Litecoin

Move your money quickly and cheaper across the world.

History

The Litecoin (LTC) was first published/released on GitHub. That happened on October 7, 2011 by Charlie Lee, a Google employee and former Engineering Director at Coinbase. The network went live on October 13, 2011. One of the biggest jumps in price Litecoin experienced during the month of November 2013, when the price jumped by 100% within 24 hours.

Ranking

The price of Litecoin in these days fluctuates around $147. With $10,2 billion market cap it stands at 18. place in ranking worldwide. The total supply of tokens is 84 million and from this amount almost 70 million is circulating.

Technology

Same as most other cryptocurrencies the Litecoin network is decentralized, it is not issued by any government and it works as a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. It is considered to be one of the first altcoins which derived from Bitcoin’s original open source code. As I said previously there is fixed total supply of Litecoin, 84 million. The network generates new block every 2.5 minutes which is then verified by mining software and made visible to any system participant.

Like other currencies which use proof-of-work consensus, you can mine Litecoin. But the LTC has one advantage in this area against other cryptocurrencies. For mining, you need huge processing power and CPU in normal computers is not fast enough for that. So, in case of Litecoin the developers thought about that and made the system in a way it can be mined on a personal computer. But still remember, the better machine for mining, the bigger the chance the miner will earn profit.

Halving

Same as Bitcoin, the LTC network has scheduled dates for halving of the token. There are three dates and two of them are already behind us. So, the last halving is expected to be on August 23, 2021 and the rewards from mining will change from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 LTC.

Halving = cutting rewards for mining said cryptocurrency in half. It helps with inflation of the cryptocurrency, because it makes it more scarce.

Comparison against BTC

Because the LTC was one of the first altcoins that came out of BTC’s open source code, we would like to also compare it before writing down it’s advantages and disadvantages.

Confirmation/Transaction time. Bitcoins confirmation time for one block is slightly under 9 minutes. In case of Litecoin it is 2.5 minutes. And because of that the network can handle more transactions over time.

Sort of testnet for BTC. Because it copied some of its code and it came out in 2011, sometimes the network is used as a testing ground for new developments in BTC to see if it works or not.

Other distinctions involve the use of different hashing algorithm as well as very low transactions fees compared to BTC. This makes LTC suitable even for micro-transactions and regular day-to-day payments, which makes it a very attractive Bitcoin alternative in developing countries, for example.

Advantages

Speed. Because of its quick network it is faster and cheaper to send value across the world. Active for long time. The LTC is here since 2011, so it is kind of mainstream and its name has some recognition name. Open source platform. Thanks to its platform which is based on some BTC elements it can be easily upgraded and it is open to updates through DeFi protocols and applications. Little vulnerability. The small amount of time which is needed for verification makes it it difficult for hackers and also LTC is running on SCRYPT algorithm. Cost-effectiveness. The already mentioned almost negligible transactions fees, along with faster processing times, make LTC very popular across the globe making it one of the most accepted cryptocurrencies.

Disadvantages

Huge competition. The LTC faces wide competition from other altcoins. The reason is that Litecoin’s fundamental goal is to send money through the internet, which is the exact same aim of most other altcoins. Questionable leadership. In 2017 creator of LTC Charlie Lee sold his tokens. At the time, it raised some questions about project’s legitimacy. Which is understandable. If the original creator lets his tokens go, is it good investment??

Key Takeaways

• Litecoin is one of the earliest altcoins and it was developed by former Google engineer Charlie Lee in 2011.
• Because it has similar construction as Bitcoin, it has been often used as a testnet or testing ground for improvements and upgrades that were later added to Bitcoin.
• LTC can be mined on personal computer thank to its developed system.
• Litecoin is a very cost-effective alternative to BTC when it comes to everyday use.

Thank you for reading