Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was launched in 2011 by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee. It has many similarities to Bitcoin as it uses the same encryption techniques to transfer and create funds with the same confirmation. Therefore, sometimes it’s called the “little version of Bitcoin.” Due to the similarity, Litcoin tries to react to incentives for improvement and adapting and changing some features.
Like other cryptocurrencies, Litecoin is a decentralized currency that is not subjected to any government or bank institutions. Litecoin is being mined in the same way as Bitcoin, with the difference in the amount that can be used - more precisely, it is 84 million Litecoins. Nevertheless, don’t panic. This situation will probably happen in 2142.
Because mining requires specialized hardware and an enormous amount of power, the miners are paid accordingly to it. Nevertheless, because there is a limited number of Litecoin, the reward is halved. In 2019, you could get 25 LTC; nowadays, you can get 12.5 LTC (2021).
Litecoin vs Bitcoin
As we’ve already mentioned, Litecoin is based on Bitcoin, and together they share many similarities. However, they are not exactly the same. The most important distinction is that Litecoin uses different cryptographic algorithms called scrypt that is in many ways better and efficient than the SHA-256 algorithm. Also, it allows miners to mine both Litecoin and Bitcoin at the same time.
It makes the mining process way faster. In comparison to Bitcoin, where one transaction takes up to 10 minutes, Litecoin can handle it in 2.5 minutes. It makes Litecoin, in terms of speed, a faster and better option. Also, Litecoin has smaller fees per transaction than Bitcoin.
Does it worth it?
However, Bitcoin is still number one in cryptocurrencies, leaving Litecoin behind. Nevertheless, you should consider Litecoin as a part of your portfolio, as it is considered to be a digital silver in crypto. Its price is now 185 dollars (June 2021). If you are interested in investment in technologies that allow you effective and fast transactions, you should consider it.
