What Is Litecoin?

Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin (LTC) is an alternative cryptocurrency created in October 2011 by Charles "Charlie" Lee. Litecoin is a fork of Bitcoin (BTC). 

Litecoin is often referred to as the 'silver' to Bitcoin’s 'gold'. This is because Litecoin uses much of the same code as Bitcoin and therefore shares many similarities, but it is currently faster and cheaper. While Litecoin shares the same protocol as Bitcoin, it operates on its own separate blockchain.

Charlie Lee is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former Google engineer who became interested in Bitcoin in 2011. According to Lee, "In October of 2011, I was playing around with the Bitcoin code base, and I guess the short of it was that I was just trying to create...a fork of Bitcoin. It was mainly a fun side project.”

Bitcoin vs. Litecoin

Although Litecoin shares many similarities to Bitcoin, it has a number of differences in terms of the mining algorithm it uses, fees, supply and speed at which transactions are confirmed.

Photo: investopedia

Transaction differences

One of the primary differences between the two cryptocurrencies is that Litecoin takes 2.5 minutes to generate a block of transactions, as opposed to Bitcoins 10 minutes. This means that Litecoin can confirm transactions roughly four times faster than Bitcoin. This difference in transaction time could make Litecoin more attractive to merchants, which is why Litecoin is often regarded as a currency for day-to-day transactions while Bitcoin is currently considered more of a store of value. 

Proof-of-work algorithm

While both are proof of work, Bitcoin uses the traditional SHA-256 hashing algorithm. Litecoin uses a comparatively new algorithm known as Scrypt. Another key difference between the two is that Scrypt requires less computing power, making it possible for regular users to participate in mining with less complexity.

Coin limit and block rewards

The total limit for Bitcoin is 21 million, while Litecoin has a limit of 84 million. Once these limits are reached, no new coins will be created. These rewards are halved in order to limit the number of new coins released into the circulating supply to create scarcity. Bitcoin block rewards are halved every 210,000 blocks, while Litecoin block rewards are halved every 840,000 blocks.

What factors affect litecoin’s price?

Litecoin’s volatility is likely to be driven by similar factors to bitcoin, for example:

Regulation

Cryptocurrencies are currently unregulated by governments and central banks. There are questions about how this could change in this next few years, and what impact this could have on value.

Supply

There is a finite number of litecoin available to be mined (84 million). Availability can also fluctuate depending on the rate at which the coins enter the market.

Press

Prices of litecoin can be affected by public perception, security, longevity and the prices of other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

Adoption

Litecoin hasn’t currently been adopted by businesses or consumers as a method of payment. But, some see potential in the blockchain technology and think this could become more widely adopted in the future.

How to invest Litecoin (LTC)?

Coinbase is the most popular and easiest place to buy and sell Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin all in their app 

Also, you can invest Litecoin CFD; while there is no actual ownership, an Litecoin CFD gives investors exposure to the risk and rewards associated with owning Litecoin.

Trading Ethereum CFDs allows you to perform trades quickly, without the need to sign up for a cryptocurrency wallet or register on a cryptocurrency exchange.

Litecoin price prediction

According to long-term forecasters such as the Economy Forecast Agency (EFA), Litecoin predictions 2021-2025 indicate that it could remain around $150 during the first quarter of 2021 and rise to a new peak of $260 in January 2022 then slowly glide back to lower levels the rest of the year to almost $100 in October 2022. 

LTC is expected to spike in the first quarter of 2023 with a peak in March at $193. A downward trend is forecasted for the remainder of the year and in most of 2024. Finally another rise is a main point of Litecoin’s price prediction 2025 with a climb to $174 in January of that year.

Meanwhile, Walletinvestor, known for its conservative forecasts, believes in a bullish Litecoin price forecast in 2021. It believes that in 12 months’ time the LTC price will rise up to $219, making it a good long-term investment.