Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency created by Charlie Lee. It is based on the Bitcoin protocol but differs in terms of the hashing algorithm used and its max supply. Litecoin uses the Scrypt proof of work mining algorithm, allowing consumer-grade hardware like GPUs to mine the coins. There will be a total of 84 million Litecoins that can ever be mined, which is four times more than Bitcoin’s max supply.
Litecoin has evolved from Bitcoin and is considered an alternative or ‘altcoin’ that allows investors to diversify their digital currency portfolio. Created by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee and Director of Engineering at Coinbase, Litecoin has some unique characteristics. One significant difference is that it takes only 2.5 minutes for Litecoin to generate a block, compared to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. This faster block time reduces the risk of double spending attacks.
Litecoin can handle higher transaction volumes due to its faster processing speed. It is more affordable and swift when transacting compared to Bitcoin. The Litecoin network is set to cap at 84 million currency units, and it has inspired other popular alternative currencies like Dogecoin because of its Scrypt hashing algorithm.
You can buy and trade Litecoin on centralized crypto exchanges like Gate.io, MEXC, and Bitget. The daily trading volume of Litecoin is $304,407,572.67, representing a recent decrease in market activity. The highest price paid for Litecoin was $410.26, recorded on May 10, 2021, while the lowest price paid was $1.15, recorded on Jan 14, 2015. The market capitalization of Litecoin is BTC100,583.2426, ranking it #22 on CoinGecko. The fully diluted valuation of Litecoin is BTC113,425.3434.
In terms of price performance, Litecoin has seen a decline of -6.10% in the last 7 days, underperforming the global cryptocurrency market and similar Proof of Work (PoW) cryptocurrencies.