Litecoin (LTC)

First there was bitcoin and then there was Litecoin. So what is Litecoin?

Charlie Lee, a former Google employee, created Litecoin in 2011. It’s an OG of the crypto world. Litecoin is meant to be a “lite” version of bitcoin and some people say it is the silver to bitcoin’s gold.

Litecoin vs Bitcoin

Litecoin shares many of the same fundamentals as Bitcoin. It’s decentralized, secure, and is intended to be a currency. However, Lee created Litecoin as a way to improve upon some of Bitcoin’s shortcomings such as transactions times, network fees, and concentrated mining pools.

To mine bitcoin, you need expensive and specialized mining equipment. There are companies that mine bitcoin. It’s not really doable for your average computer-owner to mine bitcoin anymore. Since bitcoin mining uses so much power, network fees stand in the way of bitcoin being a currency, suitable for small transactions. (Lightning Network is solving this issue).

Mining Litecoin does not require as much energy as bitcoin. Network fees are minuscule because Litecoin allows for normal, consumer GPUs to mine it.

Litecoin is open-source and allows for near-instant transactions anywhere in the world. It is decentralized meaning there is no central authority that owns or controls it.

Why Does No One Talk About Litecoin?

Frankly, Litecoin is a bit boring. Not because it’s uninteresting, but because it has been around for over a decade and works just as intended. It’s a currency coin. It’s not flashy or fun.

People these days are more interested in cryptocurrencies that have use cases around smart contracts, gaming or NFTs. Litecoin works as intended, silently, in the background.

Litecoin is reliable, secure, and decentralized with many of the same fundamentals as bitcoin. It’s also consistently stayed in the top 10 most valuable coins and is available on pretty much every crypto exchange.

Other than bitcoin, what other coin has managed to stay relevant for a decade? Many coins come and go but Litecoin has always been around and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere soon, if ever.