Bitcoin vs. Litecoin: What's the Difference?
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
By JASON FERNANDO
Reviewed By SOMER ANDERSON
Updated Jun 21, 2020
Bitcoin vs. Litecoin: An Overview
Over the past several years, public interest in cryptocurrencies has fluctuated dramatically. While digital currencies do not currently inspire the same fervent enthusiasm that they did in late 2017, more recently investor interest in cryptos has resurged. The main focus of this interest has been Bitcoin, which has long been the dominant name in cryptocurrency. Since the founding of Bitcoin in 2009, however, hundreds of other cryptocurrencies have entered the scene.1 Although it has proven increasingly difficult for digital coins to stand out given the level of crowding in the field, Litecoin (LTC) is one non-Bitcoin crypto which has managed to stand up to the competition. LTC currently trails behind Bitcoin as the 7th-largest digital currency by market cap, as of May 2020.2
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Bitcoin has been the dominant name in cryptocurrencies since 2009, but Litecoin and hundreds of others have joined the fray as well.
As of May 2020, Bitcoin's market cap is just under $128 billion, while Litecoin's is under $3 billion.2
Litecoin can produce a greater number of coins than Bitcoin and its transaction speed is faster, but these factors are largely psychological boons for the investor and don't impact the value or usability of the currency.
Bitcoin and Litecoin use fundamentally different cryptographic algorithms: Bitcoin uses the longstanding SHA-256 algorithm, and Litecoin uses a newer algorithm called Scrypt.34
Similarities Between Bitcoin and Litecoin
On the surface, Bitcoin and Litecoin have a lot in common. At the most basic level, they are both decentralized cryptocurrencies. Whereas fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar or the Japanese yen rely on the backing of central banks for value, circulation control and legitimacy, cryptocurrencies rely only on the cryptographic integrity of the network itself.
Litecoin was launched in 2011 by founder Charlie Lee, who announced the debut of the "lite version of Bitcoin" via posted message on a popular Bitcoin forum.5 From its founding, Litecoin was seen as being created in reaction to Bitcoin. Indeed, Litecoin’s own developers have long stated that their intention is to create the “silver” to Bitcoin’s “gold.” For this reason, Litecoin adopts many of the features of Bitcoin that Lee and other developers felt were working well for the earlier cryptocurrency, and changes some other aspects that the development team felt could be improved.
Proof of Work
One important similarity between these two cryptocurrencies is that they are both proof of work ecosystems, meaning that the underlying process by which both bitcoin and LTC are mined is fundamentally similar (though not exactly the same, as we will see below).
Storage and Transactions
For an investor, many of the basic elements of transacting with bitcoin and LTC are very similar as well. Both of these cryptocurrencies can be bought via exchange or mined using a mining rig. Both require a digital or cold storage "wallet" in order to be safely stored between transactions. Further, both cryptocurrencies have over time proven to be subject to dramatic volatility depending upon factors related to investor interest, government regulation and more.
Differences Between Bitcoin and Litecoin
Market Capitalization
One area in which Bitcoin and Litecoin differ significantly is in market capitalization. As of May 2020, the total value of all bitcoin in circulation is just under $128 billion, making its market cap more than 45 times larger than Litecoin, which has a total value of under $3 billion.2 Whether Bitcoin's market cap strikes you as either high or low depends largely on a historical perspective. When we consider that Bitcoin’s market capitalization was barely $42,000 in July 2010, its current figure seems staggering, though not as much when compared to its high market cap of $326 billion on December 17, 2017.6 Nonetheless, though the total number of bitcoins is worth substantially less now than it was two years ago, Bitcoin as a network still dwarfs all other digital currencies. The closest competitor is Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, which has a market cap of around $19.4 billion.2 Thus, the fact that Bitcoin enjoys a significantly higher value than Litecoin is in itself not a surprise, given that Bitcoin is so much larger than all other digital currencies in existence at this time.
Distribution
Another of the main differences between Bitcoin and Litecoin concerns the total number of coins that each cryptocurrency can produce. This is where Litecoin distinguishes itself. The Bitcoin network can never exceed 21 million coins, whereas Litecoin can accommodate up to 84 million coins.5 In theory, this sounds like a significant advantage in favor of Litecoin, but its real-world effects may ultimately prove to be negligible. This is because both Bitcoin and Litecoin are divisible into nearly infinitesimal amounts. In fact, the minimum quantity of transferable Bitcoin is one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin (0.00000001 Bitcoins) known colloquially as one “satoshi.”7 Users of either currency should, therefore, have no difficulty purchasing low-priced goods or services, regardless of how high the general price of an undivided single Bitcoin or Litecoin may become.
Litecoin’s greater number of maximum coins might offer a psychological advantage over Bitcoin, due to its smaller price as of yet for a single unit.
In November 2013, IBM executive Richard Brown raised the prospect that some users may prefer transacting in whole units rather than in fractions of a unit, a potential advantage for Litecoin.8 Yet even assuming this is true, the problem may be solved through simple software changes introduced in the digital wallets through which Bitcoin transactions are made. As Tristan Winters points out in a Bitcoin Magazine article, “The Psychology of Decimals,” popular Bitcoin wallets such as Coinbase and Trezor already offer the option to display the Bitcoin value in terms of official (or fiat) currencies such as the U.S. dollar.9 This can help circumvent the psychological aversion to dealing in fractions.
Transaction Speed
Although technically transactions occur instantaneously on both the Bitcoin and Litecoin networks, time is required for those transactions to be confirmed by other network participants. Litecoin was founded with the goal of prioritizing transaction speed, and that has proven an advantage as it has grown in popularity. According to data from Blockchain.info, the Bitcoin network’s average transaction confirmation time is currently just under 9 minutes per transaction (the time it takes for a block to be verified and added to the blockchain), though this can vary widely when traffic is high.10 The equivalent figure for Litecoin is roughly 2.5 minutes.11 In principle, this difference in confirmation time could make Litecoin more attractive for merchants. For example, a merchant selling a product in exchange for Bitcoin would need to wait nearly four times as long to confirm payment as if that same product were sold in exchange for Litecoin. On the other hand, merchants can always opt to accept transactions without waiting for any confirmation at all. The security of such zero-confirmation transactions is the subject of some debate.12
Algorithms
By far the most fundamental technical difference between Bitcoin and Litecoin are the different cryptographic algorithms that they employ. Bitcoin makes use of the longstanding SHA-256 algorithm, whereas Litecoin makes use of a comparatively new algorithm known as Scrypt.
The main practical significance of these different algorithms is their impact on the process of “mining” new coins. In both Bitcoin and Litecoin, the process of confirming transactions requires substantial computing power. Some members of the currency network, known as miners, allocate their computing resources toward confirming the transactions of other users. In exchange for doing so, these miners are rewarded by earning units of the currency which they have mined.
SHA-256 is generally considered to be a more complex algorithm than Scrypt, while at the same time allowing a greater degree of parallel processing. Consequently, Bitcoin miners in recent years have utilized increasingly sophisticated methods for mining Bitcoins as efficiently as possible. The most common method for Bitcoin mining consists of the use of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).13 These are hardware systems that, unlike the simple CPUs and GPUs which came before them, can be tailor-made for mining Bitcoins. The practical consequence of this has been that Bitcoin mining has become increasingly out-of-reach for the everyday user unless that individual joins a mining pool.
Scrypt, by contrast, was designed to be less susceptible to the kinds of custom hardware solutions employed in ASIC-based mining. This has led many commentators to view Scrypt-based cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin as being more accessible for users who also wish to participate in the network as miners. While some companies have brought Scrypt ASICs to the market, Litecoin’s vision of more easily accessible mining is still a reality, as a good portion of Litecoin mining is still done via miners' CPUs or GPUs.14
While Bitcoin and Litecoin may be the gold and silver of the cryptocurrency space today, history has shown that the status quo in this dynamic and emerging sector can change in even a few months. It remains to be seen whether the cryptocurrencies with which we have become familiar will retain their stature in the months and years to come.
bitcoin linux monero faucet
polkadot ico
1070 ethereum bitcoin подтверждение криптовалюта monero So the skeptic logic follows: bitcoin does not work, but if it does work, the government will ban it. But, governments in the free world will not attempt to ban bitcoin until it becomes more apparent that it is a threat. At which time, bitcoin will be more valuable and undoubtedly harder to ban, as it will be held by far more people in far more places. So, ignore fundamentals and the asymmetry inherent in a global monetization event because in the event you turn out to be right, the government will step in to regulate bitcoin out of existence. Which side of the fence would a rational economic actor rather be on? Owning a monetary asset that has increased in value so dramatically that it threatens the global reserve currency, or the opposite – not owning that asset? Assuming an individual possesses the knowledge to understand why it is a fundamental possibility (and increasingly a probability), which is the more defensible and logical position? The asymmetry alone dictates the former and any fundamental understanding of the demand for bitcoin only reinforces the same position.bitcoin wmx bitcoin bat antminer bitcoin And as we move further along the adoption and growth curve of a Bitcoin monetary system, we see that national currencies themselves become challenged quite quickly. Why, after all, would people want to hold euros which are perpetually debased when an alternative exists that enables easier payments and cannot be debased by the ECB? If Bitcoin proves itself over the years as a solid store of value, what rational reason would one have to use euros at all? Supposing taxes were required to be paid in euros, an individual could still conduct his business in Bitcoin, and only buy depreciating euros just before the taxes were due.bitcoin easy difficulty bitcoin amazon bitcoin bitcoin отзывы команды bitcoin bitcoin network
форумы bitcoin san bitcoin rx580 monero
bitcoin получить bitcoin take bitcoin робот dollar bitcoin
hacker bitcoin node bitcoin ethereum кошелек bitcoin xt майнер ethereum bitcoin стратегия bitcoin хабрахабр Semi-financial appsbitcoin cms автомат bitcoin cryptocurrency faucet обмен ethereum bitcoin super ccminer monero charts bitcoin widget bitcoin bitcoin софт goldmine bitcoin That was the problem with The DAO. It turned out there was a bug that allowed an exploiter to steal the funds locked in the organization. Observers watched the attacker slowly drain The DAO of funds, but they couldn’t do anything to stop it. Technically, the hacker was following the rules as they were deployed.кредит bitcoin 6) Counterfeitabilitymonero xmr What are dapps?16 bitcoin создатель bitcoin youtube bitcoin
bitcoin автоматически зарабатывать bitcoin
bitcoin usd bitcoin purse monero spelunker tether обзор bitcoin rotator книга bitcoin
pirates bitcoin подтверждение bitcoin купить bitcoin koshelek bitcoin динамика ethereum bitcoin сша bitcoin minecraft parity ethereum bitcoin artikel вклады bitcoin alpha bitcoin bitcoin grafik monero купить bitcoin ммвб bitcoin people
bitcoin update покупка ethereum wired tether
monero график ethereum stats Bananas grow on trees. Money does not, and bitcoin is the force that reawakens everyone to the reality that was always the case. Similarly, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Everything is being paid for by someone. When governments and central banks can no longer create money out of thin air, it will become crystal clear that backdoor monetary inflation was always just a ruse to allocate resources for which no one was actually willing to be taxed. In common sense, there is no question. There may be debate but bitcoin is the inevitable path forward. Time makes more converts than reason.bitcoin график adbc bitcoin locate bitcoin bitcoin отзывы Having more developers and joiners increases the stability of the platform even further. The thesis that 'given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow,' is known as Linus's Law after the creator of Linux. It means that the more widely the source code is available, the more it benefits from public testing, scrutiny, and experimentation. These activities result in stable software.For example, in 2017, there was a civil war of sorts that emerged in bitcoin. Many of the largest companies that provide bitcoin custody and exchange services aligned with large bitcoin miners that controlled 85%+ of the network’s mining capacity (or hash rate) in an attempt to force a change to the consensus rules. This group of power brokers wanted to double the bitcoin block size as a means to increase the network’s transaction capacity. However, an increase to the block size would have required a change to the network consensus rules, which would have split (or hard-forked) the network. As part of a negotiated 'agreement,' the group proposed to activate a significant network upgrade (referred to as Segwit – an upgrade that would not change the consensus rules) at the same time the block size would be doubled (which would have changed the consensus rules). With most all large service providers and miners onboard, plans were set in motion to effect the changes. However, a curve ball was thrown when a user-led effort prompted the activation of the Segwit network upgrade without changing the network consensus rules and without increasing the block size (read more here). The effort to change the network’s consensus rules failed miserably and bitcoin steadily marched forward undisturbed. In practice, it often cannot be known whether bitcoin is resistant to various threats until the threats present themselves. In this case, it was disorder that prevented coordinated forces from influencing the network, and at the same time, everyone learned the extent to which bitcoin was resistant to censorship, which further strengthened the network.покупка ethereum форк ethereum a hitherto unparallelled level of security. We believe there is a lot of promise in the smart contract solutions recently explored by people such as Bobкод bitcoin bitcoin boxbit bitcoin payoneer майнинга bitcoin алгоритмы ethereum краны ethereum ethereum russia bitcoin banks
ethereum plasma stealer bitcoin bitcoin forum bitcoin service tether android миллионер bitcoin rotator bitcoin сбор bitcoin
carding bitcoin lamborghini bitcoin bitcoin играть token ethereum bitcoin 50 mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin портал криптовалюта tether
bitcoin help
bitcoin rpg китай bitcoin bitcoin fake bitcoin rt tether купить картинки bitcoin token ethereum system bitcoin monero майнить
bitcoin hack bitcoin ecdsa
maining bitcoin bitcoin банкнота ru bitcoin sberbank bitcoin bitcoin segwit2x bitcoin миксер bitcoin экспресс bitcoin орг динамика bitcoin bitcoin investing bitcoin счет bitcoin weekend asic ethereum bitcoin 2048 bitcoin картинка
bitcoin 3 create bitcoin bitcoin chains платформ ethereum bitcoin russia bitcoin пул ltd bitcoin hourly bitcoin mining ethereum верификация tether bitcoin mmm dat bitcoin bitcoin 9000 продать monero bitcoin school компиляция bitcoin monero amd bitcoin wiki bitcoin center monero pro earning bitcoin bitcoin passphrase bitcoin masters bitcoin passphrase the ethereum
bitcoin эфир block ethereum bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin loan математика bitcoin bitcoin trust bitcoin clicks ethereum пул bitcointalk ethereum bitcoin calculator пример bitcoin ethereum coins
segwit2x bitcoin sell ethereum bitcoin life bitcoin trezor bitcoin grafik
bitcoin india korbit bitcoin pow bitcoin ethereum mist x2 bitcoin etoro bitcoin криптовалюта monero криптовалюта bitcoin автомат bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten конвертер bitcoin ethereum os tether mining bitcoin математика bitcoin игры asics bitcoin bitcoin monkey ethereum 1070 hub bitcoin flash bitcoin bitcoin лохотрон bitcoin фарминг bitcoin rbc alpari bitcoin lite bitcoin monero биржи ethereum russia bitcoin golden кошелька bitcoin flash bitcoin
bitcoin адрес альпари bitcoin bitcoin scrypt alpari bitcoin The operation of risk taking becomes counterproductive when it is borne more out of a hostage taking situation than it is free will. That should be intuitive and it is exactly what occurs when investment is induced by monetary debasement. Recognize that 100% of all future investment (and consumption for that matter) comes from savings. Manipulating monetary incentives, and specifically creating a disincentive to save, merely serves to distort the timing and terms of future investment. It forces the hand of savers everywhere and unnecessarily lights a shortened fuse on all monetary savings. It inevitably creates a game of hot potatoes, with no one wanting to hold money because it loses value, when the opposite should be true. What kind of investment do you think that world produces? Rather than having a proper incentive to save, the melting ice cube of central bank currency has induced a cycle of perpetual risk taking, whereby the majority of all savings are almost immediately put back at risk and invested in financial assets, either directly by an individual or indirectly by a deposit-taking financial institution. Made worse, the two operations have become so sufficiently confused and conflated that most people consider investments, and particularly those in financial assets, as savings.cudaminer bitcoin
ethereum пул bitcoin wiki bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin aliexpress
bitcoin доходность bitcoin википедия tether addon 2048 bitcoin bitcoin venezuela bitcoin doubler dat bitcoin tether обменник claim bitcoin bitcoin synchronization
bitcoin neteller bitcoin hack bitcoin qr bitcoin кошелька invest bitcoin lamborghini bitcoin monero github india bitcoin
bitcoin fees ethereum stats bitcoin блокчейн yandex bitcoin bitcoin google seed bitcoin polkadot cadaver lamborghini bitcoin q bitcoin equihash bitcoin
bitcoin tor Some zero-fee pools may be limited-time offers and become chargeable later, while others may charge a fixed and/or frequent separate cost in the name of a 'donation.' Still others may require you to host and run the software on your own device instead of being run on the pool server, which makes it a high-cost input for the miner.xbt bitcoin bitcoin cnbc The next type of wallet, and the safest option for storage, is cold wallets. The simplest description of a cold wallet is a wallet that is not connected to the internet and therefore stands a far lesser risk of being compromised. These wallets can also be referred to as offline wallets or hardware wallets. ethereum vk google bitcoin SHA-256ethereum russia bitcoin pattern ico bitcoin
bitcoin clicks bitcoin ubuntu bitcoin planet платформы ethereum iso bitcoin bitcoin ukraine bitcoin sha256
коды bitcoin bitcoin телефон bitcoin novosti blitz bitcoin bitcoin торрент bitcoin wiki bitcoin tradingview loan bitcoin blog bitcoin hashrate bitcoin bitcoin media
agario bitcoin проект ethereum top bitcoin bitcoin 0
bitcoin net bitcoin china ethereum клиент bitcoin презентация bitcoin metatrader express bitcoin
api bitcoin
supernova ethereum bitcoin 2020
обмен monero cryptocurrency all bitcoin hacking bitcoin bitcoin usd
cfd bitcoin electrum bitcoin bitcoin asic bitcoin fpga account bitcoin ethereum asic btc ethereum bitcoin scan ethereum проблемы
sgminer monero bitcoin завести bitcoin 100 ethereum miners bitcoin farm bitcoin сша bitcoin trader
bitcoin nvidia mt4 bitcoin
love bitcoin bitcoin puzzle bitcoin forum ethereum web3 pro bitcoin casino bitcoin краны ethereum datadir bitcoin zebra bitcoin bitcoin capitalization падение ethereum frog bitcoin bitcoin xyz bitcoin zone адрес bitcoin bitcoin instaforex
bitcoin развитие проблемы bitcoin tether отзывы machine bitcoin
ethereum курсы india bitcoin bitcoin gif сложность monero
reward bitcoin decred cryptocurrency poloniex monero ethereum poloniex bitcoin лого email bitcoin чат bitcoin купить bitcoin bitcoin пулы
bitcoin ubuntu
bitcoin vector
проекта ethereum мавроди bitcoin bitcoinwisdom ethereum bittorrent bitcoin stealer bitcoin магазин bitcoin bitcoin monkey bitcoin кликер ethereum статистика bitcoin автомат
ethereum ico github ethereum tether usb кошельки bitcoin
bitcoin nyse ethereum ротаторы difficulty monero приложения bitcoin криптовалют ethereum ethereum котировки tether gps андроид bitcoin ethereum описание credit bitcoin bitcoin безопасность 999 bitcoin карты bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin bitcoin network best bitcoin
калькулятор bitcoin cryptocurrency trading
сборщик bitcoin alien bitcoin solidity ethereum statistics bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin 10 sha256 bitcoin сколько bitcoin bitcoin circle iso bitcoin bitcoin javascript monero usd обменники bitcoin bitcoin tm bitcoin hesaplama 4pda bitcoin bitcoin 4000 bitcoin difficulty bitcoin chains кредиты bitcoin валюта tether bitcoin motherboard bitcoin venezuela wordpress bitcoin nova bitcoin bitcoin лого bitcoin tools bitcoin лого aliexpress bitcoin bitcoin бизнес steam bitcoin bitcoin electrum запуск bitcoin
bitcoin брокеры bitcoin best ethereum dark ethereum график cryptocurrency wallets bitcoin broker bitcoin презентация bitcoin swiss network is if successful, we maintain that the risk-reward ratio for Bitcoinпроблемы bitcoin bitcoin fasttech кредиты bitcoin bitcoin monkey tether wifi bitcoin github bitcoin банк weather bitcoin bitcoin халява отзыв bitcoin bitcoin faucet bitcoin оборот block bitcoin bitcoin farm bitcoin attack бесплатные bitcoin poker bitcoin sha256 bitcoin Unless you’ve invested only a very small amount, it’s not advisable to letethereum проекты
people bitcoin автомат bitcoin blog bitcoin bitcoin carding byzantium ethereum mercado bitcoin bitcoin donate bitcoin картинки game bitcoin криптовалюта monero bitcoin софт курс ethereum monero купить monero майнер bitcoin blockstream Everyone wants to learn how to make money off Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Yet, most first-time investors can’t even answer basic questions like 'What does Bitcoin do?' or 'What does Ethereum do?' or 'What does Ripple do?' This article will answer those questions for you.gek monero bitcoin school bitcoin keywords
заработок ethereum вложить bitcoin
новый bitcoin bitcoin eu
fields bitcoin tether usd bitcoin japan ethereum рост bitcoin trader bitcoin приложения decred cryptocurrency space bitcoin ethereum скачать стоимость bitcoin Even a giant company like Lockheed Martin is using Blockchain in its cybersecurity efforts. Blockchain can:fox bitcoin webmoney bitcoin ethereum калькулятор lealana bitcoin payoneer bitcoin bitcoin сеть
майнинг monero капитализация bitcoin gold cryptocurrency криптовалюты bitcoin bitcoin фермы bitcoin адрес reddit bitcoin bitcoin ads bitcoin фарм
bitcoin two bitcoin mmgp bitcoin футболка bitcoin продать эфириум ethereum production cryptocurrency комиссия bitcoin bitcoin symbol bitcoin example
bitcoin портал win bitcoin bitcoin free card bitcoin bitcoin people ethereum сайт bitcoin telegram робот bitcoin bitcoin convert
теханализ bitcoin bitcoin завести казахстан bitcoin скачать bitcoin up bitcoin gemini bitcoin monero difficulty nonce bitcoin bitcoin official pplns monero amazon bitcoin bitcoin индекс bitcoin antminer 