This has been the discussion for years.
We've all quietly spoke of the Litecoin Breakout.
For the longest time Litecoin has just been a safehaven while other coins would take huge losses and huge gains..
Litecoin would kinda just sit there and have minimal movememnt.
Finaly the big price movement is here. and it's just begun.
LTC is a standalone winner. No need to fork. Segwit activated and lightning network on the horizon.
The movement is likely due to the nearing lightning network activation.
Once active, and assuming LTC is a firstmover here we could see Litecoin move past $100.
I've been one of those patiently waiting, seeing Litecoin as a boring almost-safe haven, while I willingly let a bunch of pump and dump alternatives pass me by. So I'm quite pleased that LTC is finally getting the jump it deserves.
I don't like the "bitcoin-killer" references people love to throw at anything; I'll always need BTC (each good coin has different utility), but I think its first-mover advantage has made it the defacto choice for a lot of transactions that it: is not, was not intended, and never will be particularly suited for, regardless of upcoming improvements and housekeeping. So I'd much rather see Litecoin adopted more widely for micro-transactions now instead, as its transfer rates and fees are so much more suited for that than BTC that LTC's earliest adoption for those purposes could prevent people from being turned-off from actual cryptocurrency use in general, which I'm starting to see.
Litecoin's most recent increase in price creates the visibility that hastens that. So, go Lightning!