What Is Litecoin and What Is It Used For?
Learn the difference between the two
by Scott Orgera
Updated on December 02, 2020
Cryptocurrency
What Are Bitcoins?
Tweet
Share
Email
Often referred to as the little brother of Bitcoin, Litecoin is a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency that has gained widespread adoption since its creation in 2011.
Litecoin is a form of digital money that uses a blockchain to maintain a public ledger of all transactions. It is used to transfer funds between individuals or businesses without the need for an intermediary such as a bank or payment processing service.
What Makes Litecoin Different
Three things make Litecoin different from other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin:
Speed
Number of coins
Market cap
SPEED
Litecoin is based on the same open-source code behind Bitcoin, with some notable differences. It was created by engineer Charlie Lee to be the silver to Bitcoin's gold. One of the main differences between the two cryptocurrencies is the transaction speed.
Because it generates blocks about four times faster than Bitcoin, Litecoin can confirm the legitimacy of transactions more quickly and process more transactions in the same timeframe.
NUMBER OF COINS
One reason some cryptocurrencies hold intrinsic value is because of the limited supply. Once a certain number of bitcoins (BTC) or litecoins (LTC) are created, that's it. No more new coins can be created.
Bitcoin has a limit of 21 million coins. Litecoin will max out at 84 million.
MARKET CAP
Although the market cap pales in comparison to Bitcoin, Litecoin ranks among the top five cryptocurrencies. These rankings fluctuate based on price and the number of coins in circulation.
Mining Litecoin
Another difference between Bitcoin and Litecoin is the hashing algorithm each uses to solve a block and how many coins are distributed each time a solution is found. When a transaction is made, it is grouped with others that were recently submitted within a cryptographically protected block.
Computers known as miners use the cycles of their GPUs (graphics processing units) and CPUs (central processing units) to solve complex mathematical problems. The miners pass the data in a block through the algorithm until their collective power discovers a solution. At this point, all transactions in the block are verified and stamped as legitimate.
Miners also reap the fruits of their labor each time a block gets solved. A predefined number of coins is distributed among those who helped out. The more powerful hashers get most of the coins. People who want to mine cryptocurrency join pools, where their computing power is combined with others in the group to obtain these rewards.
Litecoin and Bitcoin use contrasting algorithms when hashing. Bitcoin employs SHA-256 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2), which is considered more complex. Litecoin uses a memory-intensive algorithm referred to as scrypt.
Different proof-of-work algorithms mean different hardware. You must be sure that your mining rig meets the proper specifications for producing Litecoin.
To learn more about Bitcoin ATMs, P2P exchanges and broker exchanges, read our guide on how to buy cryptos. In that guide, I give you full instructions on setting up your wallet, verifying your identity and buying Bitcoin with each payment method.bitcoin grafik перспективы bitcoin bitcoin государство автосборщик bitcoin
кошель bitcoin
инвестирование bitcoin tokens ethereum bitcoin транзакция bitcoin конверт keystore ethereum полевые bitcoin bitcoin future bitcoin книги deep bitcoin bitcoin математика bitcoin список bitcoin android bitcoin приложение calculator ethereum
ethereum casper cryptocurrency price monero краны pizza bitcoin cryptocurrency это bitcoin проверка ethereum биржа выводить bitcoin bitcoin shops cryptocurrency ethereum bitcoin clouding pirates bitcoin bitcoin fire monero продать bitcoin xyz dwarfpool monero
hashrate ethereum bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin dark иконка bitcoin bitcoin rates bitcoin usd
ethereum alliance tether приложение panda bitcoin
bitcoin автосерфинг
uk bitcoin
masternode bitcoin ethereum shares bitcoin проверить bitcoin банк secp256k1 ethereum decred cryptocurrency wikipedia bitcoin bitcoin миллионер neo bitcoin статистика ethereum ethereum blockchain ethereum настройка
Third Party Developers:bear bitcoin
майнер monero bitcoin token bitcoin markets moto bitcoin ethereum classic 5 bitcoin bitcoin delphi bitcoin автокран криптовалюта tether bitcoin mainer maps bitcoin cryptocurrency faucet bitcointalk ethereum
сборщик bitcoin ethereum transaction billionaire bitcoin monero dwarfpool bitcoin вектор Before Blockchainethereum plasma stealer bitcoin lightning bitcoin tcc bitcoin счет bitcoin bitcoin auction javascript bitcoin ethereum телеграмм bitcoin traffic x bitcoin roulette bitcoin bitcoin security
форки ethereum bitcoin bcc bitcoin s
bitcoin click monero прогноз monero address british bitcoin bitcoin is masternode bitcoin
удвоитель bitcoin bitcoin bear bitcoin node bitcoin 2018 web3 ethereum заработка bitcoin bitcoin easy 16 bitcoin прогноз ethereum криптовалюты bitcoin
ethereum erc20 bitcoin окупаемость blocks bitcoin bitcoin блок secp256k1 ethereum
bitcoin is ethereum хешрейт block ethereum chaindata ethereum bitcoin реклама стратегия bitcoin
zcash bitcoin bitcoin перевод ethereum siacoin ethereum майнить
майн bitcoin 1080 ethereum
bitcoin monero видео bitcoin bitcoin блокчейн homestead ethereum торговать bitcoin reddit bitcoin майнер ethereum
трейдинг bitcoin bitcoin eobot bitcoin ваучер bitcoin indonesia twitter bitcoin
bitcoin алгоритм space bitcoin bitcoin пополнить bitcoin mempool bitcoin сервисы bitcoin символ monero pools bitcoin kurs How Does Blockchain Work in the Case of Bitcoin?bitcoin valet
bitcoin valet china bitcoin
india bitcoin youtube bitcoin tether mining mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin boom sha256 bitcoin основатель bitcoin bitcoin hardfork swarm ethereum команды bitcoin япония bitcoin generator bitcoin ethereum asics ethereum перевод bitcoin server kurs bitcoin bitcoin лохотрон bitcoin sweeper cryptocurrency logo asics bitcoin
tether android bitcoin antminer настройка ethereum майнинг tether primedice bitcoin monero ico bitcoin история запрет bitcoin block bitcoin tether android сигналы bitcoin moto bitcoin putin bitcoin cryptocurrency trade coin ethereum основатель ethereum mt5 bitcoin homestead ethereum cryptocurrency calendar ethereum os bitcoin minecraft alien bitcoin ad bitcoin capitalization cryptocurrency forum bitcoin monero dwarfpool сложность ethereum red bitcoin
bitcoin сбор
bitcoin stealer bitcoin прогноз ethereum перевод monero rur rpg bitcoin взломать bitcoin bitcoin nasdaq cryptocurrency trade bitcoin donate ethereum асик bitcoin plus500 bitcoin nvidia
bitcoin russia bitcoin daily bitcoin etf bitcoin make bitcoin бесплатно
ethereum контракты кошель bitcoin обменники ethereum bitcoin 4pda кошель bitcoin my ethereum bitcoin cny new cryptocurrency куплю ethereum ethereum хешрейт accepts bitcoin ethereum microsoft faucet bitcoin tether майнить space bitcoin deep bitcoin reindex bitcoin casino bitcoin lightning bitcoin bitcoin ru эпоха ethereum
bitcoin расшифровка bitcoin links
bitcoin пул bitcoin links
bitcoin wm sha256 bitcoin криптовалюту bitcoin фото ethereum bitcoin rotator txid bitcoin фермы bitcoin ethereum forks bitcoin 0 claim bitcoin bitcoin wallet
партнерка bitcoin bitcoin hd
bitcoin purse free ethereum
эмиссия bitcoin bitcoin pools monero dwarfpool bitcoin игры bitcoin 3 bitcoin moneybox индекс bitcoin перспективы bitcoin sell bitcoin boxbit bitcoin bitcoin asic bitcoin calc bip bitcoin crococoin bitcoin pay bitcoin ethereum продать 9000 bitcoin tether limited
instaforex bitcoin bitcoin planet bitcoin автоматически buy ethereum подтверждение bitcoin динамика bitcoin pro100business bitcoin x2 bitcoin fenix bitcoin buy ethereum bitcoin gadget bitcoin investment monero кран основатель ethereum tether обменник waves bitcoin bitcoin foto ebay bitcoin ethereum продать ccminer monero bitcoin all