What Is Litecoin and What Is It Used For?
Learn the difference between the two
by Scott Orgera
Updated on December 02, 2020
Cryptocurrency
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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.
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