Litecoin (LTC) is the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and can be referred to as the little brother of the more popular coin.
Litecoin was created in 2011 by Charlie Lee, who at the time was employed by Google as an engineer working on the search giant’s Chrome OS project.
After coding Litecoin as an experimental side project, Lee left Google to focus his efforts on building Litecoin into a usable digital currency that he felt could become more useful than Bitcoin in some specific scenarios such as everyday purchases and small transactions around the world and online.
What is Litecoin?
Litecoin is an open source software project. It was founded by Charlie Lee in 2011. It is the Peer-To-Peer counterpart to Bitcoin, and is open to all.
Litecoin is not managed by any centralized authority and has a fixed currency supply of 84 million LTC.
This ensures that no more than 84 million LTC can ever be created, so even if the coin were to face a monetary crisis, the coin would retain its value for at least some time.
Litecoin also uses scrypt as its proof-of-work function. Scrypt is used to validate transactions on the blockchain.
The advantage of using this function instead of SHA256 (used in Bitcoin) is that it allows CPUs and GPUs - rather than just ASICs - to compete in mining.
In fact, any consumer with a CPU or GPU can mine litecoins from home without investing in expensive mining equipment! Mining with CPUs/GPUs means that ordinary people have the opportunity to be part of something big - without being locked out due to lack of funds.
When compared to Bitcoin, Litecoin seems to process blocks 4 times faster while having 4x more coins available.
A major difference between BTC and LTC is that BTC uses the SHA-256 algorithm, which relies heavily on computing power.
However, LTC’s scrypt algorithm only requires minimal computational power, making it easier for anyone with a computer capable of running Adobe Flash to participate in mining. As long as you have access to the internet, you're able to mine Litecoin.
You don't need expensive mining equipment or powerful computers. For example, my laptop is able to calculate about 1 hash every 5 minutes.
This increased accessibility allows LTC to appeal more readily to less technically proficient users who may otherwise find themselves excluded from cryptocurrency activities because of their inability purchase specialty hardware like ASICs or GPUs.
Furthermore, while both are decentralized currencies, Litecoin holds one advantage over Bitcoin: With four times the number of coins to mine,
there will eventually come a point when miners won't be rewarded with any new Bitcoins unless they are willing to invest significant sums in mining gear.
Considering these facts, it's easy to see why many believe that Litecoin could one day overtake Bitcoin as the world's most popular cryptocurrency.
How does Litecoin work?
Litecoin was created to be a faster and cheaper alternative to Bitcoin. It uses an open source protocol known as the blockchain, which records all transactions publicly.
The system was designed to provide better security than other digital currencies, by requiring a series of three confirmations for each transaction.
By doing this, hackers would need to control over 50% of all the networks hashing power in order to attack the network. As with most cryptocurrencies, Litecoin offers several unique features:
-Litecoin mining algorithm reduces mining complexity compared to SHA256 used by Bitcoin.
-It has lower fees when compared with bitcoin because there are more transactions that can fit into one block.
-The number of coins generated per block is four times higher than that of bitcoin. -There will be 84 million litecoins maximum.
-It takes 2.5 minutes to generate a block and 10 minutes until full confirmation on the network , whereas for bitcoin it take 10 minutes to generate a block and 6 confirmations to be confirmed on the network.
-The maximum amount of litecoins generated per year is 4 times that of bitcoins; this means that at some point miners will reap less profits from their efforts.
What is Blockchain Technology?
Blockchain technology was invented for Bitcoin, to serve as the public ledger for all transactions. This would allow anyone with internet access to verify any transaction that has ever taken place.
Transactions are collected into blocks, with each block building upon the previous one to create a chain of blocks.
The blockchain contains complete information about the addresses and their balances right from the genesis block to the most recently completed block.
Since this data cannot be altered or changed, it’s very difficult to commit fraud or any other form of data manipulation against a blockchain.
Cryptocurrencies provide individuals and organizations with the ability to transact digital currency without having to rely on central authorities like banks or government institutions.
They're also cheaper, faster, more secure and offer greater privacy than traditional currencies and payment systems .
Litecoin is a cryptocurrency based on peer-to-peer open source software project under MIT/X11 license, founded in 2011 by Charlie Lee, who's been involved in various technical positions within Google.
It is often referred to as the silver to bitcoin's gold. Litecoin is an open source, global payment network which is fully decentralized without any centralized authority controlling it.
As an open source software project, development and maintenance of litecoin is done by volunteers located around the world.
What is litecoin mining?
A lot of cryptocurrencies are mined, but not all of them. Mining a coin means that you're contributing to the processing power required to process transactions on the blockchain.
In order for a transaction to be processed by nodes on the blockchain, it has to be verified by miners who 'mine' blocks in order for transactions to be processed.
Litecoin mining uses an algorithm called Scrypt, which makes CPU mining more accessible than with other algorithms like SHA-256 (Bitcoin). This means that anyone can mine Litecoin with their computer at home, even if they don't have expensive ASIC mining hardware.
The way this works is by utilizing your computer's central processing unit (CPU) to solve mathematical equations before others on the network.
The first miner to solve each equation gets rewarded with 25 litecoins, which incentivizes people from around the world to contribute their computing power towards solving these equations.
Litecoin mining also produces 4x as many coins as bitcoin does per block! So while you may only receive 12.5 bitcoins after waiting 10 minutes on the Bitcoin chain, you will receive 50 litecoins after waiting only 2.5
minutes on the Litecoin chain. What is Litecoin LTC? Litecoin is a cryptocurrency that was founded in 2011 by Charlie Lee, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Based on peer-to-peer As an open source software project under the MIT/X11 license.
Who created it Litecoin?
Charlie Lee, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded Litecoin in 2011. Based on peer-to-peer As an open source software project under the MIT/X11 license. The creation and transmission of currency is based on the open source protocol.
This means that any developer around the world can take advantage of LTC's code to create their own version of litecoins.
Consequently, there are many variants of litecoin such as: Monero XMR) has changed its consensus algorithm from Scrypt to CryptoNight; Dogecoin (DOGE) has
created its own variation called Dogethereum; Electroneum (ETN) has modified some parameters; Ethereum ETH), which uses its own cryptocurrency called Ether (ETH);
and LiteCoin Cash (LCC), which forked from the original blockchain this year. Why is it important?
First, cryptocurrencies like Litecoin offer solutions for people who want more privacy when using digital transactions. Second, Litecoin offers speed benefits relative to Bitcoin.
Third, unlike other currencies with a fixed supply limit (Bitcoin will eventually reach 21 million), litecoins have an unlimited supply limit! For example, if the total number of bitcoin reaches 21 million then no new bitcoin will be released.
In contrast, litecoins are mined indefinitely - so no need to worry about running out soon! Fourth, Litecoin transactions are faster than Bitcoin because it takes 2.5 minutes for blocks to be mined on average compared to 10 minutes for blocks with bitcoin.
Fifth, Litecoin mining pools exist that offer mining capabilities to participants worldwide and not just those in China or other parts of Asia where mining pools are concentrated.
How can I buy, store, or sell litecoin?
Litecoin can be purchased on many online exchanges like Coinbase or Gemini. You can store litecoins in a wallet like Jaxx, Exodus, or Electrum. Litecoins can be sold on these exchanges for dollars, euros, or other cryptocurrencies.
The most popular online exchange that trades Litecoin is GDAX (owned by the same company as Coinbase). Other exchanges include Kraken and Bittrex.
There are also several Litecoin wallets available with different features such as TREZOR and Ledger Nano S.
Both of these hardware wallets allow users to spend their coins without exposing their private keys to any third party which increases security. Litecoin was one of the first altcoins but has since been surpassed by Bitcoin Cash and Ripple.
Charlie Lee, who founded Litecoin, eventually left the project due to conflict-of-interest issues when he created his own cryptocurrency:
Stellar Lumens XLM which functions similarly to Bitcoin but operates more quickly and at a fraction of the cost. It’s possible that people will abandon LTC if they adopt Lumens instead, which would make its long-term prospects bleak.
As far as global trade goes, I see Litecoin having less significance than it does currently because its use will be limited.
People will find alternatives to Bitcoin if the US government continues cracking down on unregulated exchanges and crypto markets in general;
I believe there will be widespread interest in stablecoins—currencies whose value is pegged against the dollar—as well as new coins that may even have industrial applications beyond just trading.
For example, NANO recently completed a record breaking transfer from Zurich to Singapore in 5 seconds for only $0.30; never before has transferring money across borders been so quick and inexpensive!
Should I invest in litecoin if I already own Bitcoin?
Litecoin is a cryptocurrency that was founded in 2011 by Charlie Lee, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Based on peer-to-peer As an open source software project under the MIT/X11 license.
The creation and transmission of currency is based on the open source protocol which does not require centralized servers or governing bodies.
The Litecoin network reached more than 50% of Bitcoin's market cap in November 2013. And for several months it was ranked among the top ten cryptocurrencies according to CoinMarketCap.
It has become less significant since then but still holds its own to this day.
There are currently over 5 million litecoins out there as well as another 2 million coins mined so far that are yet to be released into circulation (known as 'Litecoin Cash').
They have some notable differences from bitcoin too - faster transaction times, a different hashing algorithm (Scrypt), and an increased number of coins made available with 84 million litecoins possible at some point in the future.
Despite these features, the question of whether litecoin will be able to maintain its relevance remains.
There are also those who doubt it'll even exist in the long run due to competition against other altcoins such as Ethereum, Dash and Ripple that serve different purposes such as smart contracts or fast settlement times.
Another concern is privacy; bitcoins can offer anonymity when making transactions because they don't include any identifying information about the person sending them.
But like all blockchain transactions, these events are publically viewable on their blockchains which means they could potentially be identified if enough resources were put towards tracing them back to their sources.
What are the risks of trading Litecoin?
Litecoin trades on cryptocurrency exchanges, so the risk of trading litecoin is the same as for other cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency exchanges can be hacked or exit scams, have downtime due to DDoS attacks or power outages, be shut down by governments, and experience denial-of-service attacks.
And because cryptocurrencies are so new, there are still many unknowns about how they work.
For example: What will happen to my money if I lose access to my private keys? What happens to lost coins?
What do you mean by lost coins? What's a soft fork and what does that mean for me? What's a hard fork and what does that mean for me? What can I buy with Litecoin?
How much does one Litecoin cost? One litecoin costs about $4 at the time of this writing.
What can I trade it for? You can trade Litecoins for U.S. dollars, Euros, British Pounds Sterling, Bitcoin BTC or Ether ETH.