he has disappointed the LTC community at a crucial point.
One person tweeted, ‘Could you have picked a worse time? So irresponsible of you. Very disappointed.’
Another said, ‘You should tell us the whole truth about your thoughts, not just half. This seems to be a very obvious sign you are not confident in your own creation.’
Litecoin is currently the seventh largest coin according to market valuation, and is the world’s fifth largest cryptocurrency. Having begun the year at a modest $4, growth has since proved to be exponential.
It is currently trading at approximately $334, reaching an all-time-high yesterday of $375.29. According to OnChainFX, the market capitalisation exceeds $28 billion.
Only yesterday the co-founder of Bitcoin.com revealed he had sold all his bitcoins calling them ‘as good as useless’.
After Lee’s unexpected announcement, what can we expect next from Litecoin?
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.