LTC, or also Litecoin, is a cryptocurrency that is part of the first to appear in the history of digital assets. Founded in 2011 by Charlie Lee who is a former engineer from Google and who wished to create a version of Bitcoin that is faster, but also lighter as well as easier to use daily.
It is also known under the name of “digital silver”, unlike Bitcoin which is also known as digital gold. Litecoin is one of the very first altcoins (which means an alternative to Bitcoin) to be launched on the market, and still today it remains a major actor in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The founder of Litecoin, Charlie Lee, created his cryptocurrency starting from the source code and verified of Bitcoin, while bringing some technical modifications which allowed to improve the performances of the network. One of the major changes concerns the time of block generation. For example, for Bitcoin, a block is created every 10 minutes, whereas for Litecoin a block is created every 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Thanks to this faster rhythm, Litecoin is more adapted to daily payments and fast operations, which is a big advantage in the logic of generalizing the use of cryptocurrencies.
Source: wikipédia
Technical Features and Architecture
Another big difference is that Litecoin uses a hashing algorithm that is different from that of Bitcoin. It is based on an algorithm called Scrypt. This targets two objectives. First, it aims to escape the grip of the active mass of miners who use very specialized computer hardware (ASICs) and therefore not very accessible, and thus to make mining more accessible to individual users.
Secondly, this allowed to open the way to other innovations concerning the security of cryptocurrencies.
But with time, different ASICs that are compatible with Scrypt ended up appearing, but one must not forget that the main idea of Litecoin is that accessibility is a fundamental principle of the way of being of Litecoin.
Litecoin just like Bitcoin has a maximum number of units, with a maximum supply of LTC of 84 million tokens, that is to say four times more than Bitcoin with its 21 million tokens.
This quantity is distributed progressively over time, via a mining process that reduces rewards by half every four years. This cycle is called the Halving.
Market Journey and Ecosystem Role
Since Litecoin was created, it has crossed in a nearly rebellious way the cycles of the crypto market. The token has known a massive increase of adoption especially in 2017 when its price exceeded $250 but also in 2021 during the bull run where its price almost reached $340.
The market capitalization of Litecoin has even been, on numerous occasions, in the world top 5 and even though new cryptocurrencies appear, Litecoin remains a haven and above all a classic of the cryptocurrency market.
Litecoin is also very known for its reliability as well as for its perseverance in development. Compared to different projects that are more recent but often more unstable and more focused on communication, Litecoin has bet on its solid protocol, but also on the security of its network and a progressive development.
In 2017, the creator of Litecoin, Charlie, even had the idea to sell the totality of his Litecoin cryptocurrency tokens in order to avoid conflicts of interest and thus to focus only on the development of the project. This gesture, which was much discussed, strengthened the image of Litecoin as being a project of the new generation and not as a speculative one.
Litecoin is also known for big evolutions in the blockchain world. Because it is one of the first to adopt SegWit (Segregated Witness), which is a big technical update that allows to reorganize the block structure but also to facilitate the development of second-layer solutions.
Thanks to this update, there could be the integration of the Lightning Network, which is a protocol that aims to make transactions almost instant and very low-cost. These different evolutions have affirmed that Litecoin is a payment platform that is fast and flexible, and thus capable of rivaling with the different traditional payment networks.
In the ecosystem, Litecoin has a position that is not only limited to its technical capacities because it also plays a role of incubator for different innovations for Bitcoin.
Many functionalities are first tested on the Litecoin network to then be adopted by Bitcoin. This aims to detect different technical problems and to participate in the global development of the blockchain ecosystem.
Source: wikipédia
Real-World Use and Long-Term Vision
Litecoin is usable as a means of payment in many online shops, payment modules, gaming platforms, as well as business applications. Thanks to its speed, as well as its very low fees and its light validation level. This makes it a useful asset for micropayments as well as international transactions.
One can also find this token on almost all exchange platforms, which allows it to guarantee constant liquidity and easy access for new users.
Concerning regulation, Litecoin is not at the center of legal debates. Given that Litecoin is a decentralized currency, without a central company, and that it is very close to the functioning of Bitcoin, it is considered as being a cryptocurrency that complies with the different standards.
Thanks to different partnerships and complementary programs, Litecoin managed to reach two big objectives. The first being to expand its ecosystem, while remaining faithful to its original goal which is to offer an alternative that is fast, secure, and accessible.
As an experienced project, that has a solid network, that has the capacity to bring technical innovations and that is supported by an engaged community, Litecoin is a very important actor in the world of digital currencies.
It is a project that is reliable and that is a gateway toward the mass adoption of Bitcoin payments. It is a project that is deeply rooted in blockchain history.