Over the past few years, the popularity of cryptocurrencies has drastically increased and more and more people are now investing in them. Aside from Bitcoin, there is another dominant name in the world of digital currency and that is Litecoin. Haven’t heard of Litecoin, yet? Continue reading to learn about Litecoin.
What is Litecoin?
Litecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that is changing how people pay for their purchases. Charles Lee, a former Google employee developed Litecoin in October 2011. Litecoin is the third largest crypto-currency today. Bitcoin and XRP are the top crypto-currencies having the biggest market capitalization in the market.
How does Litecoin work?
While Litecoin and Bitcoin are generated by mining, both are mined differently. Litecoin miners have 2.5 minutes to generate a block as opposed to the 10-minute timeframe for Bitcoin. Litecoin uses the scrypt hashing algorithm that incorporates the SHA-256 algorithm. In order to mine Litecoin, you need a computer with high-speed RAM.
Litecoin has a coin limit of 84 Million afterwhich Litecoin no longer to be mined already. Mined Litecoins are then stored to digital wallets to secure the coin’s entire block chain code.
Like any other crypro-currency available today, Litecoin can be used for paying purchases – that is if the merchant accepts digital currencies as form of payment.
Where is Litecoin accepted?
Litecoin is a well-known crypto-currency that is now being recognized by various stores and services out there. Litecoin can be used to purchase goods and pay for services as well.
You may check this list of merchants that accept Litecoin as payment. Some sites accepting Litecoin are unsafe and unreliable though. So be wary of the sites or merchants you are transacting with.
What is the equivalent of Litecoin
Litecoin’s largest trading pair is the US dollar. The question now is what’s the worth of a Litecoin?
The LTC/USD exchange rate has been better in the past couple of years though. In 2014, 1 LTC was equivalent to $9.50 USD. Litecoin’s value has risen and fallen over the years and so far it’s still starting to recover from the massive price crash.
In terms of Bitcoin equivalent, 1 LTC is the same as 0.0079 BTC.
If you want to trade Bitcoin, Litecoin or other digital currencies, check out this crypto broker comparison.
The Future of Litecoin
As of this writing, Bitcoin is still the biggest crypto-currency in the world. Litecoin, on the other hand, seems to be catching up to Bitcoin. There is enough market for Litecoin and it looks like things are stabilizing already. If you were to use any crypto-currency other than Bitcoin, then you’re better off using Litecoin.