Crypto News Like Desk : Often referred to as Bitcoin 's younger brother, Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that has gained widespread acceptance since its inception in 2011. A form of digital money that uses a public accountant to easily maintain all transactions, litecoin is used to transfer money directly between individuals or businesses without the need for an intermediary such as a bank or payment processing service.
Is Litecoin different?
Three things make Litecoin different:
- Speed
- Number of coins
- Market cap
Speed
Litecoin is based on the same open source code as Bitcoin, with some notable differences. Engineered as Bitcoin Gold by Charlie Lee, one of the main differences between the two cryptocurrencies lies in their transaction speeds.
Because it generates blocks four times faster than Bitcoin, Litecoin can validate transactions much faster as well as process a much larger number of them over the same time frame.
For more information on how blocks are created and how transactions are confirmed, be sure to read our primer on blockchain technology - which is based on Litecoin and many other peer-to-peer virtual currencies.
Number of Coins
One of the reasons some cryptocurrencies have a distinct value is their limited supply. Once a certain number of Bitcoin (BTC) or Litecoin (LTC) is created, that's it. At which point there may be no new coins.
While Bitcoin has a cap of 21 million coins, Litecoin will max out at 84 million coins.
Market Cap
Although its market cap is comparable to that of Bitcoin, Litecoin still ranks in the top 5 cryptocurrencies at the time of publication.
These rankings are based on value and number value in circulation currency.
Lightconing Excavation
Another important difference between Bitcoin and Litecoin is the hashing algorithm used to solve each block and how many coins are distributed each time it is solved. When a transaction is committed, it is grouped with others that have recently been submitted into one of these cryptographically-secured blocks.
Computers known as minerists use their GPU and/or CPU cycles to solve complex mathematical problems by passing data in a block through their computational algorithms until their collective power discovers a solution. It is at this point that all transactions within the corresponding block are fully verified and stamped as valid.
Miners can also reap the fruits of their labor once a block is solved, as a predetermined amount of coins are distributed among those who help - with the more powerful hashers getting the lion's share. People typically join pools to mine cryptocurrencies, where their computing power is matched with others in the group to obtain these rewards.
As mentioned above, litecoin and bitcoin use opposite algorithms when hashing. While bitcoin uses SHA-256 (short for Secure Hash Algorithm 2) which is considered more complex, litecoin uses a memory-intensive algorithm referred to as SCRAP.
Different algorithms mean different hardware, and you need to make sure your mining material meets the proper specifications for producing Litecoin.
How to buy Litecoin?
If you want to own some litecoin but are not interested in mining it, the cryptocurrency can be bought as bitcoin on websites known as other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Some of these exchanges, as well as other services such as Coinbase , allow you to purchase LTC with real currency, including US dollars .
Litecoin Wallets
Like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Litecoin is usually stored in a digital wallet. There are different types of pulses that are software-based and reside on your computer or mobile device, as well as physical hardware wallets. Another secure yet inauthentic old and somewhat complicated method to store your litecoin is to create a paper wallet, which generates and prints the private key on a computer that is not connected to the web as a step in it.
Each wallet has the private key needed to receive and send coins to and from your litecoin address. Since these keys are stored offline in a hardware wallet, they are inherently more secure than internet-connected wallets.
These application-centric wallets exist in the form of desktop or mobile software, and are available for almost all popular operating systems and devices. With third-party applications such as Electrum, laptop and desktop users also have the option to install Litecoin Core, a full-fledged client developed and updated by the Litecoin development team. The Litecoin core downloads the entire blockchain directly to the peer-to-peer network, avoiding the involvement of an intermediary in the process.
Litecoin Block Explorer
As with other public cryptocurrencies, all Litecoin transactions on a blockchain are public and searchable. These records are the easiest way to search an individual block, transaction or even address balance for free with a litecoin block explorer. There are many to choose from, and a simple Google search will allow you to find one that fits your personal needs.
