Litecoin, whatever its merits are, isn't bearing the weight of varying expectations. It's mined, traded on exchanges, a handful of merchants are accepting it and that's it.

There aren't any separate financial instruments in the works, there aren't heavyweight holders from beyond cryptoland that we know about and dark markets don't use it.

It can happily tick away with a harmonious community because it's not on the front line being battered from all directions. If LTC suddenly became the daddy then all of the same arguments, vested interests, political wranglings and nefarious actors would descend upon it.

It's very easy to say things are smooth when everyone's on the same page. If it stopped hiding in BTC's shadow and started leading the way that would grind to a halt.