Litecoin - what is it?

This cryptocurrency was released by Charlie Lee, who previously worked for Google. Litecoin (LTC, Ł) - is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and provides source code. This digital currency works on its local system and does not dependent on any central banks. Litecoin has a lot of similarities with bitcoin. Still, at the same time, it is equipped with an additional parameter of functions, for example, such as Segregated Witness, which are described by developers as an improvement that helps optimize transaction speed and eliminate flaws and poorly designed elements in the system.

In 2013 the capitalization of Litecoins amounted to 1 billion US dollars and in 2017 increased by 4 times.

Glossary tip: Segregated Witness

Litecoin was the first cryptocurrency that accepted Segregated Witness, or SegWit for short. Each transaction is divided into 2 segments from which the signature, better known as the “witness” part, located in the source data, is deleted. This is what helps to speed up the work of Litecoins, which gives it an undeniable advantage over bitcoins.

What are the differences between Litecoin and Bitcoin?

And although there are a lot of similarities between the Litecoin and it’s more well-known competitor - Bitcoin, the Litecoin developers claim that a large number of obvious advantages are presented in their system:

• A higher number of transactions. Segregated Witness allows you to increase the speed of verification. Transactions in the block are checked for 10 minutes with bitcoins and 2.5 minutes with Litecoin. The impact of such changes is obvious. 
• Higher security. Increasing transaction processing speed helps protect against attackers who spend two payments on the same transaction for the allotted time. 
• High limit for coins. Bitcoin has a limit of 21 million coins. With Litecoin, this value reaches 84 million coins. 
• Mining is harder. The first impression suggests that the complexity of mining is a clear drawback. However, this eliminates the possibility of speeding up processes, which is available with bitcoins. For this reason, Litecoin has a more stable system for working, eliminating the possibility of dishonest work. 

SHA-256 mining VS Scrypt

Cryptocurrencies that allow mining coins to work with a specific hashing algorithm. The algorithm is responsible for data protection and transaction security, protects users from fakes. The most common algorithm is SHA-256. This standard applied to bitcoin and all branched coins. And yet, some currencies, which Litecoin belongs to, use instead of the script standard, which is also known as ess-crypt.

As with many other cryptocurrencies, Litecoin offers several options for depositing money into a wallet:

• Purchase directly from the exchange. The easiest and most affordable way to purchase Litecoin is to buy it on the exchange. Payment on the exchanges can be carried out by credit card, money transfer, and checks, after which Litecoin is deposited into your wallet. Exchanges need to pay a commission of up to 2%, depending on the chosen provider; 
• Receive payment in Litecoin. Regardless of what services you provide and what products you sell, you always have the opportunity to accept payment in the form of Litecoin. It acts like any other currency. 
• Litecoin can be earned by mining. For your part, you can monitor other people's transactions and check for correctness, for which you will receive Litecoin. This is a legitimate way to make money, and it depends directly on the computing power of the computer. 

Litecoin and money transfer

Like any other cryptocurrency, Litecoin works quickly enough. To make a payment via Litecoin, you need:

• to enter the recipient's address or scan his QR-code; 
• to enter the amount to be sent; 
• to send it. 

That's all. No further action required.

What to watch through

Litecoin, unlike its older brother, has its drawbacks. Here are some of the shortcomings of cryptocurrency that have become apparent:

• Not so widely accepted. Litecoin is still growing, and although its recognition is becoming more common, Bitcoin is still the most common cryptocurrency.
• Not different enough. Many consider Litecoin's technical improvements too subtle, and this may hinder Litecoin's growth. Faster transaction times and greater complexity in mining may be good reasons for specific use cases. Still, many believe that it does not differentiate sufficiently from bitcoins to maintain long-term growth.

What is the future of Litecoin? Prognoses

Well-known traders tell us what the future of this cryptocurrency seems and what role they are going to play in this. If you briefly touch on the history of this cryptocurrency and its value against the dollar:

If you have owned Litecoin for more than 3 years, you have noticed that it is stable. Litecoin, for some unknown reason, is always very stable against the US dollar, and no one can make out this feature of this currency. Whenever Bitcoin goes up, LTC / BTC drops, and when Bitcoin drops, LTC / BTC rises a bit. In 99% of cases, Litecoin is really boring. It cost about $4 for all 3 years! Now it has grown to $50- $45. It will not be surprising if tomorrow Bitcoin costs $5,000, and Litecoin stays at $45.

Litecoin has a rather complicated history. Initially, the price was low enough for cryptocurrency and amounted to about three dollars. In November 2013, the exchange rate was sharply destabilized, and the price of Litecoin increased by 100% in US dollars. In 2017, the price also increased sharply to $ 90, after which it dropped to 50. At the moment, the cryptocurrency once again crossed the milestone of seventy US dollars. In rubles, this amounts to about four thousand rubles per one "coin."