Litecoin is one of the first open-source altcoins based on the original Bitcoin code. It was initially a strong competitor to the first cryptocurrency. However, as the cryptocurrency market expanded, Litecoin’s popularity gradually declined.
Cryptocurrency Litecoin. Characteristics, differences, features and history of formation
General Information about Litecoin
The Litecoin cryptocurrency was created in 2011. The abbreviated exchange name is LTC. On the arena of the crypto industry, a very popular cryptocurrency has a colloquial name – light. The platform was created on the basis of Bitcoin, in order to upgrade it. Initially, if Bitcoin was considered the gold of the cryptocurrency, then the Litecoin cryptocurrency was positioned by the creators as the cryptocurrency silver. In the first years after its release, Litecoin steadily held the leading positions in the TOP-3 in terms of market capitalization. But with the advent of currencies such as Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP), Litecoin has lost its position in the TOP-3, however, Litecoin has never dropped out of the TOP-10 cryptocurrency exchanges.
The fact that the Litecoin cryptocurrency had the status of a derivative currency from Bitcoin for a long time influenced the exchange rate of the cryptocurrency, but, every year, the connection between the currencies became weaker and weaker. Litecoin differs from most cryptocurrencies by a high rate of transaction speed in the blockchain, as well as a minimum transaction fee.
The history of the emergence and development of LTC
A few years after the world officially saw the first cryptocurrency called Bitcoin in 2009, a former employee of Google, Charlie Lee, decided to create his own improved version of Bitcoin, which in 2011 contributed to the release of such a cryptocurrency, like Litecoin. After Namecoin, Litecoin became the second fork of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
Litecoin managed to quickly break into the vastness of top capitalization positions. At the time of the cryptocurrency boom, which fell during the autumn and winter of 2013, Litecoin reached its first maximum at the exchange rate amounted to 50 dollars for 1 coin. The next two years rolled back the Litecoin rate almost 50 times down, and by 2015, the cost of one coin was $1.33. Litecoin managed to win back its positions in 2013 only two more years later – in 2017 during the "second cryptocurrency boom".
Features of Litecoin
The main difference between Litecoin and Bitcoin is the use of different scripts. Bitcoin has SHA-256, while Litecoin has S-crypt. The S-crypt algorithm is more complex, and SHA-256 in it performs the function of an underprogram, and mining efficiency depends on random access memory (RAM), and not on productive capacity, as for Bitcoin. This allows you to generate blocks from Litecoin in just 2.5 minutes per 1 block. Compared to the Bitcoin platform, this is 4 times lower, since it takes 10 minutes to generate one Bitcoin block. Litecoin processes transactions faster and more than Bitcoin, since only two verified users are needed to verify this cryptocurrency.
Litecoin has a much higher emission. Miners can only mine 84 million LTC. It is predicted that by 2020, 3/4 of the total number of coins will be mined. It is also predicted that in the future Litecoin will become an analogue of cryptocurrency trifles, which can be used to pay for small services by carrying out small transactions, since Bitcoin is more suitable for large operations or as a capitalization asset.
Advantages of Litecoin
The platform is actively developing, using new innovations and expanding its network. At the moment, Segwit technology has been introduced, and there are also plans to use “atomic transactions”. In addition to everything, there are also such advantages:
- Cryptocurrency has less exchange rate volatility;
- There is no more price pegging to Bitcoin;
- It is well suited as an investment tool;
- Fame and publicity – Litecoin has all its developers and team well known to the world, while the Bitcoin development team hides behind the pseudonym of an unreal person;
- Another advantage is the speed of transactions, which require only two confirmations, which in turn allows you to make many transactions at the same time;
- Strong payment potential;
- High level of protection due to the high speed of transactions.
Litecoin is well-adapted to innovation. Thanks to fast transactions, a large emission is made, and this is where the full potential of Litecoin lies. And to talk about whether Litecoin’s rate will grow is at least already stupid, since no one predicted such a future for bitcoin at all, but it was accidents that led its value to a record high of $20,000 per coin in 2018.
