Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency that lets users conduct extremely fast, low-cost transfers and digital payments powered by blockchain technology. Litecoin’s network originated out of a hard fork from the original Bitcoin protocol, offering higher efficiency in terms of block times and transaction fees. Litecoin gets its name from being a “lite” version of Bitcoin, consuming fewer resources for mining and operations.
The Litecoin Network has been among the oldest cryptocurrencies, functioning alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, unlike Ethereum that offers smart contract functionality and runs dApps, Litecoin’s network has been designed with a primary focus to drive up the adoption of cryptocurrencies for fast, cheap and secure digital payments.
Litecoin users benefit from a decentralized, open source, public and transparent blockchain infrastructure for businesses and consumers to send and receive payments instantly, all over the world. Litecoin is compared to silver among crypto enthusiasts who attribute Bitcoin to be the equivalent of gold in the crypto market.
This comparison within the cryptocurrency industry originates from the philosophy that Litecoin is a store of value just like Bitcoin, the only difference being that the Litecoin price is far lower than that of Bitcoin in the crypto market. One of the key reasons for the price difference between LTC and BTC is that Litecoin has a total supply of 84 million, four times the max supply of Bitcoin, which makes its circulating supply less rare than the leading cryptocurrency by market cap.