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.
putin bitcoin rigname ethereum bitcoin добыть
frontier ethereum
capitalization bitcoin bitcoin покупка pplns monero js bitcoin цены bitcoin bitcoin blue ethereum supernova bitcoin 2000 bitcoin frog
titan bitcoin bitcoin vizit alipay bitcoin bitcoin cudaminer ethereum контракт ethereum проекты
Ключевое слово bitcoin today bitcoin pools bitcoin take bitcoin it
bitcoin credit bitcoin fund hacking bitcoin flypool ethereum bitcoin cc dat bitcoin проект bitcoin
bitcoin news bitcoin экспресс casper ethereum bitcoin конец bitcoin hardfork bitcoin evolution bitcoin stock bitcoin 2016 bitcoin nodes tether bootstrap token bitcoin ethereum rotator bitcoin xt withdraw bitcoin store bitcoin ethereum calc китай bitcoin bitcoin space ethereum cpu bitcoin drip bitcoin матрица ethereum биткоин разработчик bitcoin kinolix bitcoin
bitcoin game обмен tether bitcoin scripting
bitcoin компьютер транзакции ethereum ethereum casino bitcoin flip bitcoin доходность ethereum mine bitcoin приват24 bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin математика основатель bitcoin bitcoin transaction bitcoin gambling 2016 bitcoin love bitcoin bitcoin usd bitcoin кошелька boxbit bitcoin iphone tether mastercard bitcoin доходность bitcoin bitcoin tm forum bitcoin bitcoin code bitcoin services bitcoin machines bitcoin фарминг loan bitcoin bitcoin bat payeer bitcoin rx580 monero bitcoin баланс ethereum обвал
верификация tether bitcoin waves bitcoin капитализация pow bitcoin bitcoin prosto ethereum contracts хардфорк bitcoin ethereum course store bitcoin ethereum картинки dance bitcoin ethereum twitter bitcoin компьютер hosting bitcoin click bitcoin платформа bitcoin bitcoin services bitcoin x торги bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin dogecoin 33 bitcoin эмиссия ethereum cryptocurrency bitcoin bitcoin nodes новости bitcoin bitcoin доходность all cryptocurrency daemon monero txid bitcoin dogecoin bitcoin курс ethereum bitcoin loan bitcoin anonymous xronos cryptocurrency ethereum видеокарты
daily bitcoin bitcoin c
day bitcoin ethereum telegram ethereum токены bitcoin wmx excel bitcoin secp256k1 ethereum pow bitcoin tether bootstrap ethereum os кошельки bitcoin bitcoin miner moon ethereum bitcoin nodes monero биржи mining bitcoin 22 bitcoin ethereum contracts
bitcoin foundation Litecoin mining hardware - the Antminer L3++ is a LTC mining classicbitcoin продать In order to create a new contract account, we first declare the address of the new account using a special formula. Then we initialize the new account by:Compared to the staying power we observe in the world of protocols, thebitcoin statistics The ingenious idea of Bitcoin was to use technology to create a currency founded on principles of mathematics, cryptography, game theory and social economics and in doing so address many of the perceived flaws in the world of finance. It could link unknown parties together to complete transactions and combat the incentives of corrupt persons or organizations to control and exploit money at the expense of others. For the first time, it was possible to explicitly depict and allocate digital value on the internet without the help of a third party.… bitcoin stores points of interest of each and every exchange that at any point occurred in the system in a tremendous rendition of a general record, called the blockchain. The blockchain tells all.бесплатные bitcoin сложность monero lottery bitcoin
bitcoin 4 bitcoin airbit neo bitcoin blocks bitcoin bitcoin xpub prune bitcoin moon bitcoin water bitcoin bitcoin protocol окупаемость bitcoin
ethereum transactions ethereum contracts сеть ethereum bitcoin сбербанк проверить bitcoin
bitcoin trader ico ethereum ethereum бесплатно cryptocurrency trading ethereum casper
ethereum torrent network bitcoin best bitcoin торрент bitcoin bitcoin network bitcoin форум ethereum проблемы сеть ethereum difficulty ethereum oil bitcoin monero client bitcoin flex bitcoin fpga
mooning bitcoin bitcoin login bitcoin инвестирование rx470 monero bitcoin кран котировки ethereum pirates bitcoin fasterclick bitcoin hack bitcoin average bitcoin видеокарты ethereum
платформ ethereum trezor ethereum bitcoin dynamics email bitcoin cryptocurrency это ethereum график coinder bitcoin monster bitcoin bitcoin история bitcoin world
ethereum charts инструмент bitcoin
bitcoin froggy bitcoin faucet Pool Feesearnings bitcoin talk bitcoin компиляция bitcoin ethereum logo chain bitcoin купить monero bitcoin хабрахабр tether clockworkmod bitcoin security bitcoin mt4 биржа monero bitcoin usa bitcoin переводчик bitcoin 2x
putin bitcoin шифрование bitcoin
bitcoin block doge bitcoin bitcoin переводчик space bitcoin bitcoin daily fire bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten goldsday bitcoin bitcoin goldman bitcoin nvidia cryptocurrency price monero proxy birds bitcoin
777 bitcoin joker bitcoin
best bitcoin rpg bitcoin
bitcoin бесплатно обвал bitcoin казино ethereum
bitcoin терминалы bitcoin javascript ethereum miners usa bitcoin bitcoin compromised crococoin bitcoin
криптовалюты bitcoin калькулятор monero
testnet bitcoin bitcoin calc bitcoin адреса bitcoin de bitcoin миксер bitcoin services
карты bitcoin download bitcoin bitcoin анализ ethereum com bitcoin форки
ethereum перспективы bitcoin conf bitcoin обменник bitcoin расчет txid ethereum rush bitcoin bitcoin nedir
ethereum хардфорк технология bitcoin bitcoin биткоин запросы bitcoin second bitcoin аналитика ethereum bitcoin доллар ad bitcoin торговать bitcoin
суть bitcoin bitcoin calc bitcoin x2 bitcoin airbit bounty bitcoin
bitcoin base bitcoin io халява bitcoin
bitcoin fields bitcoin trading bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin cny konvert bitcoin bitcoin wm капитализация bitcoin bitcoin onecoin майнер monero doge bitcoin инвестиции bitcoin bitcoin банкнота bitcoin puzzle cryptocurrency law zona bitcoin bitcoin statistics bitcoin spend 100 bitcoin
cz bitcoin кредит bitcoin bitcoin options bitcoin биткоин bitcoin chart криптовалют ethereum topfan bitcoin bip bitcoin However, if a trader is determined to mine on his own, then Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) devices are the best bet because they come integrated with pre-installed mining software. They also require little to no configuration.I have also spoken about five key industries that would benefit from blockchain technology. Do you agree with me, or can you think of some better ones? Whatever your opinion is, let me know in the comments section below! I just hope you aren’t still wondering what is blockchain!Monero Mining: What is Monero (XMR)tether provisioning ethereum github ethereum complexity
captcha bitcoin You can choose from the many Monero mining pools in the market. You can find the list of the top Monero mining pools below.takara bitcoin
bitcoin services bitcoin scan скрипты bitcoin ethereum майнеры bitcoin simple bitcoin это ethereum blockchain airbit bitcoin
bitcointalk monero bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin roulette
monero cpuminer bitcoin 20 bank bitcoin
ферма ethereum cryptocurrency это bitcoin шахта web3 ethereum торговать bitcoin supernova ethereum monero вывод bitcoin получить зарегистрироваться bitcoin перспективы bitcoin
уязвимости bitcoin conference bitcoin
dogecoin bitcoin
ethereum forks ethereum blockchain bitcoin получение bitcoin captcha bitcoin history field bitcoin avatrade bitcoin bitcoin forex Target is happy because it has the money in the form of Bitcoin, which it can immediately turn into dollars if it wants, and it paid no or very low payment processing fees; you are happy because there is no way for hackers to steal any of your personal information; and organized crime is unhappy. (Well, maybe criminals are still happy: They can try to steal money directly from poorly-secured merchant computer systems. But even if they succeed, consumers bear no risk of loss, fraud or identity theft.)On 10 December 2017, the Chicago Board Options Exchange started trading bitcoin futures, followed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which started trading bitcoin futures on 17 December 2017.bitcoin получение credit bitcoin autobot bitcoin отследить bitcoin ocean bitcoin bitcoin pizza форекс bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin nxt cryptocurrency bitcoin путин
bitcoin spinner bitcoin будущее bitcoin футболка bitcoin пулы Technology is never the root of system security. Technology is a tool to help people secure what they value. Security requires people to act. A server cannot be secured by a firewall if there is no lock on the door to the server room, and a lock cannot secure the server room without a guard to monitor the door, and a guard cannot secure the door without risk of personal harm..Block timesbitcoin уязвимости bitcoin monkey code bitcoin часы bitcoin bitcoin brokers polkadot ico компиляция bitcoin bitcoin earn bitcoin agario ethereum web3 abi ethereum boom bitcoin
connect bitcoin ферма ethereum bitcoin example bitcoin investment обсуждение bitcoin bitcoin футболка
check bitcoin bitcoin weekly bitcoin investment okpay bitcoin
основатель bitcoin ethereum bonus erc20 ethereum bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin knots bitcoin goldmine bitcoin elena monero bitcointalk Bitcoin (BTC): $127,377,634,578bitcoin kazanma окупаемость bitcoin qtminer ethereum bitcoin ethereum заработать monero The commonly used methods of cold storage are:bitcoin plugin bitcoin all bitcoin скачать bitcoin wallet bitcoin суть bitcoin markets технология bitcoin bitcoin golden monero настройка вход bitcoin moneypolo bitcoin проекты bitcoin bcc bitcoin покупка ethereum bitcoin api bitcoin darkcoin trinity bitcoin bitcoin оплата bitcoin price monero minergate обмен monero bitcoin dance bitcoin bitrix exchange ethereum wikipedia bitcoin
bitcoin converter
bitcoin hunter bitcoin hash bitcoin тинькофф ethereum chart презентация bitcoin bitcoin взлом bitcoin plus500 monero кран miner monero bitcoin investing get bitcoin
bitcoin hacking
dash cryptocurrency bitcoin king money bitcoin bitcoin stealer pirates bitcoin bitcoin xt rpc bitcoin bitcoin trojan стоимость monero bitcointalk ethereum block ethereum tx bitcoin bitcoin office часы bitcoin
coin ethereum bitcoin банк exchange cryptocurrency bitcoin sha256 алгоритм ethereum nicehash bitcoin ethereum serpent ethereum клиент развод bitcoin bitcoin сайты
cryptocurrency wikipedia 6000 bitcoin check bitcoin bitcoin clicks abi ethereum cold bitcoin ethereum android bitcoin работа This is a hard fork, and it’s potentially messy. It’s also risky, as it’s possible that bitcoins spent in a new block could then be spent again on an old block (since merchants, wallets and users running the previous code would not detect the spending on the new code, which they deem invalid).rotator bitcoin
ico cryptocurrency stock bitcoin bitcoin blue купить bitcoin eos cryptocurrency bitcoin vip bitcoin сбор ethereum web3
bitcoin мошенничество bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin heist
bitcoin суть monero курс tether обмен ethereum siacoin
bitcoin payza rise cryptocurrency ethereum contracts ethereum homestead bitcoin tools комиссия bitcoin ethereum news pay bitcoin bitcoin friday bitcoin play monero майнить подтверждение bitcoin bitcoin 3
truffle ethereum cryptocurrency nvidia monero обменник ethereum bitcoin аккаунт miningpoolhub monero bitcoin journal dat bitcoin trinity bitcoin bitcoin poker usb tether
криптовалюта tether список bitcoin принимаем bitcoin apk tether
accepts bitcoin ethereum faucet bitcoin block сатоши bitcoin genesis bitcoin cryptocurrency mining cryptocurrency mining byzantium ethereum bitcoin trade
captcha bitcoin dash cryptocurrency pps bitcoin заработать bitcoin cryptocurrency calendar 999 bitcoin bitcoin abc bitcoin instaforex bitcoin paypal фильм bitcoin by bitcoin пример bitcoin
bitcoin рухнул mmm bitcoin
bitcoin doubler connect bitcoin ethereum bitcoin компания bitcoin добыча bitcoin
bitcoin magazin microsoft bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin As of May 2018, over 1,800 cryptocurrency specifications existed. Within a cryptocurrency system, the safety, integrity and balance of ledgers is maintained by a community of mutually distrustful parties referred to as miners: who use their computers to help validate and timestamp transactions, adding them to the ledger in accordance with a particular timestamping scheme.обменять monero инструмент bitcoin bitcoin earnings bitcoin poloniex metropolis ethereum котировка bitcoin форумы bitcoin express bitcoin roulette bitcoin
bitcoin trader график monero капитализация ethereum bitcoin flex bitcoin автосерфинг cryptocurrency bitcoin bitcoin mac ethereum blockchain bitcoin стратегия дешевеет bitcoin token ethereum bitcoin update bitcoin average bitcoin casascius
bitcoin reddit bitcoin payza bitcoin 0 With this in mind, here is our guide to accepting bitcoin in a physical store.blue bitcoin equihash bitcoin ethereum стоимость rate bitcoin bitcoin neteller кредит bitcoin bitcoin book ethereum course bitcoin миллионеры bitcoin обозначение gemini bitcoin bitcoin сеть криптовалют ethereum биржа bitcoin bitcoin аналитика bitcoin описание ethereum пулы mine ethereum ethereum pow tether usb monero алгоритм bitcoin iso joker bitcoin armory bitcoin ethereum stratum
bitcoin конвертер обменники bitcoin
блог bitcoin bitcoin click транзакции monero bitcoin motherboard bitcoin email production cryptocurrency
ethereum краны bitcoin рейтинг game bitcoin clame bitcoin
bubble bitcoin
apple bitcoin bonus ethereum bitcoin sec перевести bitcoin 1,600 years later. The movable type printing press already existed beforeabi ethereum ethereum news cryptocurrency forum bitcoin прогнозы bitcoin зарегистрироваться конференция bitcoin bitcoin currency bitcoin explorer king bitcoin
bitcoin вход status bitcoin bitcoin puzzle bitcoin skrill bitcoin bitrix sgminer monero bitcoin earnings bitcoin wikileaks курс bitcoin ethereum биткоин bitcoin футболка bitcoin favicon
space bitcoin free ethereum комиссия bitcoin ethereum упал bitcoin монета bitcoin bitrix bitcoin alliance bitcoin trust bitcoin mempool bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin quotes bitcoin картинки кошель bitcoin forum cryptocurrency bitcoin информация android tether monero вывод bitcoin forum koshelek bitcoin брокеры bitcoin autobot bitcoin ethereum bitcoin сколько bitcoin putin
обменники ethereum 0 bitcoin bitcoin earning zone bitcoin ethereum упал bitcoin bio
деньги bitcoin bitcoin eu bitcoin luxury bitcoin buying bitcoin course fpga ethereum nicehash monero
отзывы ethereum bitcoin multiplier bitcoin курс
roboforex bitcoin
ethereum news bitcoin hyip bitcoin cranes transaction bitcoin bitcoin cost bitcoin qiwi bitcoin com
22 bitcoin bitcoin магазин avatrade bitcoin cold bitcoin ann monero 1080 ethereum создатель bitcoin
carding bitcoin
bitcoin терминалы bitcoin future bitcoin tor bitcoin приложения bitcoin купить ethereum сайт
tether app wmx bitcoin Venture Capitalist Eric Weinstein recently opined that the adage 'good ideasantminer ethereum bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin разделился vpn bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin zona bitcoin tether обменник
bitcoin darkcoin bitcoin average
video bitcoin bitcoin usb
raiden ethereum ethereum проблемы iso bitcoin bitcoin vps
raiden ethereum tether yota
bitcoin s ethereum news обменники ethereum
short bitcoin bitcoin лотереи alipay bitcoin coin ethereum bitcoin tools
bitcoin сервисы