Does litecoin have instantsend transactions? No
Does litecoin have private mixing builtin? No
Does litecoin have protection of chainlocks against 51% mining attack? No
Does litecoin have a treasury to fund development work and marketing and give grants to 3rd parties who may benefit its network? No
Does litecoin have much in the way of active development? No (as far as I know)
Does litecoin have a platform for dapps? No
Does litecoin have an investment foundation so that the network can actually own gold and other assets? No
Is litecoin an innovator in the crypto space? No
Dash has all this. Dash should be killing it. But wait theres a little bit more.
Are both coins proof of work? Is Dash?
Does litecoin split rewards so miners get less than half the supply of new coins and more than that is airdropped to set of wealthy owners?
This is a false dichotomy. You wilfully neglect the important differences and mark down only the inconsequential differences.
Does litecoin have its own investment in Silbert's DCG? Yes.
https://twitter.com/Grayscale/status/1329903523702648832Is the inflation rate (S2F) in LTC lower than DASH? Yes.
https://www.litecoinblockhalf.com/Does Litecoin have better brand recognition in the sector than DASH. Yes.
Does litecoin have derivatives, eg on BitMex etc. Yes.
These four key differences ensure that Litecoin gets investment capital while DASH is left out in the cold. I would say the primary one is being part of DCG's investment. I note also that ETC, a coin that is 51% attacked frequently and offers zero value otherwise is also part of the trust and performs well in the market. Do not underestimate the power of DCG's blessing has, they own over 2% of all the Bitcoin supply in the GBTC trust. DASH should be so lucky. Our flows of institutional money are severely restricted by not being part of the 'in' crowd.