Litecoin is the decentralized online currency similar to the Bitcoin. The primary use of Litecoin is commerce. Litecoin can be used as virtual money to trade, buy, sell products services. Unlike the advanced cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin is safe in terms of variation in market price since the market cap of Litecoin is capped to a certain limit. Like Bitcoin, the Litecoin is said to grow continuously with mild variations. Get to know more about what is Litecoin cryptocurrency.
What is Litecoin?
The Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency released on 13 October 2011, by Charlie Lee. Litecoin is not controlled by any central authority and it is based on an open source cryptographic protocol. Litecoin is the fork of the Bitcoin client core which is inspired by Bitcoin and it is identical to the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
You might also like reading – What is Ethereum?
Litecoin vs Bitcoin:
- The Litecoin and the Bitcoin are the closest rivals. Both Bitcoin and Litecoin are capped at a certain limit. This means these cryptocurrencies cannot be created beyond this.
- The total Bitcoins can never exceed 21 million Bitcoins and similarly, the Litecoin is capped at 84 million coins.
- The Litecoin uses the Scrypt algorithm while the Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 algorithm.
- The Bitcoin is called the Gold in the cryptocurrency world and the Litecoin is called the Silver of cryptocurrencies.
- Almost both Litecoin and Bitcoin are created for the same reason(s). They are created to be used as the virtual money to trade, buy, sell the products and services.
- Since the Litecoin is an advanced currency compared to the Bitcoin, the Litecoin transaction speed is faster compared to the Bitcoin transactions. Litecoin transactions are confirmed within 2.5 minutes, while Bitcoin transactions can take over 10 minutes.
- As Litecoin uses the Scrypt algorithm, mining Litecoin is harder compared to the Bitcoin. Similarly, SHA-256 is complex compared to the Scrypt algorithm.
- The growth of Bitcoin is incredible and faces huge ups & downs in recent years while the growth of Litecoin is almost constant and slow compared to the Bitcoin.
What are the uses of the Litecoin Cryptocurrency?
- The primary use of the Litecoin is, it is the virtual currency that has a certain value against real currencies like USD, GBP, EUR. The Litecoin can be exchanged for cash.
- The Litecoin can be used to buy & sell products and services at the sites which support Litecoin/accept Litecoin payments.
- There are services sites which accept Litecoins for website development, online services etc. and similarly there are e-commerce sites that accept Litecoin as a legal exchange for selling products like Jewels, games, food, software, etc.
- The Litecoin can be traded to make profits. By understanding the Litecoin market, we can invest money in Litecoin to make a profit by buying and selling Litecoin at the right time.
- Few online banks now accept Litecoin cryptocurrency to process Litecoin loans. You can earn interest by investing Litecoin in the online bank.
Related article – How to earn Litecoin online.
What is Litecoin Wallet and Litecoin Address:
- The Litecoin wallet is like the Bitcoin wallet. It’s the place where we store our Litecoin. Litecoin wallet is digital means it has to be downloaded and installed in the PC or server.
- The Litecoin address is the identity of the Litecoin wallet. In order to receive Litecoin to our wallet, we need to the sender to know our Litecoin wallet address.
- When someone sends Litecoin to the Litecoin address, the Litecoin will be delivered to the proposed wallet.
How to create Litecoin Wallet Online:
- We must have a Litecoin Wallet to accumulate Litecoins. The Litecoin wallet will be linked with the associated Litecoin address. The Litecoin address can be used to receive Litecoin from other Litecoin users.
- There are several ways available to create a Litecoin wallet. Litecoin wallet is available for PC, smartphones, etc. The basic one is to download the Litecoin wallet to the PC. But this is not recommended for the beginners since they might lose their Litecoins if their PC/other devices get corrupted in the case if they lost the Pneumonic code.
- The most recommended wallet is Coinbase. The Coinbase is an online wallet which can be used to safely store Litecoin with no worries.
- Other than Litecoin Coinbase has features to create Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Wallet, zCash Wallet and save all of them in a single account.
- As you can see screenshot, the account has a Litecoin (LTC) wallet along with Ethereum (ETH) wallet, Bitcoin cash (BCH) wallet and Bitcoin (BTC) wallet.
- To accumulate Litecoin in the Coinbase account, the Litecoin address must be created. To create a Litecoin address, click receive below LTC wallet.
- Initially, Coinbase will warn the user that the Litecoin address can be only used for sending LTC and not any other currencies. Similarly, if you plan to mine Litecoin, you must not directly send the mined LTC to the Coinbase account. Instead, use a local wallet to accumulate the miner’s bonus.
- After clicking the show address, the Litecoin wallet address will be displayed, as shown above. You can use this address to receive the Litecoin from other Litecoin users.
- Apart from saving LTC in Coinbase, the users can sell LTC within seconds in Coinbase with no worries and receive money in the bank account.
- If you don’t have a Coinbase account, click the link given below to create an account in Coinbase and enjoy their safest services to store BTC, LTC, BCH, ETH, etc.
Reasons you should use Litecoin and why you shouldn’t:
- Litecoin price is highly stable, so if you’re planning to use a cryptocurrency for buying services and products, you may go for Litecoin.
- Litecoin is one of the oldest and well known established cryptocurrency. So, you don’t have to worry about getting lost in the cryptocurrency crowd.
- Litecoin is not a best cryptocurrency to trade. Since the value is not flexible like BTC, you may not make a reliable profit from the Litecoin trading.
Click here to create an account in – Coinbase.
I hope you understood what is Litecoin? Like to learn more about other cryptocurrencies? Here is a recommended article for you. What is Ethereum?