Litecoin

For most people who work with cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is the biggest competitor . The desire to develop something that can beat Bitcoin is the motivation for many developers. The man behind Litecoin, Charlie Lee, was no exception.

This crypto appeared on the crypto market in 2011, just two years after Bitcoin had made its entrance into people’s everyday lives. In practice, this means that Litecoin is one of the world’s first altcoins.

Among all the cryptocurrencies that exist today, this is probably the one that most closely resembles Bitcoin. Why this is so is one of the things we will look at in this article.

Due to the similarities with Bitcoin, this is a term that will be repeated in this text. But Litecoin is the main focus in this case.

What is Litecoin?
This is a cryptocurrency developed on the basis of blockchain technology. This cryptocurrency was launched in 2011, which means that at the time of writing it has been on the crypto market for a full 10 years.

The programmer Charlie Lee was behind the development of Litecoin. His motivation for this work was that he wanted to create a cryptocurrency that was better than Bitcoin. And even if Litecoin has not “knocked out” Bitcoin completely, it is at least a good alternative.

Litecoin entered the crypto market in 2011, as I said. Then it had only been 2 years since Bitcoin saw the light of day for the first time. For Litecoin, this means that this cryptocurrency can be considered one of the world’s first altcoins. Altcoins is a term used about the alternatives to Bitcoin.

But even though Charlie Lee wanted to develop a cryptocurrency that was better than Bitcoin, that was not the only thing he wanted to achieve . The two cryptocurrencies have generally seen different business ideas, since the goal was for Litecoin to become part of people’s everyday lives to a greater extent.
The meaning of the term «Litecoin»
Morphologically speaking, Litecoin is a compound word, consisting of the words “lite” and “coin”. The former is a Norwegian term that refers to the size of something, while the latter is the English word for what we know in Norwegian as “coin”. Litecoin is thus a small coin.

This name is perhaps a bit reminiscent of Bitcoin, as these two terms are put together in a similar way. The words “little” and “bit” have the same meaning, only that “little” is Norwegian and “bit” is English. But that’s actually a pretty good comparison.
Litecoin and Bitcoin
Litecoin has several common features with Bitcoin, in that Litecoin is a result of a hard fork that arose in connection with Bitcoin. This means that Litecoin is based on the same source code as Bitcoin, but the developer (Charlie Lee) has made some changes to the code.

This means that if you set up the source codes of Litecoin and Bitcoin right next to each other, then they will look quite similar. In some areas, the codes will look sticky. The biggest changes that Charlie Lee made to Litecoin’s source code were these:

The script algorithm
Block generation

In this article, we will take a closer look at both the Scrypt algorithm and the block generation in relation to the cryptocurrency Litecoin.
Therefore, Litecoin is better than Bitcoin
As mentioned, developer Charlie Lee made some changes to the source code of Bitcoin when he developed Litecoin. But it was not just the Scrypt algorithm and block generation that made up the differences between Litecoin and Bitcoin.

There are a few elements that allow us to say that Litecoin will be a better choice than Bitcoin. Which elements we are talking about, we will take a look at below.

[caption id="attachment_6622" align="alignnone" width="768"] Which crypto is the best of Litecoin and Bitcoin now comes down to many factors, which you can read more about below.[/caption]
Litecoin is faster
Since both Litecoin and Bitcoin are developed based on blockchain technology, both cryptocurrencies work in the same way. Each time a new block is added to the existing chain, it will take time before it is fully generated.

It’s no secret that speed is something Bitcoin has received a lot of criticism for in the years since its launch in 2009. At the time of writing, this process takes around 10 minutes for Bitcoin, but Charlie Lee wanted Litecoin to be faster than that.

Charlie Lee therefore developed a cryptocurrency with a transaction speed of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. In practice, this means that Litecoin is three times faster than Bitcoin, and that is without a doubt beneficial for Litecoin’s part!

It is also possible to see it in a different way. While Bitcoin is able to handle around 7 transactions in one second, Litecoin has the ability to handle 56 transactions in the same time interval.
Litecoin is cheaper
Apart from a few exceptions, it seemed that Charlie Lee was generally happy with Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency. It may also explain why he has not done more to change the source code on which Litecoin is based.

Therefore, Litecoin can be described as a better version of Bitcoin, among other things considering the price the customer has to pay to buy the two different cryptocurrencies.

It is not just the transaction speed that Bitcoin has been criticized for. The cryptocurrency has also received a lot of criticism in connection with its price level, despite the fact that the demand for Bitcoin is large and the price only reflects that.

But in terms of transaction costs, it is also Litecoin that pulls the longer straw. While the transaction cost for Bitcoin is around NOK 500, the transaction cost for Litecoin is around five kroner. Bitcoin is thus 10 times more expensive!
Litecoin has fewer users
That Litecoin has fewer users could not possibly be positive, you might think. But before you continue that line of thinking and cut off Litecoin completely, we will elaborate on this a bit. Because it so happens that the fact that Litecoin has fewer users actually makes Litecoin better.

While Bitcoin is approaching around 20 million users, Litecoin is at a level between 1.5 and 2 million users. This of course means that Bitcoin is a far more popular alternative, but it is not the popularity of cryptocurrency that plays the biggest role in this case.

Bitcoin is popular. But the fact that there are several around the corner in connection with that cryptocurrency means that the service is generally slower because there are so many people trying to use it at one and the same time. Litecoin, with its fewer users, will be able to maintain its speed better.

In addition to being positive in terms of the speed of the cryptocurrency, it is also practical for the team behind Litecoin’s part. When they have to make some changes to Litecoin’s system, it will take them much less time than it will for the team behind Bitcoin to do the same.
Litecoin has a lower market value
It is no secret that Bitcoin has a much higher market value than Litecoin. This is quite natural in that Bitcoin is actually the largest cryptocurrency in the crypto market, while Litecoin is not quite there yet.

In terms of market value, we find Bitcoin in the lead. In second place you will find Ethereum, which is the second largest of today’s cryptocurrencies. Then you do not have to go that far down the list, because Litecoin you will find in fifth place, so it’s not bad either!

However, if one is to look at the difference between Litecoin and Bitcoin in percent, then Litecoin’s market value is only around 6% of the market value of Bitcoin.

But this only supports what we mentioned above that Litecoin is cheaper than Bitcoin. Litecoin is not only cheaper for customers, but also for those who may want to buy into the cryptocurrency. And who knows – in a few years, Litecoin may have crept up even further!
Litecoin can make more coins
In connection with cryptocurrency, it works so that each individual cryptocurrency has a fixed number of coins that they are allowed to make.

The purpose of this restriction is to ensure that inflation and the like do not occur. It is important for both parties that the economic system is as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible, and therefore they have imposed this restriction.

This limit is lower for Litecoin than it is for Bitcoin. In practice, this means that Litecoin has the opportunity to make more coins than Bitcoin can.

While Bitcoin has the ability to produce around 21 million coins that can be distributed on customers’ e-wallets, Litecoin has the ability to produce more than double. They can produce about 84 million coins.
Litecoin caters to others than Bitcoin
Above, we have taken a closer look at why Litecoin will be a better alternative compared to Bitcoin. But it is important to emphasize that it was never Charlie Lee’s intention for Litecoin to take the place of Bitcoin.

As mentioned above, it seemed that Charlie Lee was generally very pleased with the way Bitcoin was run. There were only a few small details that were not in line with his vision, and therefore he was inspired to try his luck himself.

While it is not impossible to refer to Litecoin as “tough competition” for Bitcoin, that was not Charlie Lee’s motivation. While Bitcoin wants people to use them for large transactions, Litecoin wants to be there for people who need them in everyday life.

This is how the nicknames of Bitcoin and Litecoin have emerged. People tend to compare Bitcoin with, for example, gold, while it is not uncommon for Litecoin to be described as silver. And most people know that silver is a more common currency than gold!
Benefits of using Litecoin
In this article, we have gone in depth of what makes Litecoin a good alternative. This has been particularly true in connection with the fact that this is a cryptocurrency that has many similarities to Bitcoin.

Since these cryptocurrencies are based on the same source code, it is quite natural. But that does not mean that they are exactly alike. And when it comes to whether the changes can be described as improvements, they definitely can.

As we also wrote above, there are several elements of Litecoin like this to a better alternative compared to Bitcoin. So if Litecoin has made a good impression on you, either during this article or in some other way, just try it out.

However, it is important that you do not bet more than you can afford to lose, because Litecoin is like any other cryptocurrency. In other words, it is a cryptocurrency with high volatility, and no one knows what the future holds!
Litecoin – a lesser known cryptocurrency
Despite the fact that Litecoin is a good alternative in several possible ways, it is not to be underestimated that it is a lesser-known cryptocurrency. Especially if you compare it to Bitcoin.

It may also sound a little strange, since Litecoin has been in the crypto market for almost as long as Bitcoin. But that’s how it is. In practice, it is probably only particularly interested people who have heard of Litecoin, and it is of course a bit awkward for them.
How to buy Litecoin
If, on the other hand, the benefits of using Litecoin seemed appealing to you, then we’ll tell you how to proceed to buy (and thus invest in) Litecoin. Investing in cryptocurrency is actually a lot easier than most people might think!

To invest in Litecoin, proceed as follows:

First you need to find a cryptocurrency exchange through which you can buy Litecoin. There are many good crypto exchanges out there. A good example of a crypto exchange is Coinbase, which is used by many to buy both Bitcoin and Litecoin.
After you have found a crypto exchange you want to use, you must create a user account. In order to register on Coinbase, you must have your passport available when you do so. You should take a high quality picture of this!
After you have verified your account, you can buy Litecoin. Coinbase allows you to do this using both VISA, Mastercard or a traditional bank transfer, so there is something for everyone here.

Once you have bought Litecoin, they will be placed in your e-wallet where they will be safe until you decide what you want to do with them!