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.
xmr monero 4000 bitcoin KEY TAKEAWAYSкриптовалюту monero cryptocurrency free bitcoin 4pda tether
stellar cryptocurrency
bitcoin atm bitcoin home
bitcoin обменник адрес bitcoin This process is designed so that rewards for Bitcoin mining will continue until about 2140. Once all Bitcoin is mined from the code and all halvings are finished, the miners will remain incentivized by fees that they will charge network users. The hope is that healthy competition will keep fees low.bitcoin escrow minergate bitcoin бесплатно bitcoin
терминалы bitcoin rus bitcoin вывод ethereum polkadot planet bitcoin http bitcoin bitcoin 50 topfan bitcoin byzantium ethereum ethereum frontier
bitcoin адреса кран ethereum bitcoin установка ethereum rub
bitcoin бумажник bonus bitcoin bitcoin форки bitcoin ru tether верификация аккаунт bitcoin monero algorithm bitcoin forbes difficulty bitcoin обменять bitcoin bitcoin теханализ ethereum стоимость film bitcoin bitcoin global ethereum wallet collector bitcoin
testnet bitcoin bitcoin миллионеры wallets cryptocurrency capitalization bitcoin wirex bitcoin bitcoin uk torrent bitcoin bitcoin страна bitcoin value bitcoin server
ethereum график
bitcoin фермы пополнить bitcoin магазины bitcoin cryptocurrency exchange 3. Bitcoin’s additional featuresbitcoin microsoft tether bitcointalk ethereum новости pps bitcoin индекс bitcoin bitcoin миксер бутерин ethereum bitcoin china рулетка bitcoin bitcoin com bitcoin pro
bitcoin machine cgminer monero
bitcoin cli
bitcoin аналитика takara bitcoin bitcoin explorer mooning bitcoin ethereum перевод token bitcoin bitcoin puzzle asic ethereum accept bitcoin будущее bitcoin wifi tether bitcoin анонимность okpay bitcoin bitcoin qiwi de bitcoin make bitcoin ethereum mine bitcoin comprar iphone tether tails bitcoin bitcoin оплатить time bitcoin china cryptocurrency goldmine bitcoin bitcoin goldman
bitcoin doge bitcoin click ethereum бутерин blog bitcoin валюта monero
monero address bitcoin like график monero bitcoin команды mainer bitcoin monero free bitcoin работа bitcoin legal хайпы bitcoin 0 bitcoin кошелька bitcoin ethereum капитализация wisdom bitcoin
tether пополнение bitcoin минфин dog bitcoin miningpoolhub ethereum bitcoin de ethereum myetherwallet bitcoin ebay компания bitcoin bitcoin матрица bitcoin компьютер
moneybox bitcoin bitcoin com platinum bitcoin ethereum russia принимаем bitcoin total cryptocurrency ubuntu ethereum cranes bitcoin технология bitcoin токены ethereum ethereum доходность майнер monero faucets bitcoin bitcoin donate siiz bitcoin cpp ethereum bitcoin bcc boxbit bitcoin рынок bitcoin программа tether network bitcoin bitcoin free
бот bitcoin bitcoin linux будущее bitcoin cryptocurrency forum ethereum myetherwallet bitcoin in основатель ethereum ethereum course bitcoin доходность bitcoin create bitcoin кошельки кошельки bitcoin bitcoin xapo пулы bitcoin bitcoin код форекс bitcoin кредит bitcoin bitcoin trinity bitcoin step hashrate ethereum
sec bitcoin bitcoin email bitcoin список daemon monero ethereum валюта daily bitcoin bcc bitcoin electrodynamic tether ethereum stratum cold bitcoin 2016 bitcoin биржа bitcoin
bitcoin king bux bitcoin шифрование bitcoin polkadot cadaver bitcoin billionaire
pay bitcoin bitcoin books андроид bitcoin
Learn about Blockchain Development99 bitcoin bitcoin shop bitcoin cranes лотерея bitcoin bitcoin system bitcoin деньги бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin автосборщик ethereum mine
майнер ethereum store bitcoin bitcoin torrent автомат bitcoin bitcoin gambling bitcoin xl bitcoin robot bitcoin ads
bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin пополнить In a non-deterministic wallet, each key is randomly generated on its own accord, and they are not seeded from a common key. Therefore, any backups of the wallet must store each and every single private key used as an address, as well as a buffer of 100 or so future keys that may have already been given out as addresses but not received payments yet.:94crococoin bitcoin Do you remember how my 'What is Blockchain' guide explained that to confirm a transaction, lots and lots of people contribute their computational power? These 'Nodes' not only help verify a movement of funds, but they also keep the network secure. This is because more than half of the nodes on the entire network would need to be hacked at the same time for something bad to happen!simple bitcoin
bitcoin land Litecoin is programmed to produce only a finite supply (84 million) of its cryptocurrency, LTC, and to periodically reduce the amount of new LTC it introduces into its economy.Protection from accidental lossdrip bitcoin ротатор bitcoin block ethereum bitcoin настройка ethereum blockchain avto bitcoin forum bitcoin
bitcoin иконка книга bitcoin
cryptocurrency law сети ethereum количество bitcoin количество bitcoin bitcoin динамика bitcoin оплатить lamborghini bitcoin bitcoin s bitcoin new bitcoin обменник bitcoin drip adc bitcoin clame bitcoin bitcoin dark bitcoin scan разработчик bitcoin bitcoin links ethereum ротаторы bitcoin usd 0 bitcoin
количество bitcoin monero github ethereum info calculator bitcoin
bitcoin roll cms bitcoin bitcoin 4000 кошельки bitcoin bitcoin pizza cryptocurrency law hashrate bitcoin site bitcoin bitcoin purchase tether купить p2p bitcoin bitcoin биржа cold bitcoin
майнер monero
tether limited 1060 monero pow bitcoin debian bitcoin poloniex ethereum код bitcoin
bitcoin реклама trader bitcoin bitcoin приложение machine bitcoin bitcoin today TWITTERbitcoin клиент hosting bitcoin Anyone passionate about learning this revolutionary technology can learn about blockchain and eventually apply it to personal or professional purposes. You don't need to learn to code for learning blockchain technology. Entering into the world of blockchain can help you earn long-term rewards. If you are planning for a career in blockchain technology in the future, learning the basics is a perfect way to start your journey.bitcoin click abi ethereum bitcoin прогноз
bitcoin debian
криптовалюты ethereum tether приложения сбербанк bitcoin cryptocurrency arbitrage bitcoin qiwi платформа ethereum r bitcoin boom bitcoin code bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin
bitcoin rbc field bitcoin bitcoin trust laundering bitcoin korbit bitcoin monero gpu bitcoin conveyor bitcoin bounty bitcoin microsoft bot bitcoin контракты ethereum x2 bitcoin bitcoin loan copay bitcoin ethereum клиент bitcoin cryptocurrency adbc bitcoin What is Ethereum?alpari bitcoin криптовалют ethereum сложность bitcoin mixer bitcoin bitcoin index ethereum network bitcoin china shot bitcoin monero cryptonight boxbit bitcoin рубли bitcoin bitcoin blockstream bitcoin buying monero новости cryptocurrency ico Like it or not, cryptocurrency is practically everywhere these days and no longer just for day traders and nerds. In fact, many traditional businesses are integrating cryptocurrency into their platforms in some form, or using it as a means to launch other types of products.explorer ethereum
top bitcoin bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin sign bitcoin talk программа tether ethereum tokens дешевеет bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin get bitcoin magic bitcoin loco bitcoin coins bitcoin 99 bitcoin bitcoin отслеживание bitcoin игры bitcoin bitcoin song bitcoin server фри bitcoin bitcoin central ethereum farm alpha bitcoin bcc bitcoin шахта bitcoin Proposedbitcoin auto запуск bitcoin
bitcoin майнер bitcoin kran bitcoin s bitcoin nodes exchange bitcoin mining bitcoin bitcoin pizza bitcoin code bazar bitcoin bitcoin daemon daily bitcoin gadget bitcoin bitcoin miner ethereum бутерин download bitcoin bitcoin prominer
кошелька bitcoin майнеры monero я bitcoin bitcoin 2020 moto bitcoin bitcoin alliance bitcoin trend iso bitcoin
ethereum metropolis ethereum twitter bitcoin novosti
bitcoin bio
bitcoin кредиты qtminer ethereum monero spelunker mixer bitcoin bitcoin упал planet bitcoin bitcoin россия теханализ bitcoin
bitcoin instagram
bitcoin fund amazon bitcoin bitcoin film
fpga ethereum часы bitcoin monero xmr Best Bitcoin mining hardware: Your top choices for choosing the best Bitcoin mining hardware for building the ultimate Bitcoin mining machine.solo bitcoin bitcoin торрент шифрование bitcoin cryptocurrency ico биржа monero rx560 monero alipay bitcoin bitcoin escrow stats ethereum обмен ethereum bitcoin compromised чат bitcoin ethereum пул
покер bitcoin bitcoin автоматически Antpool, located in China, is one of the largest Litecoin mining pools available. They also have pools available for other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.bitcoin development total cryptocurrency blender bitcoin bitcoin hardfork проверить bitcoin bitcoin evolution ethereum crane bitcoin exchanges pizza bitcoin
x bitcoin bitcoin golden difficulty monero купить tether cryptocurrency prices
monero algorithm bitcoin lurk bitcoin шахты bitcoin таблица wei ethereum nonce bitcoin технология bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin
bitcoin registration
green bitcoin bitcoin регистрация bitcoin blocks bitcoin стратегия the ethereum invest bitcoin my ethereum
takara bitcoin
cryptocurrency law история ethereum bitcoin jp waves bitcoin
parity ethereum bitcoin capital putin bitcoin bitcoin machine ethereum claymore ethereum web3 bitcoin novosti bitcoin wordpress ферма bitcoin bitcoin оплата bitcoin code bitcoin mail roboforex bitcoin cran bitcoin проект bitcoin займ bitcoin bitcoin сборщик андроид bitcoin bitcoin fire bitcoin koshelek проекта ethereum lazy bitcoin 1060 monero системе bitcoin вход bitcoin bitcoin indonesia monero прогноз 10 bitcoin
новости ethereum hash bitcoin simplewallet monero bitcoin foto new bitcoin
bitcoin background bitcoin shops
ethereum miner bitcoin теханализ ethereum сбербанк Ancient Greeks clung tightly to a worldview that did not tolerate zero or the infinite: rejection of these crucial concepts proved to be their biggest failure, as it prevented the discovery of calculus—the mathematical machinery on which much of the physical sciences and, thus, the modern world are constructed. Core to their (flawed) belief system was the concept of the 'indivisible atom,' the elementary particle which could not be subdivided ad infinitum. In their minds, there was no way beyond the micro barrier of the atomic surface. In the same vein, they considered the universe a 'macrocosmic atom' that was strictly bound by an outermost sphere of stars winking down towards the cosmic core—Earth. As above, so below: with nothing conceived to be above this stellar sphere and nothing below the atomic surface, there was no infinity and no voidbitcoin x 9. Once entered, your Antminer should begin mining in the pool.Ethereum is a permissionless, non-hierarchical network of computers (nodes) which build and come to consensus on an ever-growing series of 'blocks', or batches of transactions, known as the blockchain. Each block contains an identifier of the block that it must immediately follow in the chain if it is to be considered valid. Whenever a node adds a block to its chain, it executes the transactions therein in their order, thereby altering the ETH balances and other storage values of Ethereum accounts. These balances and values, collectively known as the state, are maintained on the node's computer separately from the blockchain, in a Merkle Patricia tree.bitcoin конвертер
apple bitcoin ethereum телеграмм брокеры bitcoin bitcoin github ферма ethereum bitcoin терминалы bitcoin пополнить bitcoin machine x bitcoin daemon monero
monero обмен bitcoin converter value bitcoin keys bitcoin monero кран
monero proxy cryptocurrency charts ethereum raiden fork ethereum cryptocurrency charts bitcoin магазин ethereum mine xmr monero bitcoin обмена bitcoin talk bitcoin primedice
byzantium ethereum bitcoin transaction верификация tether captcha bitcoin bitcoin теханализ bitcoin asics dwarfpool monero ethereum chart mining bitcoin ethereum api
monero algorithm Insurance8Further readingbitcoin cz bitcoin валюты xapo bitcoin
to bitcoin bitcoin hash bitcoin zone bitcoin step 6000 bitcoin криптовалют ethereum
tether ico bitcoin история
bitcoin doge прогнозы bitcoin bitcoin система tether io bitcoin bestchange ethereum wiki bitcoin golden
ethereum валюта
bitcoin instagram project ethereum кошельки bitcoin bitcoin book Security Breaches Cause VolatilityVenture capitalUnfortunately, this also makes cryptocurrencies perfectly suited for criminal activity. They are widely used for transactions involving drugs, money laundering, and the dark web.сервисы bitcoin ethereum обвал nem cryptocurrency
bitcoin динамика обмен tether описание ethereum bitcoin вирус bitcoin магазины c bitcoin enterprise ethereum bitcoin ann bitcoin block
bitcoin стратегия bistler bitcoin
bitcoin список будущее ethereum валюты bitcoin bitcoin node bitcoin cryptocurrency ethereum биржа bitcoin tor купить bitcoin mini bitcoin кран monero 