What is Litecoin (LTC)? A beginner’s guide in 360 words.

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What is Litecoin? A beginners guide in 360 words.

CryptoMarket360 has your 360-word summary on everything cryptocurrency.


Launched in 2011 with the goal of becoming the silver to Bitcoin’s gold, Litecoin is now proving to be just that. As Bitcoin gains market value, its transaction times and fees continue to skyrocket, making it very difficult to use as a currency.

Litecoin, on the other hand, suffers none of that and is quickly becoming the currency traders now use to move Bitcoin between wallets and exchanges. No one transacts Bitcoin to Bitcoin anymore unless they have to. This is what is known as atomic swaps, meaning people can trade currencies across blockchains in real time.

So what exactly is Litecoin in very simple terms?

Technologically speaking, it is very similar to Bitcoin. Litecoin differs in that it generates blocks faster, uses a different form of encryption, and there are more potential Litecoins than Bitcoin (84 Million vs. 21 Million). It is these differences that allow Litecoin transactions to remain quick and its fees relatively low compared to other cryptos.

While this feature recently has been the main attraction for most investors due to Bitcoin’s increasing transaction times and costs, Litecoin’s development team and community are what really make this coin stand out.

Litecoin creator and lead developer Charlie Lee is very open and actively involved within the Litecoin community. Sure everyone has their haters, but this guy demands a tremendous amount of admiration and respect. For example:

“When I released Litecoin there were a lot of other cryptocurrencies that were pre-mined by founders that wanted to be super rich. I preannounced Litecoin on Bitcointalk, so people could mine it from the get-go.”

Also, he announced in December of 2017 that he sold and donated all of his Litecoin in order to avoid further misconstrued conflicts of interest.

Functionality

“Litecoin will provide a niche where it will be more used for payment, whereas Bitcoin will be more used for storing.”

Charlie Lee saw this coming.

Litecoin has remained a relatively stable currency through times of fear and panic over the past few years within the crypto market. Many consider it to be highly underappreciated.

How can you buy Litecoin?

You can buy Litecoin on Coinbase. If you get stuck or need help, send us a message through our Facebook page or email and someone on staff will walk you through the process.