For many it might seem curious to see Bitcoin Cash ($BCH ) sustain momentum while the market as a whole is still in shock during the last quarter of 2025. For a somewhat mature issue, the divergence from the trend followed by the rest must have a catalyst.
As of January 10, 2026, BCH is currently outperforming Litecoin ($LTC ) in the spot market due to a combination of major upcoming protocol upgrades, a strategic pivot toward smart contract utility, and a significant shift in institutional treasury strategies.
While Litecoin remains a high-volume payment network, its price reflects the prevailing depressed market sentiment compared to BCH independent trend.
Technical Market Structure
Before going into the fundamentals, let's check the price action.
From a purely technical perspective, the two coins are in very different phases:
BCH is currently battling a critical multi-year resistance zone between $630 and $666. A decisive break above this is expected to trigger algorithmic "buy" signals. Although, pricewise traders had their chance in June-December when the market dipped more than twice.
LTC is trading in a bearish daily pattern, hovering around $81. Despite hitting an ATH in network hashrate (3.34 PH/s), the price has not followed suit, leading to a "utility-valuation gap" that keeps spot buyers cautious. Of course, the value of cryptos do not reflect the value of its network's fundamentals objectively.
After the 2025 Bitcoin rally, capital is rotating into assets with "lagging" gains but strong technical foundations. BCH’s shift into the smart contract space gives it a high-growth "tech" narrative that Litecoin currently lacks in the eyes of spot traders.
FACTORS DRIVING THE PRICE
Now the summary:
Layla Upgrade
BCH's recent surge results from the anticipation of the "Layla" upgrade scheduled for May 2026, as it is expected to introduce radical changes which would make the network more competitive:
CashVM Implementation: The upgrade introduces Ethereum-like smart contract functionality directly on the BCH chain. Investors are pricing in the potential for BCH to become a high-speed, low-fee Layer-1 competitor.
Quantum Resistance: It will introduce quantum-resistant cryptography, positioning BCH as one of the most future-proof "hard money" assets.
DeFi Pivot: By enabling advanced programmability at sub-penny fees, BCH is attracting developers who are looking for alternatives to expensive EVM chains.
Institutional Treasury Adoption
A unique factor in early 2026 is the emergence of BCH as a corporate treasury asset.
For instance, a company named Moss Genomics announced a full strategic pivot to a "Bitcoin Cash-focused model," including mining and using BCH for its corporate treasury.
The adoption of the network in business settings creates consistent spot demand increasing liquidity.
AS COMPARED TO LTC
Litecoin narrative as "digital silver" is facing headwinds:
Litecoin’s Stagnation is not particular to it. LTC price is depressed as much other major tokens are. ETH, BNB, SOL are at least 30-45% from the highs reached in mid 2025.
In the case of LTC, bearishness persists in spite it recently launched its LitVM testnet (Jan 9, 2026) and has a spot ETF (NASDAQ: LTCC) trading. In fact, LTC is seen as a mature asset with less explosive upside.