Litecoin (LTC) is one of the longest-standing cryptocurrencies, known for its fast transactions and low fees. Launched in 2011 as a Bitcoin fork, it was designed to offer a more efficient alternative for everyday payments. With its quicker block times and cost-effective transactions, Litecoin remains a popular choice among crypto enthusiasts.
In this guide, we’ll explore what Litecoin is, how it differs from Bitcoin and the easiest ways to buy LTC. Whether you’re new to crypto or looking to expand your portfolio, this article will help you get started with Litecoin.
What is Litecoin?
Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that allows for instant, near-zero fee payments to everyone worldwide.
The cryptocurrency was created from a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain in 2011 and was initially designed by Charlie Lee, the former Director of Engineering at Coinbase, to address his concerns that Bitcoin was becoming too centralised and that major mining companies will gain the upper hand.
How does Litecoin work?
Developed with those visions and missions, the Litecoin blockchain is said to be capable of handling higher transaction volume than its counterpart – the Bitcoin blockchain network.
Similar to Bitcoin, Litecoin deploys a form of Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism, in which miners (validators) confirm transactions by dedicating computing hardware to add new blocks to the Litecoin chain. The main differences between them are that Litecoin aims to finalise transactions faster and that it employs a quiet different mining algorithm. On Litecoin, a new block is generated roughly every 2.5 minutes instead of 10 minutes as on Bitcoin.
In 2017, Litecoin implemented Segregated Witness (SegWit), a technology that enhances transaction capacity by allowing more transactions to fit within each block. Later that year, Litecoin successfully processed its first Lightning Network transaction, demonstrating its ability to leverage a layered network architecture for faster and more efficient payments.
How is Litecoin different from Bitcoin?
Since Litecoin network is derived from a fork of Bitcoin, they share many similarities. Still, there are key differences that set them apart.
Litecoin
- Total Supply = 84 million LTC
- Employing Scrypt Hashing algorithm
- Real transactions per second = 50TPS
- Block time of 2.5 minutes
- Reward halves every 840,000 blocks
- Lower transaction fees, more cost-effective
Bitcoin
- Total Supply = 21 million BTC
- Employing SHA-26 hashing algorithm
- Real transactions per second = 7 TPS
- Block time of 10 minutes
- Reward halves every 240,000 blocks
- Fees are generally higher than Litecoin.
How to buy Litecoin?
Litecoin (LTC) is the native token of the Litecoin blockchain. It’s one of the biggest cryptocurrencies and currently ranks #20 in terms of market cap. Therefore, buying Litecoin is quite easy on both decentralised and centralised exchanges. If you are not familiar with DEXes, you can buy Litecoin from trusted platforms such as CoinSpot. Follow the steps below to buy Litecoin (LTC):
#Step 1: Create a CoinSpot account
Access the CoinSpot website and click “Register” to create your account
#Step 2: To buy Litecoin (LTC) instantly, click on “Buy/Sell” in the menu bar
You will find a list of coins and tokens there. Try scrolling down and find Litecoin (LTC) or simply type “Litecoin” in the Search bar and you’ll find it immediately.
#Step 3: Buy Litecoin
Set the amount of LTC you want to buy in LTC or AUD then click on “Buy” to finish the process.
