Litecoin

About Litecoin (LTC)

What Is Litecoin (LTC)?

Litecoin (LTC) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency launched in 2011 as a faster, lower-cost alternative to Bitcoin for payments and everyday value transfer. It was created by Charlie Lee (a former Google engineer) and is often described as a "lighter" version of Bitcoin with different network parameters.

Litecoin is commonly associated with:

• Faster confirmations than Bitcoin
• Low transaction fees
• Long operating history with reliable uptime
• Broad exchange and merchant support

Official resources:

• Litecoin
• Litecoin Core (GitHub)

How Litecoin Works

Litecoin uses Proof-of-Work and a fixed supply schedule:

1. Proof-of-Work (PoW) With Scrypt

Litecoin is secured by PoW mining, similar to Bitcoin, but uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm instead of SHA-256. Scrypt was originally designed to be more memory-intensive and was often discussed as being less ASIC-friendly early on.

1. Faster Block Times

Litecoin targets a block time of about 2.5 minutes (compared to Bitcoin's ~10 minutes). This can lead to faster confirmation cadence in typical conditions.

1. Fixed Supply and Halvings

Litecoin has a fixed maximum supply of 84 million LTC (4x Bitcoin's 21 million cap). Like Bitcoin, block rewards reduce over time through halving events (roughly every four years).

What Makes Litecoin Unique?

Litecoin is often described as:

• One of the earliest and longest-running Bitcoin-derived networks
• Optimized for payments with faster settlement cadence
• A widely supported exchange and payment asset

It is also commonly referred to as "digital silver" to Bitcoin's "digital gold" (a cultural framing rather than a protocol guarantee).

MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB)

In May 2022, Litecoin activated MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB), which introduced optional features often associated with improved privacy and fungibility.

MWEB is opt-in, so standard transparent transactions remain available. However, privacy-related features can create listing restrictions or regulatory pressure in some jurisdictions.

Learn more: MWEB.

LTC Token Utility

LTC is used for:

• Paying network transaction fees
• Transferring value peer-to-peer
• Settlement and liquidity across trading venues and payment flows

Use Cases of Litecoin

Common Litecoin use cases include:

• Peer-to-peer payments
• Cross-border transfers
• Merchant payments (where supported)
• Moving value between exchanges due to low fees and broad support

How Litecoin Is Secured

Litecoin security is provided by:

• Scrypt Proof-of-Work mining
• A distributed mining and node network

Risks and Considerations

Key considerations include:

• PoW mining and associated mining centralization risk
• Exchange and jurisdictional listing risk (especially around opt-in privacy features)
• Wallet operational security (key management, backups, and phishing risk)

Why Litecoin Matters

Litecoin is one of the most established payment-focused cryptocurrencies. Its long track record, predictable supply schedule, and low fees have helped it remain a widely used network for transfers and settlement over multiple market cycles.

Where Can You Buy Litecoin (LTC)?

LTC is widely available on major centralized exchanges. Availability, supported pairs, and payment methods vary by jurisdiction.

Major Centralized Exchanges (CEX)

LTC is commonly listed on exchanges such as:

• Binance
• Coinbase
• Kraken
• OKX
• MEXC

Common trading pairs include LTC/USD, LTC/USDT, LTC/EUR, and LTC/BTC (availability varies).

Storage Options After Purchase

After buying LTC, it can be stored:

• On an exchange (custodial)
• In non-custodial wallets that support Litecoin (for example, Litewallet)
• On hardware wallets that support LTC

You can view transactions and addresses using a Litecoin explorer such as Blockchair.