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What is Litecoin (LTC)?

Litecoin basic info

Name:Litecoin
Ticker:
Introduction:

You all know what Bitcoin is. (If not, go and check out our ultimate guide to Bitcoin now) But what if I tell you there is another coin that’s just like Bitcoin but much faster and cheaper? I know there are an ever-growing number of altcoins claiming the same thing, but today, we are going to talk about one of the largest among them - Litecoin (LTC).

What is Litecoin (LTC)?

Bitcoin is epoch-making. It bred a multi-billion dollar industry and changed the way we perceive finance forever. Bitcoin is also clunky. People shy away from its long transaction time and costly transaction fees. Created from a fork of Bitcoin in 2011, Litecoin was designed to enable instant, near-zero-cost payments to everyone in the world. Like Bitcoin, Litecoin runs on thousands of nodes around the world and is not governed by any central authority. Litecoin is as much an upgrade as it is a compliment to Bitcoin. Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin, proclaimed it as ‘silver to Bitcoin’s gold’ during an interview in 2017. Regarding the creator of Litecoin, he is an MIT graduate and former Google engineer, Charlie Lee. Lee invented Litecoin as “mainly a fun side project” and got a job at Coinbase not long after. However, in 2017, he quit Coinbase to work on Litecoin full-time.

How does Litecoin work?

Litecoin uses Proof of Work (PoW) consensus but with a different algorithm - scrypt, shared by the famed meme coin, Dogecoin (DOGE). Similar to Bitcoin, Litecoin has a total supply of 84 million and has a halving mechanism that cuts miners’ rewards by half every 840,000 blocks.

With its similarities to Bitcoin, Litecoin is also favoured by developers to test different kinds of technologies and upgrades for Bitcoin. For example, Segregated Witness (SegWit), proposed to increase Bitcoin’s transaction speed by increasing its block size limit, was first introduced to Litecoin in May 2017, 3 months before its implementation on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Smart contracts, custom tokens, and NFTs are also available on the Litecoin blockchain with its newly-added second-layer solution OmniLite. In May 2022, Litecoin deployed the Mimblewimble protocol. This upgrade introduced better anonymity, fungibility, and scalability, as well as potentially doubled Litecoin’s transactions per second.

How is Litecoin different from Bitcoin?

Litecoin was designed to facilitate faster transactions. The average block time and the average transaction confirmation time of Litecoin are 2.5 minutes compared to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. Litecoin is able to process around 50 transactions per second, a huge improvement over Bitcoin’s 7. Transaction fees are also much cheaper on the Litecoin blockchain, most of the time lower than US$0.01. Bitcoin’s transaction fee, on the other hand, looks like a rip-off at around US$0.5.

With the scrypt algorithm, Litecoin also intended to make mining accessible to average hobbyists, as mining Bitcoin has become more and more like a tooth-and-nail fight with heavy, loud application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). However, scrypt ASIC miners have already been developed, and although it is still technically possible to mine LTC with consumer-grade hardware, most LTCs are mined by ASICs today. You can also merge mine DOGE together with LTC since they share the same algorithm.

Litecoin Resources

Whitepaper

Website

How to buy Litecoin?

Litecoin is available for purchase on most cryptocurrency exchanges, including Bitget. Check out the available LTC trading pairs on Bitget!

Futures Market

LTCUSDT

LTCUSD

Spot Market

LTCUSDT

LTCUSDC

LTCETH

Buying Litecoin is easy and intuitive on Bitget:

Log in to your Bitget account and click on ‘Spot’ or ‘Futures’. Then, search ‘LTC’ and select your desired coin pair.

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Current price:
All-time high:$412.96
All-time low:$1.11

LTC supply and tokenomics

Circulating supply:75,151,310 LTC
Total supply:84,000,000 LTC
Max supply:84,000,000 LTC
Market cap:$5.21B
Fully diluted market cap:$5.82B
Tokenomics:

Uniqueness

Behind Bitcoin, Litecoin is the second most popular pure cryptocurrency. This success can be largely attributed to its simplicity and clear utility benefits.

As of January 2021, Litecoin is one of the most widely accepted cryptocurrencies, and more than 2,000 merchants and stores now accept LTC across the globe.

Its main benefit comes from its speed and cost-effectiveness. Litecoin transactions are typically confirmed in just minutes, and transaction fees are nearly negligible. This makes it an attractive alternative to Bitcoin in developing countries, where transaction fees may be the deciding factor on which cryptocurrency to support.

In late 2020, Litecoin also saw the release of the MimbleWimble (MW) testnet, which is used to test Mimblewimble-based confidential transactions on Litecoin. Once this feature is available on the mainnet, Litecoin users will also benefit from greatly enhanced privacy and fungibility.

Token utility

LTC is used as a native currency within the Litecoin network. LTC can be used for peer-to-peer payments and value storage within the Litecoin network. With its faster block times, Litecoin aims to offer higher on-chain throughout and quicker confirmation times than Bitcoin. However, similar to Bitcoin, Litecoin plans to ultimately scale using layer 2 solutions such as the lightning network.

Links

Buy Litecoin for $1Buy LTC now

What is the development prospect and future value of LTC?

The market value of LTC currently stands at $5.21B, and its market ranking is #20. The value of LTC is widely recognized by the market. When the bull market comes, the market value of LTC will likely continue to increase.

Moreover, if LTC can play a greater role in practical applications, such as Litecoin builders fully leveraging the potential of LTC, partnering with more businesses, and increasing its user base, the long-term value of LTC will be significantly enhanced.

What will the price of LTC be in 2025?
Based on LTC's historical price performance prediction model, the price of LTC is projected to reach $106.95 in 2025.
What will the price of LTC be in 2030?
In 2030, the LTC price is expected to change by -8.00%. By the end of 2030, the LTC price is projected to reach $198.1, with a cumulative ROI of +179.75%.
Reminder: Just like all cryptocurrency investments, investors must closely monitor the market performance of LTC and be aware of the associated risks. The world of cryptocurrencies is full of uncertainties, so thorough research and preparation are essential.

Is LTC worth investing or holding? How to buy LTC from a crypto exchange?

If you want to buy LTC, the following information may be helpful for your investment decisions:
In the last seven days, the price of LTC has risen by 1.12%, leading to positive returns for most LTC investors. The market is currently optimistic about the price trend of LTC.
It is important to note that the current price of LTC has retreated by -83.21% from its all-time high. This coin is currently considered high-risk, and while its price may rebound in the future, there is significant uncertainty.
Additionally, it's important to understand that each coin has its own optimal times for buying and selling. The optimal time to invest is dynamic: when a coin is undervalued, it's wise to adopt a buying strategy; when it becomes overvalued, you should decisively sell the coin.
To decide whether LTC is worth investing in, you need to consider various market factors such as the overall trend of the cryptocurrency market, the project's fundamentals, its current market valuation, and whether the current price is suitable for buying. If the project's fundamentals suddenly change or the price becomes excessively high, you should adjust your investment strategy and trading operations accordingly.
Your investment decisions should be based on your own risk tolerance, financial status, market analysis and research, especially the timing of your investments. Correct timing can ensure more reliable returns. Keep in mind that investing in LTC or any cryptocurrency comes with certain risks and uncertainties.
Regardless of your outlook on the development prospects and future trends of LTC, if you want to buy or sell LTC, you can consider Bitget for your trading needs. The best place to buy LTC is an exchange that offers hassle-free and secure transactions, combined with a user-friendly interface and high liquidity. Every day, millions of users choose Bitget as their trusted platform for crypto purchases.
Investing in Litecoin has never been easier. Simply sign up on Bitget, complete the identity verification process, and make payments using bank transfers, debit cards, or credit cards, all while ensuring security through crypto wallets. This is a widely adopted method to buy Litecoin. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to buy Litecoin on Bitget.

How to get Litecoin through other methods?

Using cash to buy Litecoin is not the only way to obtain Litecoin. If you have the time to spare, you can get Litecoin for free.
Learn how to earn Litecoin for free through the Learn2Earn promotion.
Earn free Litecoin by inviting friends to join Bitget's Assist2Earn promotion.
Receive free Litecoin airdrops by joining ongoing challenges and promotions.
All crypto airdrops and rewards can be converted to Litecoin through Bitget Convert, Bitget Swap, or spot trading.

What is Litecoin used for and how to use Litecoin?

The use case of Litecoin may expand as the crypto market and the project itself develop. Currently, you can use LTC to achieve the following goals:
Arbitrage by trading LTC: Since LTC is a frequently traded cryptocurrency, the price of LTC is always fluctuating. Earn more LTC by buying low and selling high on the exchange. Bitget spot market provides a variety of LTC trading pairs to fully meet your needs.
Earn by staking LTC: You can also generate income through financial management methods such as staking LTC or lending LTC. Bitget Earn offers a variety of financial products designed to help you earn more income from your LTC.
Send or pay LTC: If you want to give LTC to your friends, a charity, or a fundraiser, or you want to pay someone with LTC, you can quickly and easily send LTC to the recipient through their payment address.
You can also go to the official website of the Litecoin project to learn more about the use cases of LTC. For example, find out if the project supports the use of within its community or ecology, or if the project allows you to purchase physical or virtual products in .

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