What Is Litecoin (LTC)?

Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency that was designed to provide fast, secure and low-cost payments by leveraging the unique properties of blockchain technology.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Litecoin.

The cryptocurrency was created based on the Bitcoin (BTC) protocol, but it differs in terms of the hashing algorithm used, hard cap, block transaction times and a few other factors. Litecoin has a block time of just 2.5 minutes and extremely low transaction fees, making it suitable for micro-transactions and point-of-sale payments.

Litecoin

Litecoin is a revolutionary peer-to Peer digital currency and open source software project launched under the MIT/Open Source license. Litecoin really was an early spinoff or alternative coin, beginning in October 2011. In layman’s terms, Litecoin resembles to and is similar to Bitcoin and other major altcoins. However, the technology used for this project is different from bitcoin and other projects, that is why Litecoin has been relatively successful as a form of virtual currency.

The major difference between Litecoin and its more popular counterparts like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance is that there are no controlling authorities or exchanges to dictate how and when specific amounts of this virtual money should be traded. Litecoin instead relies on its network of users to settle transactions rather than following a series of complex and complicated algorithms. Unlike most other cryptocurrencies used on the open market, Litecoin follows the proof-of-work system where one person can prove that they have found a solution to a mathematical equation by proving that a specific mathematical equation produces a specific result. Therefore, like with the bitcoin protocol, there is no centralised body to dictate the set of rules for Litecoin users to follow, although there are some Litecoin communities who attempt to control or manage the ledger and trading by pointing out the obvious loopholes in their system.

Since there are no physical coins in the form of physical money, there are no tradeable items like stocks, bonds, securities or commodities. Instead, Litecoin users transfer their balances from one virtual vault to another using a specialised internet ‘virtual terminal’. There is also no legal way to convert Litecoin into any other virtual currency. Litecoin users can only spend what they’ve earned, which makes it similar to the way that people transfer money from one virtual account to another. It is an exciting new technology that has the potential to bring a whole new range of benefits to the world while at the same time limiting the possibilities that exist within the conventional online finance and investment landscape.