What is Litecoin?
Litecoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies after bitcoin. In fact, both when Litecoin first appeared and today, many people have embraced the idea that “if Bitcoin is gold, then Litecoin is silver.” In our article, “What is Litecoin?” We will answer the question and talk in general terms about the technology of popular crypto money.
Litecoin, which is not affiliated with any person, institution or administrator and is an open source cryptocurrency like bitcoin, is built on the basis of blockchain. Litecoin is one of the first altcoins to arrive, as well as the 10th in terms of market size.
When did Litecoin come about?
Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee on October 13, 2011.
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Why did Litecoin appear?
When we look at the way Litecoin works, it is safe to say that it basically works the same way as Bitcoin. For example; Both use PoW (Proof of Transaction) algorithms. However, there are also differences between these two cryptocurrencies.
When we look at the extraction objective of Litecoin, we see that bitcoin mining is becoming more difficult and complex with each passing day. As we mentioned in our bitcoin mining article, bitcoin mining has become more difficult since 2009, bitcoin is a valuable cryptocurrency.
Litecoin, one of its original purposes was to bring mining back to home computers. As bitcoin mining has become more difficult with the increase of new miners joining the bitcoin network, it has become impossible for any one person to “mine” bitcoin with their own equipment at home.
With the equipment used in bitcoin mining and the increase in mining difficulty, Litecoin appears to be a good option for mining, albeit for a short period of time. So we can say that this idea was accepted for some time.
However, the operating principle of Litecoin is also similar to that of Bitcoin and with the introduction of ASIC machines, the difficulty level of mining has approached that of Bitcoin.
In other words, we cannot say that Litecoin has been successful in this regard, one of the objectives of its emergence, which is to make mining more profitable. In conclusion, if you want to mine at home, you will only get old and damaged computer equipment.
Who owns Litecoin?
Charlie Lee is the creator of Litecoin. Lee, who worked at Google until founding Litecoin, later became interested in bitcoin. After becoming interested in bitcoin, he did various studies and revealed Litecoin.
How does Litecoin work?
As we mentioned in the introduction of our article, the structure of Litecoin is very similar to that of Bitcoin. There are, of course, fundamental differences.
As we mentioned earlier, both blockchains use the proof-of-work principle in the context of the mining process.
Although the principle of both these cryptocurrencies is the same, Litecoin differs from Bitcoin on a point that we will talk about in a moment.
As you know, bitcoin mining has become increasingly difficult, making it impossible to mine on an individual level. For this reason, the use of mining pools has become very popular in order to achieve success in mining.
This is because bitcoin’s SHA-256 algorithm works more efficiently when there are multiple devices. In other words, the ASICs used in bitcoin mining solve two transactions in parallel, not in a row. So when multiple ASICs come together, they solve problems faster in parallel.
This is where the difference with Litecoin lies. In Litecoin mining, it is not logical for you to set up a pool in terms of mining. Because Litecoin’s algorithm resolves transactions sequentially, no matter how large the pool. As a result, Litecoin has (was) a more fair mining algorithm than Bitcoin.
We say this because it recently changed again. Let’s talk about how Litecoin mining is done? Let’s talk about portions.
How to mine Litecoin?
As you know, the main purpose of mining is to ensure the security of the network where cryptocurrencies are located and to provide a better ecosystem for the users. This is the job of the miners.
As you can see in the introduction, Litecoin was meant to make mining easier in terms of its exit objective. And its “script” algorithm made the mining process fairer than bitcoin’s.
But recently it has taken a different turn. ASIC’s modus operandi was not compatible with Litecoin. So although it didn’t serve its purpose, at least it was more reasonable. But some companies have made ASICs even more efficient thanks to the Scrypt algorithm.
So, in order to mine Litecoin efficiently, you still need hundreds of thousands of dollars and powerful equipment.
So, can you mine Litecoin at home? Yes you can, but it will be harmful for you. Your computer equipment will get old and your electricity bill will increase. As a result, it will not be an efficient business.
difference between litecoin and bitcoin
The first difference between Litecoin and Bitcoin, which we mentioned earlier, is the algorithm that the cryptocurrency consists of. Bitcoin has the SHA-256 algorithm, while Litecoin has the Scrypt algorithm.
As we mentioned in our bitcoin guide article, the maximum amount of bitcoins can reach 21 million. This value in Litecoin is 84 million. So there’s a difference of 63 million.
On the other hand, one difference between bitcoin and litecoin is the block time. In bitcoin, it takes 10 minutes to fill a block on the blockchain. In Litecoin this time is 2.5 minutes.
On the other hand, in Litecoin, the reward given to miners per block is 25 Litecoin. In bitcoin, this amount decreased to 6.25 bitcoins after the May 2020 halving.
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How and where to buy Litecoin?
To buy Litecoin, you must first register with a cryptocurrency exchange. So in order to buy Litecoin, you need to register with a trusted cryptocurrency exchange and load a balance into your account.
So where to buy Litecoin? One of the best cryptocurrency exchanges that you can sign up for to buy Litecoin is Binance. You can become a member of Binance by clicking on this link.
How many dollars did Litecoin lose?
Litecoin reached its all-time high price, reaching $412.96 in 2021 bullish run. In August 2023, when we wrote this article, it was trading at the level of $65.
How many dollars did Litecoin lose?
The minimum price of Litecoin is $1.11.
Is the supply of Litecoin limited?
Like bitcoin, the supply of litecoin is limited. Bitcoin has a maximum supply of 21 million, Litecoin has 84 million, and there are currently 73 million 553 thousand Litecoin in circulation in the market.
future of litecoin
We can say that the future of Litecoin depends on the future of Bitcoin, no matter how different they are from each other. After high inflation and monetary tightening in the United States, all cryptocurrencies suffered severe losses. However, considering that Litecoin has emerged as an alternative to Bitcoin, we can say that Litecoin has a long way to go in the future.
In this article, we tried to answer questions like what is Litecoin, how to buy Litecoin and how to mine Litecoin. You can click on the bitcoin news link to get information about current developments regarding litecoin and bitcoin.
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