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It was certainly an interesting month for cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin has fallen by more than 30% towards the end of November, bringing it to new lows of 13 months. And while the crypt has taken a bit of success recently, it remains a pseudo-currency on which many investors are bullish. However, when you are in the cryptocurrency market, you are not limited to Bitcoin alone. In fact, among the approximately 180 cryptocurrencies on the market, Litecoin is one of the largest "altovaglie" on the market.
So, what is Litecoin and how do you buy it?
What is Litecoin?
Litecoin is an online cryptocurrency which is the third largest cryptocurrency on the market behind Bitcoin and Ripple. The currency trades on many exchanges and digital portfolios and has a larger circulating coin offering than Bitcoin. Litecoin was created by Charles Lee in 2011 and has a coin limit of 84 million.
Just like other cryptocurrencies, Litecoin functions as a payment system similar to fintech companies like PayPal (PYPL) as it allows users to pay or exchange currency.
The former Google engineer (GOOG) created Litecoin under the MIT / X11, basing the currency on the original Bitcoin code and earning the title of "altcoin" (alternative currency to Bitcoin).
Since entering the market in 2011, Litecoin has reached a maximum price of $ 360.93 in December 2017 – a staggering 8200% compared to the previous price of $ 4.40 in the previous year, according to Forbes. And because of its resemblance to the original Bitcoin, Litecoin is often referred to as the "silver" for "the gold" of Bitcoin.
Characteristics of Litecoin
There is certainly no shortage of options when it comes to different cryptocurrencies to own or exchange. But what makes Litecoin different?
Algorithm and Mining
Litecoin uses a work test algorithm (very similar to Bitcoin) called Scrypt. The algorithm produces coins with a speed four times greater than the Bitcoin algorithm, despite being modeled on the pioneer's currency. The Litecoin algorithm has a processing speed of the respective coin transactions at the rate of one coin every 2.5 minutes.
The coin algorithm uses the computing power to process transactions, which are completed by the "miners" who confirm transactions in their networks with their computing power. As a result, miners receive coins in return. Furthermore, Litecoin Scrypt's algorithm is generally considered very efficient, since it prevents excessive customization with hardware solutions such as Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and promotes high-speed random access memory. For this reason, Litecoin Scrypt's algorithm is generally considered easier for regular cryptocurrent users to be able to extract it without too much complexity because it allows miners to use CPU (central processing unit) or GPU (processing unit) graphics).
Market capitalization
The market capitalization of the currency is around $ 1.75 billion in 2018. Litecoin circulation is currently 59.61 million.
As of December 2018, Litecoin is priced around $ 28.
Total coins
Just like with other cryptocurrencies, Litecoin has a limited amount of coins that can be extracted. Litecoin can produce up to 84 million coins – more than Bitcoin.
However, Litecoin (like other cryptocurrencies) can be broken down to trade or buy in smaller quantities, so the importance of total coins has somewhat diminished.
Rewards
When cryptocurrency miners undermine a block of a particular currency, they are rewarded with a certain number of coins. Litecoin miners are rewarded with the current block awards of 50 LTC (2014).
However, Litecoin premiums are halved every 840,000 blocks, but due to Litecoin's average processing speed of about 2.5 minutes per LTC, it takes years to reduce premiums.
Litecoin exchanges and wallets
If you are looking to buy, sell or exchange Litecoin, you will need a platform. So, where can you buy it or exchange it?
Cryptocurrency exchanges are places in which to buy and sell crypt. But before using any exchange or portfolio, be sure to do your research to avoid scams or hacking. Prevention is better than cure.
exchanges
There are a good amount of exchanges that Litecoin offers in addition to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
One of Litecoin's biggest exchanges is Coinbase – which offers a variety of other cryptocurrencies in case one is not enough. In addition, the property exchange of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini, also offers Litecoin – which can be purchased with USD. As a plus, you can also buy Litecoin with BTC (Bitcoin) or ETH (coin for Ethereum). The creator of Litecoin celebrated the addition on Twitter (TWTR).
Since MtGox announced the support of Litecoin in 2013 and failed to deliver, I have been on a mission to get LTC added to the exchanges to help increase liquidity.
With the launch of LTC on Gemini today, every single major Bitcoin exchange supports Litecoin. Mission accomplished! pic.twitter.com/6jvSyvsKdm
– Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) October 16, 2018
You can also buy, sell or exchange Litecoin on Binance or Bitfinex – both large and widely used cryptocurrency exchanges.
Wallets
Once you have decided on the exchange, you will need a wallet to store your LTC. So what are your options?
Cryptocurrency portfolios have a variety of forms and uses, including hardware, desktops, software, mobile devices and paper. You might want to store the cryptocurrency in an easily accessible portfolio, or you may wish to store it in a secure and offline location.
Hardware portfolios like Trezor offer a good offline place to protect cryptocurrency against hackers. Among the other 500 cryptocurrencies, Trezor supports Litecoin.
However, if you're looking for easy online access to your coins, go with Jaxx or Exodus as a wallet. Jaxx offers both desktop and mobile interfaces that allow you convenient access to your Litecoin. Furthermore, Exodus (as well as being a portfolio) also has an exchange as part of its services.
But what about Litecoin could make it a better choice for you than other cryptocurrencies? Or, at least – what is the difference between Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies?
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin
The famous Bitcoin opened the way to other cryptocurrencies in 2009, when it was created by an individual unknown to the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. And unlike Litecoin, Bitcoin remains the most popular cryptocurrency with a value of over $ 3,519 (although it has recently plummeted by around $ 6,000).
However, there are several key differences between Litecoin and Bitcoin irrespective of their value.
The two cryptocurrencies use different algorithms and have different data mining specifications. While Litecoin uses a less complex algorithm called Scrypt, Bitcoin uses a traditional SHA-256 algorithm (which is a cryptographic working algorithm very similar to that of Litecoin). However, the Bitcoin algorithm is widely known to be more complex and stresses processing power – using what are called application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) – hardware systems that can be customized to extract a cryptocurrency specifies as Bitcoin. However, since the Bitcoin algorithm requires more processing power, it is generally considered less user-friendly and more complicated than Litecoin.
In addition, Litecoin has a transaction processing speed much faster than Bitcoin – 2.5 minutes compared to the 10-minute Bitcoin.
And while Bitcoin's market capitalization recently dropped below $ 100 billion for the first time in a year, it still remains somewhat higher than Litecoin's to about $ 98 billion. Moreover, while Bitcoin actually has fewer total coins (only 21 million compared to Litecoin's 84 million), the currency has been traded in such small quantities (divided into 0.00000001 Bitcoin, nicknamed "satoshi" in the crypto community) that the total number is slightly less consequential. And while the Bitcoin prizes (which are 25 BTC per block), just like Litecoin, are halved, every 210,000 blocks are halved.
Litecoin vs. Ethereum
Unlike Litecoin, Ethereum is actually both a cryptocurrency and a blockchain – with Ether as a real currency (although it is generally synonymous with Ethereum for investors).
While Litecoin is a type of cryptocurrency, Ethereum is a digital blockchain platform that creates and executes decentralized applications called "dapps". For this reason, Ethereum works similarly to the Internet, but stores data in individual blockchain registers instead of a general storage space like Google or Facebook (FB).
Still, the coin – Ether – distributes only 3 coins in prizes for mining a block (compared to Litecoin 50).
How to invest in Litecoin
Well, the simple answer is through exchanges.
Most investors buy Litecoin with USD or BTC (Bitcoin). Since different trades have different trading or buying capacities, be sure to check if your exchange supports USD or LTC LTC transactions.
Generally it is the best option to go with a bigger bag like Binance (where you can exchange BTC for LTC) or Coinbase (to use a credit or debit card with USD).
However, since cryptocurrency is a largely unregulated pseudo-industry, it should not be regarded as the same type of investment opportunity for stocks, bonds or other securities. In fact, you should proceed with caution when investing (especially given the volatility of cryptocurrency in recent months).
The cryptocurrency is popular for short selling and, following the fall in the price for Bitcoin, many are promoting short selling as the way to go with cryptocurrency.
"The new investment opportunity has led to a drop in demand in the spot bitcoin market and therefore to a fall in prices: with the fall in prices, the pessimists have started to make money on their bets, fueling further short sales and further downward pressure on prices " the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco wrote this summer.
Furthermore, others in the fintech space are bullish on the cryptocurrency strategy.
"The short is a part of the creeping legitimacy of bitcoin – we are getting access to appropriate financial products", Simon Taylor, co-founder of the fintech consulting 11: FSForbes said this summer.
What is the cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is a digital resource that can be used for exchange, just like traditional currencies. However, cryptocurrency uses cryptography (hence the "cryptography") to protect and validate online currency. In this sense, cryptocurrency primarily uses decentralized blockchain technology to allow miners (people who create new blockages on the blockchain) to extract various amounts of different cryptocurrency coins while creating new blocks.
However, cryptocurrency is still largely unregulated and is not widely accepted as currency (in fact, the list of sellers accepting coins like Bitcoin is actually relatively small). Some companies that accept cryptocurrency, however, include Expedia (EXPE) and Dish Network (DISH).
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