Litecoin (LTC) investors have finally caught a break this weekend. Their coin continued to recover from what had been one of its lengthiest and most dismal periods of decline, hitting a low of $6.66 one week ago during volatile trade.

Since then, it has recovered by as much as 37%. It reached its highest level this month when it hit $9.14 on BTC-e earlier today. There may be more room on the upside. LTC has been holding near its highs for nearly 12 hours, currently trading at $8.90.

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This weekend marks the most dramatic leg of its 1-week recovery, as it gained 16% in 24 hours. Volume peaked near 60,000 LTC (=$500,000) per hour during the heaviest periods of buying.

The gains are the largest, percentage-wise, since both Litecoin and Bitcoin emerged from multi-month lows in mid-April following the latest round of China worries.

In finally observing major gains for Litecoin, we get to see if its decoupling from Bitcoin prices holds true on the upside as well. With Bitcoin prices barely changed, the trend remains intact.

LTC/BTC is now 0.0143. With Bitcoin prices relatively unchanged vs USD, LTC/BTC has mirrored the price movements of LTC/USD during the rally, also gaining 37% from its lows near 0.0107.

The question is now if the bounce is merely a brief correction as Litecoin inevitably proceeds down an interminable slope of decline, or if it represents the first signs of a major recovery. Fundamentally, there have been no developments worthy of moving the markets during the past week. Pessimists will argue that the cracks in Litecoin’s foundation have already been exposed, and that fundamentally, we have no need for a Litecoin. Upbeat investors will contend that it is still the king of altcoins and plays an important role as “silver to Bitcoin’s gold”. Even if it doesn’t make a complete recovery, it had been way oversold.