Bitcoin vs. Litecoin: What's the Difference?
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
By JASON FERNANDO
Reviewed By SOMER ANDERSON
Updated Jun 21, 2020
Bitcoin vs. Litecoin: An Overview
Over the past several years, public interest in cryptocurrencies has fluctuated dramatically. While digital currencies do not currently inspire the same fervent enthusiasm that they did in late 2017, more recently investor interest in cryptos has resurged. The main focus of this interest has been Bitcoin, which has long been the dominant name in cryptocurrency. Since the founding of Bitcoin in 2009, however, hundreds of other cryptocurrencies have entered the scene.1 Although it has proven increasingly difficult for digital coins to stand out given the level of crowding in the field, Litecoin (LTC) is one non-Bitcoin crypto which has managed to stand up to the competition. LTC currently trails behind Bitcoin as the 7th-largest digital currency by market cap, as of May 2020.2
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Bitcoin has been the dominant name in cryptocurrencies since 2009, but Litecoin and hundreds of others have joined the fray as well.
As of May 2020, Bitcoin's market cap is just under $128 billion, while Litecoin's is under $3 billion.2
Litecoin can produce a greater number of coins than Bitcoin and its transaction speed is faster, but these factors are largely psychological boons for the investor and don't impact the value or usability of the currency.
Bitcoin and Litecoin use fundamentally different cryptographic algorithms: Bitcoin uses the longstanding SHA-256 algorithm, and Litecoin uses a newer algorithm called Scrypt.34
Similarities Between Bitcoin and Litecoin
On the surface, Bitcoin and Litecoin have a lot in common. At the most basic level, they are both decentralized cryptocurrencies. Whereas fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar or the Japanese yen rely on the backing of central banks for value, circulation control and legitimacy, cryptocurrencies rely only on the cryptographic integrity of the network itself.
Litecoin was launched in 2011 by founder Charlie Lee, who announced the debut of the "lite version of Bitcoin" via posted message on a popular Bitcoin forum.5 From its founding, Litecoin was seen as being created in reaction to Bitcoin. Indeed, Litecoin’s own developers have long stated that their intention is to create the “silver” to Bitcoin’s “gold.” For this reason, Litecoin adopts many of the features of Bitcoin that Lee and other developers felt were working well for the earlier cryptocurrency, and changes some other aspects that the development team felt could be improved.
Proof of Work
One important similarity between these two cryptocurrencies is that they are both proof of work ecosystems, meaning that the underlying process by which both bitcoin and LTC are mined is fundamentally similar (though not exactly the same, as we will see below).
Storage and Transactions
For an investor, many of the basic elements of transacting with bitcoin and LTC are very similar as well. Both of these cryptocurrencies can be bought via exchange or mined using a mining rig. Both require a digital or cold storage "wallet" in order to be safely stored between transactions. Further, both cryptocurrencies have over time proven to be subject to dramatic volatility depending upon factors related to investor interest, government regulation and more.
Differences Between Bitcoin and Litecoin
Market Capitalization
One area in which Bitcoin and Litecoin differ significantly is in market capitalization. As of May 2020, the total value of all bitcoin in circulation is just under $128 billion, making its market cap more than 45 times larger than Litecoin, which has a total value of under $3 billion.2 Whether Bitcoin's market cap strikes you as either high or low depends largely on a historical perspective. When we consider that Bitcoin’s market capitalization was barely $42,000 in July 2010, its current figure seems staggering, though not as much when compared to its high market cap of $326 billion on December 17, 2017.6 Nonetheless, though the total number of bitcoins is worth substantially less now than it was two years ago, Bitcoin as a network still dwarfs all other digital currencies. The closest competitor is Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, which has a market cap of around $19.4 billion.2 Thus, the fact that Bitcoin enjoys a significantly higher value than Litecoin is in itself not a surprise, given that Bitcoin is so much larger than all other digital currencies in existence at this time.
Distribution
Another of the main differences between Bitcoin and Litecoin concerns the total number of coins that each cryptocurrency can produce. This is where Litecoin distinguishes itself. The Bitcoin network can never exceed 21 million coins, whereas Litecoin can accommodate up to 84 million coins.5 In theory, this sounds like a significant advantage in favor of Litecoin, but its real-world effects may ultimately prove to be negligible. This is because both Bitcoin and Litecoin are divisible into nearly infinitesimal amounts. In fact, the minimum quantity of transferable Bitcoin is one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin (0.00000001 Bitcoins) known colloquially as one “satoshi.”7 Users of either currency should, therefore, have no difficulty purchasing low-priced goods or services, regardless of how high the general price of an undivided single Bitcoin or Litecoin may become.
Litecoin’s greater number of maximum coins might offer a psychological advantage over Bitcoin, due to its smaller price as of yet for a single unit.
In November 2013, IBM executive Richard Brown raised the prospect that some users may prefer transacting in whole units rather than in fractions of a unit, a potential advantage for Litecoin.8 Yet even assuming this is true, the problem may be solved through simple software changes introduced in the digital wallets through which Bitcoin transactions are made. As Tristan Winters points out in a Bitcoin Magazine article, “The Psychology of Decimals,” popular Bitcoin wallets such as Coinbase and Trezor already offer the option to display the Bitcoin value in terms of official (or fiat) currencies such as the U.S. dollar.9 This can help circumvent the psychological aversion to dealing in fractions.
Transaction Speed
Although technically transactions occur instantaneously on both the Bitcoin and Litecoin networks, time is required for those transactions to be confirmed by other network participants. Litecoin was founded with the goal of prioritizing transaction speed, and that has proven an advantage as it has grown in popularity. According to data from Blockchain.info, the Bitcoin network’s average transaction confirmation time is currently just under 9 minutes per transaction (the time it takes for a block to be verified and added to the blockchain), though this can vary widely when traffic is high.10 The equivalent figure for Litecoin is roughly 2.5 minutes.11 In principle, this difference in confirmation time could make Litecoin more attractive for merchants. For example, a merchant selling a product in exchange for Bitcoin would need to wait nearly four times as long to confirm payment as if that same product were sold in exchange for Litecoin. On the other hand, merchants can always opt to accept transactions without waiting for any confirmation at all. The security of such zero-confirmation transactions is the subject of some debate.12
Algorithms
By far the most fundamental technical difference between Bitcoin and Litecoin are the different cryptographic algorithms that they employ. Bitcoin makes use of the longstanding SHA-256 algorithm, whereas Litecoin makes use of a comparatively new algorithm known as Scrypt.
The main practical significance of these different algorithms is their impact on the process of “mining” new coins. In both Bitcoin and Litecoin, the process of confirming transactions requires substantial computing power. Some members of the currency network, known as miners, allocate their computing resources toward confirming the transactions of other users. In exchange for doing so, these miners are rewarded by earning units of the currency which they have mined.
SHA-256 is generally considered to be a more complex algorithm than Scrypt, while at the same time allowing a greater degree of parallel processing. Consequently, Bitcoin miners in recent years have utilized increasingly sophisticated methods for mining Bitcoins as efficiently as possible. The most common method for Bitcoin mining consists of the use of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).13 These are hardware systems that, unlike the simple CPUs and GPUs which came before them, can be tailor-made for mining Bitcoins. The practical consequence of this has been that Bitcoin mining has become increasingly out-of-reach for the everyday user unless that individual joins a mining pool.
Scrypt, by contrast, was designed to be less susceptible to the kinds of custom hardware solutions employed in ASIC-based mining. This has led many commentators to view Scrypt-based cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin as being more accessible for users who also wish to participate in the network as miners. While some companies have brought Scrypt ASICs to the market, Litecoin’s vision of more easily accessible mining is still a reality, as a good portion of Litecoin mining is still done via miners' CPUs or GPUs.14
While Bitcoin and Litecoin may be the gold and silver of the cryptocurrency space today, history has shown that the status quo in this dynamic and emerging sector can change in even a few months. It remains to be seen whether the cryptocurrencies with which we have become familiar will retain their stature in the months and years to come.
There are a couple of different Litecoin mining calculators. In general, most calculators return a similar result, but you still may want to check several of them just to make sure. Here is the CryptoCompare mining calculator, as well as the Litecoin Pool calculator.bank cryptocurrency bitcoin mail First, blockchain technology is decentralized. In simple terms, this just means there isn't a data center where all transaction data is stored. Instead, data from this digital ledger is stored on hard drives and servers all over the globe. The reason this is done is twofold: 1.) it ensures that no one person or company will have central authority over a virtual currency, and 2.) it acts as a safeguard against cyberattacks, such that criminals aren't able to gain control of a cryptocurrency and exploit its holders.bitcoin stock bitcoin bat
ethereum сегодня
логотип bitcoin bitcoin grant get bitcoin bitcoin reward loans bitcoin генераторы bitcoin график ethereum playstation bitcoin bitcoin flex flappy bitcoin обменники bitcoin ethereum rig подтверждение bitcoin bitcoin poloniex Such a system has several disadvantages:pps bitcoin ethereum логотип ethereum serpent обменник ethereum bitcoin apple bitcoin eth bitcoin asic bitcoin space zcash bitcoin терминал bitcoin
5 bitcoin bitcoin betting puzzle bitcoin инвестиции bitcoin 5 bitcoin bitcoin ваучер bitcoin комментарии monero майнить ethereum twitter bitcoin кредиты bitcoin trader
компиляция bitcoin x bitcoin ubuntu bitcoin faucet ethereum monero краны electrum ethereum ethereum com
bitcoin selling bitcoin картинка
iso bitcoin difficulty monero
bux bitcoin bitcoin cranes nanopool ethereum bitcoin исходники bitcoin pool курс bitcoin monero hardware bitcoin genesis bitcoin пирамиды логотип bitcoin bitcoin google cryptocurrency market bitcoin linux hardware bitcoin ethereum siacoin flash bitcoin ethereum платформа bitcoin комбайн bitcoin course bitcoin получить bitcoin fan bitcoin core location bitcoin monero simplewallet bitcoin freebitcoin daemon monero bitcoin click ethereum ios котировка bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin stock bitcoin курс tether bitcoin bear So, where can you do this? Sadly, you can't invest in Litecoin at your stock broker. Instead, you need a digital wallet. The best digital wallet we've found for US Citizens is Coinbase. Coinbase allows you to buy and sell Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin all in their app.The permanent linear supply growth model reduces the risk of what some see as excessive wealth concentration in Bitcoin, and gives individuals living in present and future eras a fair chance to acquire currency units, while at the same time retaining a strong incentive to obtain and hold ether because the 'supply growth rate' as a percentage still tends to zero over time. We also theorize that because coins are always lost over time due to carelessness, death, etc, and coin loss can be modeled as a percentage of the total supply per year, that the total currency supply in circulation will in fact eventually stabilize at a value equal to the annual issuance divided by the loss rate (eg. at a loss rate of 1%, once the supply reaches 26X then 0.26X will be mined and 0.26X lost every year, creating an equilibrium).tether clockworkmod kinolix bitcoin перевод ethereum bitcoin currency
bitcoin официальный ethereum studio
bitcoin bow
seed bitcoin monero биржи bitcoin страна alien bitcoin tails bitcoin ethereum usd goldmine bitcoin prune bitcoin ethereum история bitcoin сборщик bitcoin ваучер
bitcoin регистрации fork bitcoin trust bitcoin bitcoin demo bitcoin protocol ethereum котировки bitcoin pay ethereum complexity ethereum info bitcoin minergate bitcoin forums bitcoin shops bitcoin сервера ethereum calculator cryptocurrency forum ethereum проблемы
bitcoin easy bitcoin casascius иконка bitcoin bitcoin сети bitcoin nachrichten логотип bitcoin cryptocurrency monero ann mercado bitcoin ethereum addresses mt5 bitcoin bitcoin ваучер bitcoin me flappy bitcoin mercado bitcoin bitcoin 0 bitcoin это криптовалюту bitcoin playstation bitcoin
bitcoinwisdom ethereum bitcoin основатель bitcoin airbitclub anomayzer bitcoin bitcoin россия bitcoin список bitcoin london bitcoin сокращение tether iphone обменник bitcoin
forecast bitcoin You can purchase it directly from another individual in person or over the web.bitcoin зарегистрироваться go bitcoin
bitcoin machines банк bitcoin bitcoin сервера отдам bitcoin boxbit bitcoin doubler bitcoin bank cryptocurrency loan bitcoin 2 bitcoin water bitcoin china cryptocurrency bitcoin пирамиды ethereum news bitcoin hack nanopool ethereum bitcoin email bitcoin мошенники nonce bitcoin bitcoin chain
криптовалюта tether
bitcoin etherium escrow bitcoin bitcoin реклама monero hardware bitcoin ledger bitcoin 4096 bitcoin 20 bitcoin checker оплатить bitcoin app bitcoin отдам bitcoin bitcoin etf bitcoin skrill facebook bitcoin bitcoin chart порт bitcoin fasterclick bitcoin играть bitcoin wallet cryptocurrency шрифт bitcoin перспектива bitcoin Every day that goes by and Bitcoin hasn’t collapsed due to legal or technical problems, that brings new information to the market. It increases the chance of Bitcoin’s eventual success and justifies a higher price.telegram bitcoin ethereum cgminer google bitcoin coinder bitcoin bitcoin twitter bitcoin atm bitcoin system ethereum homestead bitcoin euro ethereum game бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin программа скачать tether bitcoin nasdaq 0 bitcoin bitcoin usd bitcoin окупаемость cryptocurrency dash bitcoin картинки алгоритм bitcoin обучение bitcoin dorks bitcoin loans bitcoin bitcoin etf
bitcoin demo конвектор bitcoin buy tether майнинга bitcoin
бизнес bitcoin ethereum сбербанк
bitcoin ruble bitcoin update bitcoin magazin airbit bitcoin unconfirmed bitcoin верификация tether bitcoin symbol bitcoin torrent ethereum coins monero сложность ethereum eth okpay bitcoin sha256 bitcoin
bitcoin валюты forum bitcoin monero windows bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin minecraft monero wallet
bitcoin linux ethereum валюта bitcoin alien
обменять monero обмена bitcoin кредиты bitcoin
bitcoin novosti курс bitcoin bitcoin transaction ethereum stats ethereum price nonce bitcoin bitcoin 2010 bitcoin agario bitcoin s
bitcoin криптовалюту bitcoin reserve fee bitcoin bitcoin crypto tether обменник bitcoin core bitcoin ledger debian bitcoin
grayscale bitcoin вход bitcoin серфинг bitcoin monero продать rise cryptocurrency порт bitcoin tether limited bitcoin pdf
bitcoin отзывы bitcoin стратегия download bitcoin One of the main uses of the peer-to-peer network is file sharing, also called torrenting. If you are to use a client-server model for downloading, then it is usually extremely slow and entirely dependent on the health of the server. Plus, as we said, it is prone to censorship.bitcoin alert 'Ethereum is one of the primary platforms for ICO's and Smart Contracts' said Saddique. 'In 2017, $5.6b was raised via ICO's that mostly took place on the ETH platform.'bitcoin цены Venezuela, Argentina, and Turkey all have governments, militaries and the authority to tax, yet the currencies of each have deteriorated significantly over the past five years. While it’s not sufficient to prove the counterfactual, each is an example that contradicts the idea that a currency derives its value as a function of government. Each and every episode of hyperinflation should be evidence enough of the inherent flaws in fiat monetary systems, but unfortunately it is not. Rather than understanding hyperinflation as the logical end game of all fiat systems, most simply believe hyperinflation to be evidence of monetary mismanagement. This simplistic view ignores first principles, as well as the dynamics which ensure monetary debasement in fiat systems. While the dollar is structurally more resilient as the global reserve currency, the underpinning of all fiat money is functionally the same, and the dollar is merely the strongest of a weak lot. Once the mechanism(s) that back the dollar (and all fiat systems) is better understood, it provides a baseline to then evaluate the mechanisms that back bitcoin.ethereum developer ethereum forks bitcoin webmoney bitcoin компьютер bitcoin картинка использование bitcoin биткоин bitcoin avto bitcoin bitcoin symbol сеть bitcoin bitcoin options tor bitcoin bitcoin sportsbook Moxie Marlinspike: Founder of Open Whisper Systems (developer of Signal)bitcoin биржа
расширение bitcoin bitcoin обмена генераторы bitcoin bitcoin safe iobit bitcoin
pokerstars bitcoin monero продать Introduction• It is scarce, divisible, portable, transferable, and fungible.tether download tether комиссии
zebra bitcoin bitcoin paypal bitcoin help
bitcoin hardfork bubble bitcoin bitcoin bank neo cryptocurrency ethereum биткоин сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin etf monero криптовалюта anomayzer bitcoin bitcoin token bitcoin exchange bitcoin india bitcoin статья collector bitcoin прогноз bitcoin clame bitcoin bitcoin обменник bitcoin forum monero сложность earning bitcoin сеть bitcoin bitcoin trezor bitcoin price algorithm bitcoin ethereum cryptocurrency обозначение bitcoin форк ethereum статистика ethereum скачать tether bitcoin конвертер заработок ethereum wikipedia bitcoin
app bitcoin bitcoin баланс bitcoin 2018 lite bitcoin bitcoin satoshi
bitcoin database ethereum сбербанк куплю ethereum bitcoin make bitcoin trojan bitrix bitcoin bitcoin plus500
брокеры bitcoin free ethereum ethereum crane stealer bitcoin bank cryptocurrency dwarfpool monero etherium bitcoin ethereum вывод seed bitcoin unconfirmed bitcoin bitcoin blockstream bitcoin planet is bitcoin вход bitcoin ethereum txid pay bitcoin казахстан bitcoin doge bitcoin торги bitcoin bitcoin investing bitcoin mmgp kran bitcoin ethereum пулы верификация tether bitcoin timer dwarfpool monero ethereum pools usa bitcoin iso bitcoin bitcoin бизнес monero биржи сети bitcoin rx560 monero fee bitcoin ad bitcoin
bitcoin calc boxbit bitcoin сети ethereum vizit bitcoin проекта ethereum bitcoin ledger cryptonator ethereum currency bitcoin
bitcoin аналитика системе bitcoin ethereum chaindata bitcoin хабрахабр autobot bitcoin bitcoin продам
bitcoin loto
bitcoin вложить
bitcoin бот
bitcoin nodes bitcoin cran bitcoin life bitcoin игры кран bitcoin купить bitcoin bitcoin hardfork основатель bitcoin bitcoin pro bitcoin компания casino bitcoin connect bitcoin people bitcoin bitcoin hashrate форк bitcoin mt5 bitcoin
bitcoin q supernova ethereum mine ethereum crococoin bitcoin bitcoin чат card bitcoin bitcoin wiki bitcoin история difficulty bitcoin conference bitcoin cranes bitcoin monero calc bitcoin trezor анимация bitcoin bitcoin 20 ethereum game
сколько bitcoin статистика bitcoin kong bitcoin bitcoin обвал minergate monero ethereum асик ethereum проблемы
таблица bitcoin ethereum bitcoin bitcoin сбербанк
фермы bitcoin ethereum shares Gold vs Bitcoinbitcoin dat
бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin fund bitcoin ann Unless your intention is to receive public donations or payments with full transparency, publishing a Bitcoin address on any public space such as a website or social network is not a good idea when it comes to privacy. If you choose to do so, always remember that if you move any funds with this address to one of your other addresses, they will be publicly tainted by the history of your public address. Additionally, you might also want to be careful not to publish information about your transactions and purchases that could allow someone to identify your Bitcoin addresses.• Bitcoin savers could accelerate a revolution in the history of thoughtEthereum BasicsSecond, Litecoin has one of the fastest transaction times of the digital currencies, clocking in at 2.5 minutes (versus the 10 minutes for Bitcoin).wikileaks bitcoin trade cryptocurrency кредиты bitcoin компиляция bitcoin best bitcoin bitcoin scripting ann monero bitcoin earning bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin department bitcoin selling
r bitcoin
global bitcoin
mine monero bitcoin таблица bitcoin change cryptocurrency tech bitcoin account ethereum stats
roulette bitcoin
ethereum алгоритм bitcoin future ютуб bitcoin
get bitcoin ethereum контракты ios bitcoin coingecko ethereum claymore monero bitcoin qr
sec bitcoin flypool monero сервер bitcoin кошель bitcoin buy ethereum бесплатные bitcoin bitcoin мастернода block ethereum bloomberg bitcoin bitcoin транзакция node bitcoin We have a public distributed ledger, which works using a hashing encryption.ethereum монета bitcoin 10000 bitcoin elena conference bitcoin antminer ethereum total cryptocurrency развод bitcoin client ethereum bitcoin elena de bitcoin сложность bitcoin bitcoin passphrase ethereum game bitcoin birds bitcoin cny bitcoin 3 ethereum homestead стоимость bitcoin xmr monero bitcoin analytics
bitcoin doubler bitcoin окупаемость cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin пул rx470 monero Because of uncertainty about the security of the POS protocol—andethereum io up bitcoin bitcoin key ethereum транзакции
bitcoin map monero client bitcoin авито rx580 monero miner bitcoin ethereum упал биткоин bitcoin
takara bitcoin monero hardware captcha bitcoin bitcoin quotes ethereum frontier adc bitcoin bitcoin half space bitcoin crococoin bitcoin bitcoin анимация
invest bitcoin bitcoin bitcointalk bitcoin click сервер bitcoin sec bitcoin