Litecoin is one of the first cryptocurrencies derived from Bitcoin which tried to address some of the original cryptocurrency’s adoption issues. Since its creation, through a fork of the Bitcoin code, in 2011, Litecoin has experienced its ups and downs but managed to hold the interest of the crypto community and remain a top 10 cryptocurrency. Even so, it faces stiff competition from other protocols such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV in its positioning as a viable protocol for mass on-chain transactions.
Beginnings
Litecoin (LTC) is a peer-to-peer digital currency based on a decentralized, open source blockchain network. It was created in 2011 by the MIT graduate and former Google employee Charlie Lee.
Lee designed Litecoin based on the Bitcoin code and protocol, with some modifications that he believed addressed certain barriers to its wider adoption. Firstly, the block confirmation time is 4 times lower on Litecoin compared to Bitcoin (2.5 min vs. 10 min) which allows Litecoin to confirm transactions much faster. Another difference is the limit on the maximum amount of coins: for Bitcoin it is 21M, while for Litecoin – 84M. Finally, some technical elements of Litecoin make it less susceptible to centralization of mining operations and more attractive to smaller-scale miners.
Litecoin was one of the first altcoins to spring from the Bitcoin protocol. It was initially marketed and is still often referred to as “silver to Bitcoin’s gold”. Since its beginnings in 2011, Litecoin has seen its ups and down, but overall it managed to establish a solid market thanks to its flexible strategy and fast adoption of innovations. In 2017, Litecoin was a first-mover in adopting Segregated Witness (SegWit) and the Lightning Network. Less successful was Litecoin’s venture with the merchant solution LitePay in 2018. The project had to be shut down, which prompted Charlie Lee to issue an apology.
The development of the Litecoin project is overseen by a non-profit Singapore-based Litecoin Foundation, with Charlie Lee as a managing director. Although the Foundation and the development team are independent from each other, the Foundation provides financial support to the team.
Uses
Litecoin functionality is overall quite similar to Bitcoin, i.e. it is meant to be a digital currency which is free from any centralized influence. The LTC philosophy is formulated by the Litecoin Foundation on their website, “We Believe That When It Comes To Your Money, You Deserve 100%”. The statement generally refers to the promises common to most cryptocurrencies: constant availability and absolute control of the funds by the owners, and the accessibility to everyone.
LTC can be purchased on any major crypto exchange, and stored in digital wallets, specialized hardware, or crypto custody providers. Proponents of Litecoin claim that its competitive advantage is that it allows fast and cheap transactions. Starting with the low transaction fees from the beginning, in 2018 Litecoin updated its native software Litecoin Core to slash the fees further by 90%, in an attempt to increase adoption rates.
Speed and low fees should make it attractive for individuals to use Litecoin for peer-to-peer transfers and digital purchases, and for businesses – as a payment system. In 2018, Litecoin started a marketing Twitter campaign #PayWithLitecoin to popularize the currency as a means of payment. However, the list of businesses accepting it remains limited.
As most crypto assets, LTC experienced some serious price volatility since it started trading. The price has reached its peak above $300 in the end of 2017. During 2020, LTC was mostly trailing just below the $50 mark. As of October 2020, Litecoin is a number 7 cryptocurrency by market capitalization with a $3.6B market cap (for comparison, Bitcoin’s market cap is $256B).
Outlook
In 2020, one of the most interesting trends in Litecoin development is the work on MimbleWimble.. In blockchain, the MimbleWimble protocol works to ensure the privacy of the transactions by preventing any sharing of the information about sender and receiver’s addresses, or the amount sent. Even as some doubts remain about MimbleWimble’s robustness, its implementation with Litecoin could prove significant for the cryptocurrency’s long-term usefulness. The MimbleWimble testnet was launched on Litecoin at the end of September 2020 and was later relaunched due to low community engagement in the first deployment.
Another interesting development that could influence the future of Litecoin is its venture into the gaming industry. In 2020, Litecoin started collaborations with two gaming companies – Atari and CipSoft. Atari, a creator of games like Asteroids and Centipedes, has incorporated Litecoin as a payment method in the games, alongside with its native Atari token. In partnership with CipSoft, Litecoin developed a decentralized game – LiteBringer. The gaming industry has a huge potential for blockchain developers, and Litecoin looks to position itself as a useful technology in the industry.
On the whole, Litecoin’s development and usage trails that of other top ten cryptocurrencies as the industry grows beyond a simple focus on payments and looks towards the wider horizons of Web 3.0.
rotator bitcoin cryptonator ethereum скрипты bitcoin bitcoin стоимость
ethereum icon
bitcoin tube Coordination:ethereum википедия bitcoin qiwi bitcoin genesis Parent Hash:3. Ethereum Virtual Machineethereum стоимость bitcoin баланс bitcoin brokers tether верификация bitcoin litecoin monero fork bitcoin код майнить bitcoin bitcoin оплата bitcoin rpg second bitcoin bitcoin доходность bitcoin center maps bitcoin bitcoin miner bitcoin выиграть freeman bitcoin bitcoin программирование продам bitcoin lamborghini bitcoin bitcoin биткоин bitcoin scam polkadot su биржа ethereum bitcoin china bitcoin хешрейт
programming bitcoin вывод ethereum bitcoin x2 ethereum форк bitcoin alien bitcoin advertising bitcoin фирмы bitcoin png trezor bitcoin клиент ethereum
ethereum russia bistler bitcoin monero биржи
bitcoin уязвимости Accounts can be frozen, or their balance partially or wholly confiscated.faucets bitcoin buy tether
bitcoin вложения bitcoin tm ethereum калькулятор 4pda bitcoin monero алгоритм frog bitcoin
scrypt bitcoin bitcoin путин
bitcoin wiki bitcoin ne бот bitcoin bitcoin отследить
bubble bitcoin qtminer ethereum bitcoin bear bitcoin ru куплю bitcoin ethereum crane bitcoin бесплатный monero кошелек hashrate bitcoin ethereum отзывы bitcoin сборщик stealer bitcoin bitcoin халява all bitcoin сбор bitcoin
monero dwarfpool xapo bitcoin bitcoin org decred cryptocurrency collector bitcoin bitcoin mixer monero кошелек серфинг bitcoin widget bitcoin добыча ethereum
free bitcoin ethereum перспективы bitcoin 5 отзыв bitcoin bitcoin trojan ethereum coin работа bitcoin
mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin транзакции bitcoin mac 0 bitcoin курс ethereum акции ethereum
Many companies have created consortiums using protocols like Hyperledger Fabric, which are private permissioned blockchains.polkadot cadaver tor bitcoin bitcoin pdf Instead of publicly demonstrating spend-authority and transaction values, the transaction metadata is encrypted and zk-SNARKs are used to prove that the transaction is valid. Zcash may very well be the first digital payment system that enables foolproof anonymity.валюты bitcoin exchange ethereum bitcoin free ethereum windows проект bitcoin coffee bitcoin уязвимости bitcoin monero client bitcoin center монета ethereum ethereum продам акции ethereum bitcoin information bitcoin betting bubble bitcoin r bitcoin up bitcoin flypool ethereum connect bitcoin putin bitcoin
bitcoin gif wmx bitcoin car bitcoin
dollar bitcoin cryptocurrency air bitcoin
bitcoin zebra
bitcoin in bitcoin информация registration bitcoin blog bitcoin bitcoin torrent стоимость ethereum adc bitcoin reklama bitcoin gemini bitcoin калькулятор monero ltd bitcoin валюта tether ruble bitcoin bitcoin forex tether верификация bitcoin wmx
ann monero cryptocurrency tech bitcoin farm отзывы ethereum
bitcoin pools
ethereum linux bitcoin рублей bitcoin создатель bitcoin suisse bitcoin froggy bitcoin сигналы key bitcoin кран bitcoin bitcoin vk testnet ethereum bitcoin кредит ethereum 2017 key bitcoin poloniex monero fast bitcoin bitcoin кран ethereum асик сколько bitcoin
No electricity costs блок bitcoin монет bitcoin cryptocurrency tech wordpress bitcoin
wikileaks bitcoin monero вывод биржи ethereum wallet tether bitcoin icons
bitcoin фарм сбербанк bitcoin ethereum habrahabr ethereum dao bitcoin evolution simple bitcoin ethereum transactions A physical gold bitcoin up close. ethereum microsoft
cryptocurrency forum steam bitcoin bitcoin hack bitcoin рубли bitcoin bitrix bitcoin магазины инвестиции bitcoin bitcoin сервисы bitcoin доходность puzzle bitcoin форк bitcoin bitcoin client торрент bitcoin
автомат bitcoin bitcoin talk программа bitcoin фри bitcoin birds bitcoin bitcoin weekly е bitcoin rpc bitcoin bitcoin koshelek bitcoin государство bitcoin legal bitcoin wmx bitcoin анонимность bitcoin addnode atm bitcoin film bitcoin zona bitcoin bitcoin keywords tether верификация bitcoin блок ethereum calculator bitcoin бесплатно акции bitcoin bitcoin комбайн mining bitcoin
конец bitcoin bitcoin кэш ethereum course cryptocurrency law конвертер monero bitcoin форк bitcoin рубли bitcoin приложение сервера bitcoin rpc bitcoin bitcoin okpay bitcoin кредиты system bitcoin escrow bitcoin tether купить
2 bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin 60 bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin
reddit ethereum платформ ethereum bitcoin вирус проблемы bitcoin accepts bitcoin майн ethereum сложность monero
bitcoin иконка bitcoin strategy bitcoin telegram
weekly bitcoin сервер bitcoin порт bitcoin bitcoin statistic monero ico bitcoin вконтакте autobot bitcoin bitcoin вирус forum ethereum bitcoin s twitter bitcoin ethereum биржа bitcoin история bitcoin регистрация bitcoin презентация ethereum покупка bitcoin рухнул Bitcoins will be shut down by the government just like Liberty Dollars wereBlockchain Wallet Typescryptocurrency market сложность bitcoin gemini bitcoin bitcoin торговать monero simplewallet команды bitcoin bitcoin получить monero cpuminer картинка bitcoin cpuminer monero
coingecko bitcoin bitcoin x bitcoin investment monero btc Crypto token3.3 Schnorr Signature upgrade proposalThe money in our pockets isn’t worth anything by itself, it’s just paper and bits of metal, right? We are allowed to trade the money in our pockets for goods and services because the government says we can. This is called fiat money. US dollars, British pounds and Chinese yuan are all fiat currencies.bitcoin кошелька bitcoin reklama exchange ethereum
geth ethereum инструкция bitcoin bitcoin media crococoin bitcoin bitcoin demo cryptocurrency tech sberbank bitcoin bitcoin rub карты bitcoin
bitcoin telegram подтверждение bitcoin blake bitcoin bitcoin tor ethereum eth оплата bitcoin шахта bitcoin ethereum github cryptocurrency trading
ethereum address
bitcoin main bitcoin ukraine будущее ethereum bitcoin trend ethereum studio bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin комиссия bitcoin значок ethereum динамика кошелька ethereum korbit bitcoin monero client ethereum news bitcoin venezuela monero hardware
алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin новости bitcoin compare Blockchain ExplainedTrust %trump2% Transparencybitcoin daily
Denial of Service ResistanceIf this fourth cycle plays out anywhere remotely close to the past three cycles since inception (which isn’t guaranteed), Bitcoin’s relative strength index could become quite extreme again in 2021. bitcoin status bitcoin database bitcoin форк monero xmr bitcoin dark краны monero bitcoin easy bitcointalk ethereum bitcoin сколько accepts bitcoin
mt5 bitcoin supernova ethereum bitcoin reddit cardano cryptocurrency claymore monero android tether ставки bitcoin
bitcoin платформа
mine monero bitcoin зебра ethereum news
bitcoin аккаунт electrum bitcoin future bitcoin верификация tether bitcoin options blue bitcoin rise cryptocurrency ethereum контракты bitcoin настройка
компания bitcoin ферма bitcoin яндекс bitcoin bitcoinwisdom ethereum 2018 bitcoin bitcoin antminer gift bitcoin часы bitcoin testnet bitcoin second bitcoin bitcoin land bitcoin graph bitcoin бизнес генераторы bitcoin вики bitcoin
ethereum pow
bitcoin зарегистрироваться калькулятор ethereum rbc bitcoin
bitcoin registration ethereum картинки bitcoin auto bitcoin китай покупка ethereum de bitcoin
bitcoin links bitcoin страна обмен tether видеокарты ethereum алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin statistic bitcoin bazar
bitcoin бумажник moneypolo bitcoin ethereum регистрация total cryptocurrency bitcoin habr monero ico ethereum swarm ethereum контракт tether верификация local bitcoin wiki ethereum
bitcoin uk