Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin. Litecoin’s main task is to improve the transaction technology so that users worldwide can receive a transfer with a minimum commission within seconds and effectively store currencies. When Bitcoin is the best cryptocurrency for investments, Litecoin is perfect for speedy transactions.

History of Litecoin

Litecoin was developed by former Google employee Charlie Lee in 2011. The digital coin is based on the Bitcoin protocol but differs in the use of the hashing algorithm, strict time limits for block transactions, etc.

Charlie Lee wanted to create the "lite" version of Bitcoin. According to the cryptocurrency’s developers, Litecoin plays the role of "silver to Bitcoin's gold."

Features and Benefits of Litecoin

In addition to fast transaction confirmation and effective storing, Litecoin has the following advantages:

Litecoins can be bought with fiat money, whereas other digital currencies are purchased only with BTC. Litecoin can be used to pay for goods and services online if accepted by retailers.
Analysts point out Litecoin’s stability: the cryptocurrency has never experienced sharp fluctuations, which is no coincidence. The fact is that Bitcoin acts as a "shield" to Litecoin: as long as the former decreases in value, the price of the latter remains stable or drops slightly.

Litecoin vs Bitcoin

Although Litecoin is similar to Bitcoin (in terms of transparency, complete anonymity, availability, and decentralization), it is still an independent currency of the crypto world.

Litecoin is different from BTC in the following ways:

All crypto transactions are carried out by means of a special email address. When the Bitcoin-address usually starts with digits 1 and 3 and consists of 27-37 symbols, the Litecoin-address begins with the letter ‘L’ and contains 33 symbols.
Both cryptocurrencies have a limited supply. That is, the volume of coins issued is known since their initial release. As for Bitcoin, there will only be 21 million coins ever produced. At the same time, there are 84 million Litecoins.
Litecoins are mined 4 times faster than Bitcoins.

One key advantage of Litecoin over BTC is high protection against hacking. Since new blocks on the Litecoin network are generated 4 times faster than on Bitcoin’s, cyber criminals will have 4 times less time left to carry out a hacker attack. That is why high transaction throughput does not work in fraudsters’ favour.

How to trade Litecoin

There are two ways to purchase Litecoin:

To buy it on the exchange. The purchase of Litecoins is a long-term investment: the trader waits until coins rise in value and sells them.
To trade CFDs on a specific cryptocurrency and speculate on the difference in Litecoin's price. The trader can hold a long position (assuming that the price of Litecoin in USD will increase) or a short one (suggesting that the coin’s price in USD will fall). It is a temporary investment, since CFDs are usually used in the short term.

Forecasts of the company's analysts featured on this page under the chart will provide you with details on Litecoin trading.

Storage of Litecoin

Litecoins are stored in the original wallet – Litecoin Core. It can be installed for free on a desktop, but requires enough computer memory.

Electrum-LTC is a lightweight desktop wallet. Meanwhile, wallets like Jaxx and Exodus allow users to store multiple cryptocurrencies, which means they can keep Bitcoins and Litecoins in the same place.