Like many other cryptocurrencies that emerged in the early days of the industry, Litecoin started as a fork of Bitcoin with only minor modifications to its blockchain code. Still, within just two years, it grew from an obscure coin into what became known as “digital silver.”
Creation of Litecoin
Litecoin was founded by former Google engineer Charlie Lee. The first version (0.8.5.1) was released on October 7, 2011, although Lee himself considers October 13 as the coin’s official launch date.
Until early 2013, Litecoin remained relatively unknown. However, that January it experienced explosive growth, surging more than 20 times in value. By the end of November 2013, its market capitalization had reached $1 billion. Many saw it as a strong alternative that could potentially take Bitcoin’s place if the leading cryptocurrency ever lost its value.
Litecoin Technology
As a fork of Bitcoin, Litecoin inherited much of its structure, but Charlie Lee introduced several important changes to the code. These modifications made transactions faster, cheaper, and more secure compared to Bitcoin.
Litecoin was never intended to replace Bitcoin. Instead, it was designed to complement it. While Bitcoin is often called “digital gold,” Litecoin earned the nickname “digital silver.”
One of its biggest advantages is speed: Bitcoin transactions can take 30 minutes or longer to confirm, whereas Litecoin transactions are typically completed in about 3 minutes and at a much lower cost.
How to Get Litecoin
Like most cryptocurrencies, Litecoin can be easily purchased on nearly all major crypto exchanges after completing a simple registration.
It can also be mined. Unlike Bitcoin, Litecoin uses a different hashing algorithm called Scrypt. This algorithm relies more on memory than on raw processing power. As a result, Litecoin can be mined using regular computers equipped with powerful graphics cards, although it is not the most profitable option compared to other coins. Additionally, Litecoin has a much higher maximum coin supply, which makes mining it considerably easier than mining Bitcoin.
Development Prospects
Today, Litecoin boasts one of the strongest and most active communities in the crypto space, supported by its highly visible founder, Charlie Lee. His active media presence has helped increase awareness and adoption of the coin.
Litecoin is also widely accepted as a payment method. Users can currently buy airline tickets, Amazon gift cards, food, and various other goods and services with LTC. One notable attempt to boost its use as an everyday payment tool was the LitePay project (a service similar to BitPay), but the initiative faced challenges and was eventually shut down.
On the technical side, while the Litecoin blockchain is not the fastest available, it continues to evolve. In 2017, the network received two major upgrades, SegWit and Lightning Network, which significantly improved its transaction speed and overall capacity.
