As the world of cryptocurrency is embraced by many people,they have been searching for other investment options aside from Bitcoin and Ethereum, and Litecoin clearly seems to be the most popular choice. Litecoin has increased in price by 7,291% since the beginning of 2017, compared with Bitcoin,which has “only” it has increased by 1731%.
What Is Litecoin?
Litecoin is a blockchain-centered cryptocurrency which was created by Charlie Lee in 2011.It is similar to Bitcoin technically. It has its own differences which includes its processing blocks ability which is 4 times faster every 2.5 minutes and its algorithm that is very harder to solve or override . These features has made Litecoin harder to mine and very easy to spend.
The Origin of Litecoin
Charlie Lee the creator of Litecoin’s is a very active person on social media and on his blog as well. He is an ex-Google employee whose vision is to create a lite version of Bitcoin. On October7 2011, Litecoin came to live through an open-source client on GitHub. The Litecoin Network was live on October 13 2011.
There are some fundamental differences that set Litecon it apart from bitcoin.
Let’s explore them.
Litecoin Mining
One of the most technical and fundamental differences between Litecoin and Bitcoin is their mining process.Both of them makes use of Proof-of-work consensus mechanism.
Currently , over 50% of bitcoin’s hashrate is filled by 5 mining pools alone and If a pool manages to attain 51% hashrate, then they will be able to launch a 51% attack on the blockchain network. So, in order to battle these issues, Litecoin makes uses of Scrypt algorithm. The Scrypt algorithm has been intentionally designed to enable mining and democratize it as quick as possible . However, companies like Flower Technology and Zeus have succeeded in creating a Scrypt ASICs. But unfortunately, this would lead to the demise of their democratized mining.
Litecoin Transaction Speed
The average block-mining speed of Litecoin is 2.5 minutes when compared to 10 minutes of bitcoins’s speed.Due to network congestion and slow block-mining time, the median waiting time for online transactions can fluctuate for about 20 minutes. And this feature is very useful for merchants that perform a lot of mini-transactions daily . When Using Litecoin, they are able to get two different confirmations in 5 minutes while it takes Bitcoin at least 10 minutes for one confirmation.
Storage
In terms of storing Litecoin, there are a various wallet options that can be used.
- Hardware Wallet: this is a physical device where cryptocurrencies can be stored.
Listed below are the hardware wallets that can be used to store litecoins:
- Trezor.
- Ledger Nano S
- Desktop Wallet: this is a wallet that is downloaded and installed on a single PC or laptop which is only accessible from that one device that it was downloaded on. Exodus is a good example of a desktop wallet that supports multiple cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin.
- Mobile Wallet: Mobile wallets is a very good example of a hot wallet. It is convenient to use because all you just need to do is to have the app downloaded on your phone.
- Paper Wallet: Paper wallet is an offline cold storage means of saving cryptocurrencies. It includes the printing of both public and private keys on a piece of paper which can be kept and save in a very secured location. The keys will be printed as QR codes which can be scanned in the future if there is need for it.
Conclusion
Cryptocurrency is becoming more mainstreamed and reliable. However, what litecoin represents is more valuable more than its dramatic rise. It is true that Litecoin was envisioned to be the younger brother of bitcoin but the purpose it serves has grown far beyond that.Over the previous years or so, Litecoin has taken the needed risks to show the masses the factual scope and prospect of cryptocurrencies. They are even actively looking for a way to incorporate lightning network into their system. In light of these developments, Litecoins rise in value is surely well-earned. Invest at your own risk.
This Article is for educational purposes it is not an endorsement.