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Everything you need to know about Litecoin
Many people want to buy cryptocurrency, whether it is Bitcoin or an alternative form of cryptocurrency. Among the first alternative cryptocurrencies launched after Bitcoin is Litecoin.
Litecoin is described by some as Bitcoin’s “little brother”, and there are many similarities between the two. Find out if you should invest money in Litecoin and gain a better understanding of how this popular cryptocurrency works!
What is Litecoin?
Litecoin is one of the market’s oldest and most well-known forms of cryptocurrency. Litecoin is decentralized, and in addition based on blockchain technology – just like Bitcoin.
The fact that Litecoin is decentralized only means that control over the currency is not centralized with a state bank or other third parties. Litecoin instead has a digital ledger for transactions and a P2P (Peer to Peer) network that controls the transactions.
All transactions are published in the network, and a certain number of nodes must confirm (verify) these. All transactions are added to a block in the blockchain, and new blocks are formed more often than with Bitcoin (every 2.5 minutes). This also makes the transactions a little faster.
How does Litecoin work?
All blockchains have an algorithm that systematically verifies new blocks in the chain. For Bitcoin, a Proof-of-Work algorithm is used, where users (miners) verify the transactions. Litecoin uses a Scrypt algorithm instead.
The Scrypt algorithm was chosen because founder Charlie Lee thought Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work algorithm had some challenges. Among other things, a lot of work and energy is required for mining new Bitcoin.
Scrypt is a series-based algorithm. This also means that it is not possible for the calculation to be parallelized, as it can with Bitcoin. Litecoin is – compared to Bitcoin – easier to extract and easier / faster to use.
Differences between Bitcoin and Litecoin
There are a number of differences between Litecoin and Bitcoin. Litecoin, for example, has Scrypt as its algorithm, while Bitcoin uses Proof-of-Work.
To make it a little easier for you to choose which currency is best for you, we will take a closer look at the most important differences between Bitcoin and Litecoin:
- Bitcoin uses Proof-of-Work, Litecoin uses Scrypt
- Bitcoin creates a new block every 10. minute, Litecoin creates a new block every 2.5 minutes
- Bitcoin takes 7 transactions per second, Litecoin takes 56
- Bitcoin has slightly higher transaction fees than Litecoin
- Bitcoin has more users than Litecoin
- Bitcoin has a higher market value than Litecoin
- Bitcoin has a maximum of 21 million currency units, while Litecoin can have 84 million
History – Litecoin among the oldest altcoins
Litecoin was launched in 2011 by Charlie Lee, who was responsible for both the development and the actual launch of the cryptocurrency. Lee was based on Bitcoin’s source code, but he also made some changes – including the aforementioned Scrypt algorithm.
Lee also entered code that ensured faster generation of new blocks. This is one of the reasons why Litecoin provides faster transactions than Bitcoin.
When Litecoin came on the market in 2011, this was one of the very first altcoins ever – that is, among the first alternatives to Bitcoin. Litecoin has historically also had a massive growth in value. In the period 2013 to 2018, Litecoin had a value growth of a staggering 5,000%.
Pros and cons of Litecoin
If you are still a little unsure whether Litecoin is for you or not, it may be helpful to look at the pros and cons.
What are the good reasons to get Litecoin, and why should you possibly steer clear? Let’s take a closer look at the case!
Benefits
One of the benefits of using Litecoin is that the Scrypt algorithm provides a fairer form of mining. Bitcoin makes it possible to create mining teams, where groups can come together and gain more power in the network.
With Litecoin, in principle, anyone can start mining, and everyone has an equal starting point.
Another advantage of Litecoin is that the cryptocurrency is cheap to use, and often cheaper than other cryptocurrencies. Otherwise, it is positive that Litecoin has been on the market for so long, and that the cryptocurrency is so well suited for everyday use. It is simple and straightforward, and nothing jealous.
Disadvantages
Perhaps one of the challenges of Litecoin is the simplicity of the cryptocurrency. In a market where many display innovative solutions, Litecoin may be regarded as an “old trotter”. It is important not to fall behind with innovation.
Litecoin has recently also had a relatively large price increase, which can be a bit negative considering that this is a “light” cryptocurrency.
How to buy Litecoin?
If you want to buy Litecoin, it’s pretty easy to get started. But before it is possible to buy this popular cryptocurrency, you need to find a cryptocurrency exchange where Litecoin is offered. For example, you can trade Litecoin at[eafl id=”2945″ name=”Etoro” text=”eToro”] , which is one of the largest crypto exchanges.
NBX (Norwegian Block Exchange) does not have Litecoin at the time of writing, but you can find LTC at Firi – formerly known as MiraiEx. Both Firi and eToro are registered through Finanstilsynet, so that the services they offer in Great Britain are in line with all rules and laws.
Create a user account with, for example, eToro or Firi, and then make a deposit. Your deposit is the money you will spend on buying Litecoin. You can deposit money with “regular” payment solutions such as bank transfer or Visa.
Afterwards, you navigate on to markets at the relevant crypto exchange. You can then select LTC or Litecoin, and confirm the purchase.
[etoro]Is Litecoin for you?
If you are looking for a cryptocurrency that is cheap and lightning fast, Litecoin can be a good alternative to, for example, Bitcoin. With its Scrypt algorithm, Litecoin is also more democratic to operate with mining, since you can not gain power by mining in groups.
There are simply many good reasons why some people choose altcoin as Litecoin over Bitcoin, for example.
FAQ
[sc_fs_multi_faq headline-0=”h2″ question-0=”Hva er forkortelsen for Litecoin? ” answer-0=”Litecoin kan kjøpes på kryptobørser under forkortelsen «LTC».” image-0=”” headline-1=”h2″ question-1=”Hvilken altcoin er best?” answer-1=”Mange synes Litecoin er blant markedets beste altcoins, altså et av de beste alternativene til Bitcoin. Sjekk også ut Ethereum, XRP, DAI og Cardano.” image-1=”” headline-2=”h2″ question-2=”Hvor kan man kjøpe Litecoin?” answer-2=”Litecoin kan blant annet kjøpes hos eToro og Firi, men også Saxo og andre kryptobørser tilbyr LTC.” image-2=”” count=”3″ html=”true” css_class=””]
