Litecoin Founder Cashes Out, Sells Entire Stake After 9,300% Rally
Content adapted from this Zerohedge.com article : Source
Charlie Lee, the creator of the world's fifth-biggest cryptocurrency, Litecoin, announced shortly after midnight that he was cashing in his profits after a torrid, 9,300% rally in the past 12 months. In a post on reddit, the San Francisco-based software engineer who founded litecoin in 2013, said that he sold and donated all of his holdings over the past few days.
"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" Lee said in the post.
Lee explained that his liquidation was aimed at preventing a "conflict of interest" when the creator of what is known as "Bitcoin Silver" makes comments on twitter about the digital currency - something he tends to do with chronic zeal - that could influence its price, he said. That said, Lee declined to comment in the post on how many coins he sold or at what price, and asked readers to please "don't ask me how many coins I sold or at what price. I can tell you that the amount of coins was a small percentage of GDAX's daily volume and it did not crash the market."
Litecoin, which was trading at $3.67 on December 20, 2016, and $4.40 at the start of the year, has climbed 9,300% in the past 12 month. It tumbled on Wednesday, following most digital currencies lower after a flash crash in bitcoin after Coinbase announced it would finally transact in Bitcoin Cash which led to a brief avalanche of selling as traders repositioned.
However, Lee insisted in his post that his sale wasn't a sign that he has lost faith in the cryptocurrency: "I will still spend all my time working on litecoin," he said. "When litecoin succeeds, I will still be rewarded in lots of different ways, just not directly via ownership of coins."
How does it feel to take profits on a high from the crypto boom that has been described as the biggest financial bubble of all time? "Weird" but also "somehow refreshing," Lee wrote.
His full post below:
Litecoin price, tweets, and conflict of interest self
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 bads news, I get accused of doing it for personal benefit. Some people even think I short LTC! So in a sense, it is conflict of interest for me to hold LTC and tweet about it because I have so much influence. I have always refrained from buying/selling LTC before or after my major tweets, but this is something only I know. And 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.
For this reason, in the past days, I have sold and donated all my LTC. 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. (I do have a few of those as collectibles.) 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.
Please don't ask me how many coins I sold or at what price. I can tell you that the amount of coins was a small percentage of GDAX's daily volume and it did not crash the market.
UPDATE: I wrote the above before the recent Bcash on GDAX/Coinbase fiasco. As you can see, some people even think I'm pumping Bcash for my personal benefit. It seems like I just can't win.
On Wednesday morning, Lee was busy on twitter where he had dozens of posts defending his sale:
This is not business for me. It's my life. I'm dedicated to Litecoin.
— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) December 20, 2017
He also responded to a question by Mike Novogratz whether "@SatoshiLite selling all his $ltc is bullish or bearish? If @VitalikButerin or @ethereumJoseph sold all of their $eth I'd be worried."
I think it's extremely bullish! ????
— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) December 20, 2017
In a sense he is right, as there is no more whale overhang that can be sold at a moment's notice.
He left off with a challenge to Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, to do the same:
Satoshi Nakamoto, your move. https://t.co/efKxK3coV4
— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) December 20, 2017
So he cached out ? Really?
What is he going to do with all that money?
Buy more STEEM?
I am so confused as to why he would sell out - LTC is only going to go higher, everything is. If he was selling to donate the money then only sell some, donate the proceeds from those and hold on to the rest and sell at a better price, more to donate.
He made a ton of money since his coins cost him nothing as the creator so it's all profit, it does not make logical sense to sell something that is increasing in value all the time
What amazes me is that the market doesn't care ! LTC markets did not react in any way. If there is insider selling in a normal stock, the stock would plunge greatly ! He says that he has liquidated every LTC in his portfolio and nothing. That is crazy.
That's crazy. Lee is the reason I never bought Litecoin. I can't stand the guy.
Wow. You cant stand the guy so you didnt buy a coin that ended up over 9300% on the year?
You think letting personal feelings getting in the way of the course of your investing is a good idea, especially when said guy is one of the brightest people in the blockchain/crypto realm.
As Litecoin is technically Bitcoin: Will it under heavy load not also be WAITCOIN as Bitcoin is? Maybe he knows this well. And is modest and cashes out early.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion. There are plenty of projects, so if you don't like the project leader, you should not invest. You are right in general that emotions are bad for decision-making.
I am not after coins that pump and don't hold gains or that will not be around in a few years. Its just never been clear what advantage LTC has. I have nothing against Litecoin. In fact, transactions have really been picking up in LTC. % gains are still better in ETH up over 10,000% but yes LTC has done well in price terms but I am looking longer into the future with Blockchain 3.0 taking over.
You trusted your gut feeling. I think this can be very useful, if you have developed something like a 6th sense.
Blockchain isnt a stock which is the mistake people try to make.
There is no reason for crypto to behave like any other asset....it is a technology and nothing changed since Lee sold.
It isnt as if there is insider trading and Lee knows they are going to have a bad quarter.
Something changed in my opinion: Bitcoin now clearly shows that it's broken:
https://blockchain.info/unconfirmed-transactions
https://charts.bitcointicker.co/#mempoolsize
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=bitcoin%20unconfirmed
I am not blessed with your knowledge, but when the creator of something sells everything after a sharp rally - I would think that maybe at this point in time - things may be a bit over-valued. Not saying that there is no room to grow ! Just my two cents.
That is a very surprising move. I understand his reasoning although I cannot say I feel 100% comfortable with LTC position. Charlie Lee is one of the foremost experts in this field in my opinion. For this reason I never bet against him.
He also seems like a class act. I don't think his selling is a sign of what is to come in terms of price. That said, can we ever know. Perhaps he is bailing at the top.
On one hand I do want a guy as powerful as that aligned with my desires, ie appreciation of the token. Of course, the whale point is well served. We see so many of these tokens (STEEM included) abused simply because one has an enormous stake in it.
Hopefully Lee is an honorable as he appears and will keep working diligently on litecoin and giving 1000% to making it a huge success.
I find Lee's decisions to be quite good.
Litecoin has all that bitcoin has but faster. I can't understand why someone would bother to try to fill the cash niche with BCH having LTC available.
For hypothesis motives I preferred litecoin whilst it was 4$ by no means pulled the trigger on getting a few ... this is truly insanity with those cryptos, you could now short bitcoin at the futures marketplace however with blockchain technology it will likely be difficult to govern like the commodity markets
He doesnt sell all his shares, he is being investigated as insider trading.
Here is the post: https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/943562803683647488
Thanks for sharing
How is he being investigated as insider trading...this isnt a stock.
The regulation of tokens, as it stands now, is against fraud...there is no insider trading.
There is no big regulation in terms of tokens but inside trading is considered fraud so is a law penalty and is his words not mine.
thanks 4 sharing to it steemit user
this is very good
He has won so much that he has sold
He must have become a millionaire
Thank you for sharing this new information
I have been brilliant and will remain so
More like a billionaire. He pumped LTC on twitter all the last few months post after post only to bail at the top.
Bails at the top?
A) You know this how
B) It is crazy to think any token with any legitimacy is anywhere near the top....this circus and Wall Street is just getting started.
This is really an amazing thing, peace
Charlie Lee seems like a great guy.... Almost too nice.