Litecoin is up over 25% in a week and has reclaimed an $8 billion valuation, but founder Charlie Lee isn’t getting tempted by the current FOMO feeling to buy back in after he sold off his coins before LTC hit $300 in December 2017.

When asked on Twitter whether he was “holding LTC anymore” or if he had now “bought back in due to the conflict of interest”, Lee reiterated that he “didn’t buy back” and that doing so would defeat the whole purpose of selling in the first place.

The warning will be exactly the same, so don’t plan to issue another warning. And no, I didn’t buy back. That would defeat the whole purpose of selling in the first place. Cheers. — Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) June 10, 2019

He did however admit to holding a “small amount” of LTC that he uses “almost daily” and refills when it runs out, presumably for testing purposes for the various privacy and interoperability features he and the Litecoin developer team are working on.

Litecoin will still be profitable to mine after the halvening

Yesterday, Coin Rivet covered the story of how Litecoin’s mining hash rate and difficulty have recently hit new all-time highs just 55 days away from the next halvening. The figures in that article were based on a $0.1 kWh electricity cost – but Lee thinks many LTC miners “are paying only 5¢ and therefore should keep mining LTC post-halving”.

Litecoin block halving is in 56 days! https://t.co/EBWbsIUp47 Here are some stats on mining profitability. After halving, miners are still profitable with electricity under 10¢. Many are paying only 5¢ and therefore should keep mining LTC post-halving. (https://t.co/AcQPEjdNtb) pic.twitter.com/VtA9aAv7FS — Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) June 10, 2019

Based on this new figure, the current hash rate should relate to an hourly mining cost of closer to $30,000 to find the current 600 LTC an hour, which would be valued around $77,000 at Litecoin’s current exchange-traded price.

Lee also revealed that the “break-even electricity cost” between the popular Innosilicon A6+ and Antminer L5 Scrypt miners are both comparable at just over $0.1 per kWh.

You will need 5 cents or lower electricity costs. This of course assumes price and difficulty stays the same. pic.twitter.com/0vdozR2OLj — Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) June 10, 2019

However, when asked about the older generation L3+ miners with much smaller capacity, the ex-Coinbase employee said that the break-even electricity costs are nearly cut in half to $0.055 kWh.

As mining profitability continues to rocket and fundamental and scarcity factors come into play, it looks like the bullish momentum is set to continue for a project that many consider qualifies as a truly decentralised asset.

In comparison to Bitcoin, the Litecoin founder is “not an anonymous pseudonym” or potentially holding a stash of personal coins. Lee has claimed to be free from any conflict of interest arising from a financial stake in the project. Time will tell if the reputational stake he holds is enough to lead the fourth-largest cryptocurrency to success (or the moon).

Check out Coin Rivet’s latest technical analysis for Litecoin here.