Litecoin Core v0.21.4 Launches with Critical Security Upgrades Ahead of Possible LTC ETF Approval

• Litecoin Core v0.21.4 has launched with critical security updates to strengthen network stability.

• Canary Capitals Litecoin ETF application with the SEC could bring more institutional access to Litecoin.

The Litecoin development team has announced the release of Litecoin Core version 0.21.4, which introduces vital security updates alongside functional improvements. This release fixes several issues that may lead to the instability of the network which consequently enhance the security of Litecoin network.

Among the vulnerabilities fixed is CVE-2024-35202, which permits remote attackers to perform a DoS attack. This could happen by putting uncommitted transactions into the blocktxn message, which leads to assertion errors and node exit. The patch solves this problem by verifying that all the transactions in the message correspond to the Merkle root of the block, hence improving transaction validity.

Smoother Block Propagation Cuts Down on Lag

Also, the update addresses a problem where a peer could delay the dissemination of blocks by sending altered blocks. Such blocks could wipe off the download state of other peers and in turn, hamper the propagation procedure in the network. This improvement, backported from Bitcoin Core (dbfc748), reduces block propagation latency to enhance the network throughput.

This version 0.21.4, also fixes a vulnerability in the miniupnp dependency where a local attacker can cause an infinite loop and lead to out-of-memory (oom) errors. This issue addressed in the release minimizes the occurrence of network disruptions due to memory depletion.

In addition, Litecoin Core v0.21.4 has been updated to have the options -peerblockfilters and -blockfilterindex to default to “off” when pruning is on. This change as well as other test-related improvements improve compatibility and reliability especially for pruned nodes.

This release of Litecoin Core v0.21.4 was made in collaboration with several authors and contributors, including the Bitcoin Core developers David Burkett, Hector Chu, and Loshan. Additionally, users are provided with an option to download the new version of Litecoin, and users are encouraged to report any bug via the issue tracker on the Litecoin GitHub page.

Will the SEC approve the Litecoins ETF Application？

This security-focused release comes as Litecoins prospects for institutional adoption increase. Canary Capital recently filed the first application for a Litecoin-based ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow institutional investors to access Litecoin.

The S-1 filing made public on Oct. 15 is a crucial first move, but the firm must also submit a 19b-4 form to get the exchanges approval. The proposed ETF will hold Litecoin and calculate its net asset value daily. The approval of a spot LTC ETF would open the door for the approval of other cryptocurrency ETFs, with XRP being another candidate once the lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC is resolved.

While these changes are occurring, long-term investors still show interest in Litecoin. As previously reported by Crypto News Flash, Litecoin recently overtook Ethereum in the longest average holding period, which shows that the currency continues to attract the attention of HODLers. Currently, LTC is trading at $73.16, up 3.47% in the past day and 4.28% over the past week. It is worth noting that the coin has declined 42% from its all-time high of $412 registered three years ago.