What Is Litecoin, and How Does It Work?
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
By GREG MCFARLANE
Updated Jun 25, 2019
There are 180 internationally recognized currencies in circulation, ranging from the Samoan tala to the Burmese kyat. Just like with regular currency, there are multiple cryptocurrencies too. Because it was the first, bitcoin gets all the publicity, but it competes against dozens of aspiring alternatives – one of which is litecoin.
Measured by market capitalization (or the amount of currency on the market), litecoin is the third-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin and XRP. Litecoin, like its contemporaries, functions in one sense as an online payment system. Like PayPal or a bank’s online network, users can use it to transfer currency to one another. But instead of using U.S. dollars, litecoin conducts transactions in units of litecoin. That is where litecoin’s similarity to most traditional currency and payment systems ends, though it's still one of the five most important virtual currencies other than bitcoin.
How Litecoin Is Made
Like all cryptocurrencies, litecoin is not issued by a government, which historically has been the only entity that society trusts to issue money. Instead, being regulated by a Federal Reserve and coming off a press at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, litecoins are created by the elaborate procedure called mining, which consists of processing a list of litecoin transactions. Unlike traditional currencies, the supply of litecoins is fixed. There will ultimately be only 84 million litecoins in circulation and not one more. Every 2.5 minutes (as opposed to 10 minutes for bitcoin), the litecoin network generates a what is called a block – a ledger entry of recent litecoin transactions throughout the world. And here is where litecoin’s inherent value derives.
The block is verified by mining software and made visible to any “miner” who wants to see it. Once a miner verifies it, the next block enters the chain, which is a record of every litecoin transaction ever made.
Mining for Litecoin
The incentive for mining is that the first miner to successfully verify a block is rewarded with 50 litecoins. The number of litecoins awarded for such a task reduces with time. In October 2015, it was halved, and the halving will continue at regular intervals until the 84,000,000th litecoin is mined.
But could one unscrupulous miner change the block, enabling the same litecoins to be spent twice? No. The scam would be detected immediately by some other miner, anonymous to the first. The only way to truly game the system would be to get a majority of miners to agree to process the false transaction, which is practically impossible.
Mining cryptocurrency at a rate worthwhile to the miners requires ungodly processing power, courtesy of specialized hardware. To mine most cryptocurrencies, the central processing unit in your Dell Inspiron isn’t anywhere near fast enough to complete the task. Which brings us to another point of differentiation for litecoins; they can be mined with ordinary off-the-shelf computers more so than other cryptocurrencies can. Although the greater a machine’s capacity for mining, the better the chance it’ll earn something of value for a miner.
What Is Litecoin Worth?
Any currency – even the U.S. dollar or gold bullion – is only as valuable as society thinks it is. If the Federal Reserve started circulating too many banknotes, the value of the dollar would plummet in short order. This phenomenon transcends currency. Any good or service becomes less valuable the more readily and cheaply available it is. The creators of litecoin understood from the start that it would be difficult for a new currency to develop a reputation in the marketplace. But by restricting the number of litecoins in circulation, the founders could at least allay people’s fears of overproduction.
There are advantages inherent to litecoin over bitcoin. Litecoin can handle more transactions, given the shorter block generation time. Litecoin also has a barely perceptible transaction fee. It costs 1/1000 of a litecoin to process a transaction, regardless of its size. Contrast that with PayPal’s 3% fee.
In the physical world, the most reliable stores of value become the currencies of choice in event of a crisis. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Zimbabwe became synonymous with hyperinflation. When inflation reached 89.7 sextillion percent (give or take a few points) and rendered the Zimbabwean dollar worthless, that wiped out the fortunes of many people unfortunate enough to have held liquid assets. People had no choice but to use something more stable – primarily the U.S. dollar and South African rand – for daily commerce. Litecoin’s inherent scarcity makes hyperinflation impossible, but there’s still the challenge of garnering general acceptance and getting more people to use the currency.
The Bottom Line
Once a currency reaches a critical mass of users who are confident that the currency is indeed what it represents and probably won’t lose its value, it can sustain itself as a method of payment. Litecoin isn’t anywhere near universally accepted, as even its own founders admit that it has fewer than 100,000 users (even bitcoin probably has less than half a million total users). But as cryptocurrencies become more readily accepted and their values stabilize, one or two of them – possibly including litecoin – will emerge as the standard currencies of the digital realm.
usb bitcoin solo bitcoin bitcoin brokers bitcoin spinner платформы ethereum конференция bitcoin bitcoin рубль bitcoin super hourly bitcoin bitcoin приложение сервера bitcoin кошель bitcoin cubits bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте blender bitcoin bitcoin knots p2pool bitcoin
bitcoin ключи
999 bitcoin bitcoin ферма иконка bitcoin
ethereum перевод bitcoin group wallpaper bitcoin forbes bitcoin Blockchain (P2P contract)clockworkmod tether bitcoin coingecko bitcoin перевод обменник tether bitcoin uk monero вывод
комиссия bitcoin bitcoin example динамика ethereum bitcoin desk bitcoin видеокарты china bitcoin
word bitcoin
coinmarketcap bitcoin today bitcoin ethereum аналитика cap bitcoin bitcoin оплатить rx560 monero chaindata ethereum биткоин bitcoin
16 bitcoin статистика ethereum bitcoin wmx bitcoin обсуждение bonus bitcoin bitcoin выиграть bitcoin book segwit bitcoin команды bitcoin bitcoin abc bitcoin заработать secp256k1 bitcoin polkadot cadaver bitcoin safe mmgp bitcoin monero криптовалюта waves bitcoin kran bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin bitcoin котировки claymore ethereum bitcoin machines clame bitcoin bitcoin x2 bitcoin location
карты bitcoin cryptocurrency charts bitcoin alien capitalization cryptocurrency bitcoin poker
bitcoin spinner bitcoin кошелька bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin stiller pro bitcoin dollar bitcoin таблица bitcoin asics bitcoin обсуждение bitcoin bitcoin virus bitcoin pay bitcoin даром local bitcoin fast bitcoin tether app ethereum стоимость
криптовалюта ethereum валюта tether
bitcoin hesaplama ethereum mine china bitcoin spots cryptocurrency
reddit cryptocurrency mining monero bitcoin банкнота 16 bitcoin ethereum алгоритмы cranes bitcoin кредит bitcoin описание ethereum coinbase ethereum bitcoin mail
ethereum core bitcoin pay bitcoin monkey
эмиссия ethereum ethereum график bitcoin оборот cryptocurrency tech bitcoin 4000 gek monero facebook bitcoin tx bitcoin
electrum bitcoin bitcoin purchase cubits bitcoin masternode bitcoin сервера bitcoin gain bitcoin tether пополнение платформ ethereum bitcoin обозначение waves bitcoin bitcoin database
datadir bitcoin ethereum rotator casino bitcoin
putin bitcoin криптовалюта ethereum перспектива bitcoin bitcoin лайткоин dapps ethereum bitcoin dynamics exchanges bitcoin обменять ethereum bitcoin hd bitcoin падение bitcoin dogecoin bitcoin poloniex invest bitcoin
лотерея bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin bitcoin trend bitcoin obmen ethereum кошелька ethereum network flappy bitcoin agario bitcoin падение bitcoin advcash bitcoin bitcoin eu bitcoin protocol bitcoin maps вывод monero bitcoin lion
bitcoin play бот bitcoin bitcoin валюты
bitcoin php datadir bitcoin
pokerstars bitcoin tether приложения donate bitcoin fox bitcoin bitcoin conference bitcoin ocean 1060 monero
monero proxy описание bitcoin конференция bitcoin bitcoin робот ethereum пулы платформ ethereum secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin зарегистрироваться курс ethereum litecoin bitcoin bitcoin life bitcoin кости bitcoin россия bitcoin кошелек bitcoin group
ethereum claymore bitcoin котировка зарабатываем bitcoin ethereum продать bitcoin алматы bitcoin mine Similar to a bank account number, your wallet comes with a wallet address that shows up in a ledger search and is shared with others so you can make transactions. This address, which is a shorter, more usable version of your public key, consists of between 26 and 35 random alphanumeric characters, something like bc1q5cevuvthfgm6kx97pg5srhkxmj4kzxxv3rww7j. Keep in mind that every letter and number in that address is important. Before sending any bitcoin to your wallet, double-check the entire address, character by character. ethereum news
Each additional block added to the chain after a given block should make it far less likely that the given block will be orphaned by a chain reorganization. While the protocol allows for arbitrary length chain reorganizations, long reorgs would likely be disruptive as some software or nodes may not be able to handle them gracefully. Also, reorganizations longer than 100 blocks could be additionally disruptive due to causing spent coinbase transactions to cease existing, effectively destroying value.bitcoin map cryptocurrency chart bitcoin golden google bitcoin аналоги bitcoin factory bitcoin
hourly bitcoin ethereum кран pay bitcoin bitcoin reklama bitcoin stellar monero dwarfpool кран bitcoin car bitcoin bitcoin статья проекты bitcoin loco bitcoin gadget bitcoin decred ethereum bitcoin виджет bitcoin biz bitcoin обучение программа ethereum mist ethereum rise cryptocurrency space bitcoin bitcoin mail ethereum contracts buying bitcoin
topfan bitcoin cryptocurrency faucet tracker bitcoin bitcoin блокчейн bitcoin форум пул bitcoin monero proxy monero hardware bitcoin mail
metropolis ethereum plus500 bitcoin bitcoin mmgp ethereum биткоин bitcoin количество bitcoin основы bitcoin футболка ethereum mist ethereum bitcointalk bitcoin зарабатывать bitcoin steam ethereum биткоин ethereum рост locate bitcoin ethereum addresses cran bitcoin bitcoin media bitcoin multiplier
cryptocurrency logo смесители bitcoin валюта bitcoin bitcoin forbes ethereum blockchain bitcoin принцип bitcoin prices
space bitcoin neteller bitcoin live bitcoin bitcoin 99 bitcoin переводчик алгоритмы ethereum сети bitcoin carding bitcoin bitcoin майнер калькулятор bitcoin bitcoin робот keystore ethereum шифрование bitcoin algorithm bitcoin обменник tether bitcoin получить bitcoin double bitcoin free nodes bitcoin checker bitcoin токены ethereum british bitcoin So, in a way, cryptos have to make the trade-off between speed and decentralization.bcn bitcoin bitcoin обмен mooning bitcoin bitcoin проверка bitcoin segwit2x 600 bitcoin Blockchain is a list of records called blocks that store data publicly and in chronological order. The information is encrypted using cryptography to ensure that the privacy of the user is not compromised and data cannot be altered.bitcoin лохотрон ava bitcoin криптовалюта tether bitcoin motherboard bitcoin 100 bitcoin green ethereum падает bitcoin s bitcoin nodes exchange bitcoin mining bitcoin bitcoin pizza bitcoin code bazar bitcoin bitcoin daemon After many online payment platforms shut down access for white nationalists following the Unite the Right rally in 2017, some of them, including Christopher Cantwell and Andrew Auernheimer ('weev'), started using and promoting Monero.ethereum charts If the price of Ethereum does go up in the near future, I would recommend locking in your profits when you see them, because nothing in the future is guaranteed. Even though you may see the price going up, it could just as easily start to go down again.bitcoin математика
bitcoin rotators platinum bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin платформа bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten
ethereum настройка
ethereum график bitcoin carding coinmarketcap bitcoin ethereum block mastering bitcoin There are obligations of the mining pool operator that must be performed fairly in order to ensure transparency and trustworthiness among the mining members. For instance, how would a miner know whether the total hash rate that is being declared at the pool level is fair, or whether the pool operators are not taking the participant miners for a ride by quoting lower payouts? How realistically lucky (or unlucky) was the pool at different levels of mining difficulty?cryptocurrency magazine ethereum обменять bitcoin карта bitcoin adress bitcoin cranes bitcoin usa mikrotik bitcoin hd bitcoin tether clockworkmod bitcoin reddit кошельки bitcoin You now know that Bitcoin is a digital currency that is decentralized and works on the blockchain technology and that it uses a peer-to-peer network to perform transactions. Ether is another popular digital currency, and it’s accepted in the Ethereum network. The Ethereum network uses blockchain technology to create an open-source platform for building and deploying decentralized applications.сборщик bitcoin bitcoin escrow usb tether
buying bitcoin dark bitcoin ethereum mine 2016 bitcoin ethereum настройка polkadot ico server bitcoin statistics bitcoin курс tether ethereum майнер
How does blockchain work?Monero Mining Does Not Require an ASIClealana bitcoin bitcoin обмен doge bitcoin bitcoin get fx bitcoin ethereum poloniex monero 1070 майнинг ethereum bitcoin фермы bitcoin сервера
protocol bitcoin telegram bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin bat
cubits bitcoin bitcoin png ethereum аналитика vpn bitcoin bitcoin mmm bitcoin fund bitcoin script транзакции bitcoin bitcoin symbol ethereum russia bitcoin прогноз bitcoin обозначение ethereum bitcoin buy monero криптовалюта ethereum explorer
работа bitcoin tether 4pda ethereum twitter
goldsday bitcoin bitcoin луна chain bitcoin bitcoin reklama биржи monero алгоритм monero ssl bitcoin ethereum info boom bitcoin генераторы bitcoin bitcoin теория client bitcoin bitcoin прогноз bitcoin parser bitcoin виджет china cryptocurrency
ethereum игра http bitcoin casper ethereum bitcoin transaction bitcoin pools box bitcoin ico cryptocurrency hosting bitcoin mining bitcoin polkadot bitcoin payoneer
ethereum краны сложность monero bitcoin dollar
txid ethereum bitcoin рублях bitcoin шахта описание ethereum капитализация bitcoin анализ bitcoin bitcoin asics bitcoin nvidia bitcoin china amd bitcoin транзакции bitcoin total cryptocurrency bitcoin cny car bitcoin bitcoin exchanges полевые bitcoin bitcoin spinner best bitcoin книга bitcoin ethereum обменять casinos bitcoin cryptocurrency ethereum асик blacktrail bitcoin bitcoin atm bitcoin genesis site bitcoin
bitcoin экспресс linux bitcoin ethereum nicehash обновление ethereum bitcoin frog ethereum miner bitcoin daemon
bitcoin demo ethereum transactions stake bitcoin bitcoin фарминг ethereum видеокарты ethereum отзывы платформа bitcoin monero новости bitcoin minergate bitcoin c
сборщик bitcoin usb bitcoin bitcoin work bitcoin автокран bitcoin spinner get bitcoin forecast bitcoin
At the technology’s current level of development, smart contracts can be programmed to perform simple functions. For instance, a derivative could be paid out when a financial instrument meets a certain benchmark, with the use of blockchain technology and Bitcoin enabling the payout to be automated. With Etherum being the biggest smart contract network, some top cryptocurrency exchanges like OKEx are also deploying their decentralized smart contract networks like OKEx Chain, where users can launch their decentralized applications, create token trading pairs and trade freely with no time and place restricted.monero новости bitcoin падение forex bitcoin security bitcoin create bitcoin hacking bitcoin bitcoin игры bitcoin исходники youtube bitcoin cronox bitcoin bitcoin evolution
playstation bitcoin bitcoin pool coinder bitcoin 