Both Bitcoin and Litecoin have an original block size limit of 1MB. However, these limits can be superseded by using off-chain or layer 2 solutions to improve scalability. Bitcoin Cash, another cryptocurrency, is a hard fork that first updated its chain’s block size limit to 8MB and later 32MB.
Before choosing between them, make sure that you look into what they have to offer and settle for the one that suits your needs the most. Amid the dynamically changing state of blockchains and distributed ledgers, consensus mechanisms ensure that only the true state of the systems is maintained. There were 70.52 million on June 18, 2022, so as of that date, there were roughly 13.48 million left. The most significant difference between Litecoin and Bitcoin is its hashing function.
User wanted to buy just one Litecoin, currently at around $50, there is only enough for every user to own 0.24 LTC. There is far less than that in terms of Bitcoin to go around, but at a price of about $14,000 currently, far fewer people are going to spring for a full coin. In addition, only so many coins are currently in circulation, making them even more rare than it would appear. For example, Bitcoin’s creator is presumed deceased and was said to have wallets totaling over 1 million of the 21 million total BTC supply.
Around the time of Litecoin’s creation, people saw Bitcoin’s value go from basically nothing to nearly $30 in June 2011, resulting in investment gains the likes of which no one had ever seen before. Ethereum utilizes a proof-of-stake approach to mining, which requires far less computational power, reduces the hardware requirements and ensures more equal access to the mining process. People prefer Litecoin over Bitcoin because Bitcoin is more expensive than Litecoin. Yes, you would be able to buy a series of goods and services using Bitcoin. But Litecoin is famous for a much cheaper and quicker form of transactions. When Litecoin came into the market, it was considered the silver to the gold “Bitcoin.” Litecoin came into the market in 2011, whereas Bitcoin came into existence in 2008.
Bitcoin Vs. Litecoin: What’s The Difference?
It uses its own cryptocurrency, LTC, which has a significantly smaller market capitalization. Even now, after a year of price drops, BTC has a market cap of $407.4 billion. Their technology also differs slightly, as Bitcoin uses a SHA-256 mining algorithm, while Litecoin uses Scrypt. Another difference between Litecoin and Bitcoin lies in their transaction speed. Bitcoin can process 5 to 7 transactions per second, requiring 10 minutes to form a block. At the same time, Litecoin can process 54 transactions per second.
Litecoin has some advantages, like faster transaction time, while Bitcoin has the market share and mindshare right now. Both currencies function similarly; they are both decentralized and are both “mined” into existence (i.e., created into a public ledger known as a blockchain). A drawback that Litecoin inherits from Bitcoin is its immense volatility. Since LTC is supposed to be 4 times faster than Bitcoin, it confirms a block every 2.5 minutes, in contrast to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. This allows it to reach 56 transactions per second vs Bitcoin’s 7.
However, Litecoin has held its ground as a sound crypto investment that has offered an incredible ROI to its long-term holders. The average transaction fee for every transaction in Ethereum is $0.85. On the other hand, the average transaction fee for every transaction for Litecoin is meager, i.e., just $0.04 per transaction(much less than Ethereum’s transaction fee).
Litecoin Vs Bitcoin: Expert Price Predictions
To diversify your basket, you need to know which cryptocurrency to invest in. On the other hand, if we talk about the number of coins, litecoin exceeds Bitcoin by a large number. Litecoin has an upper limit of 84 million coins, whereas bitcoin only has an upper limit of 21 million coins.
Scrypt, an alternative proof-of-work algorithm, is used for Litecoin. It differs from Bitcoin’s SHA-256 algorithm in part by including a sequential memory-hard function, requiring asymptotically more memory than an algorithm which is not memory-hard. Sign upfor a free Coinmotion account today and instantly access thecryptocurrency markets. You receive the return on investment from mining both coins halves every four years, with the next iteration occurring in 2024.
When making transactions with Bitcoin and Litecoin, they happen instantly most of the time. Still, they need some time until the other network participants confirm the transactions. Bitcoin and Litecoin certainly share some similarities, but at the end of the day, they are different cryptocurrencies and they inevitably have some unique features. An application-specific integrated circuit miner is a computerized device designed for the sole purpose of mining a cryptocurrency. In early 2014, Lee suggested merge mining Dogecoin with Litecoin to the Dogecoin community at large.
Litecoin, with more coins issued, may have more liquidity than Bitcoin—but the scarcity of Bitcoin may make it more valuable. The prices of Bitcoin and Litecoin are notoriously volatile, but Bitcoin’s price is consistently orders of magnitude higher than the price of Litecoin. If you are wondering about the essential differences between Bitcoin and Litecoin, keep reading to find out. It is created in reaction to Bitcoins’ tendency to gravitate towards centralization.
What Is The Difference Between Litecoin And Bitcoin?
They are both decentralized cryptocurrencies created to support peer-to-peer transactions. They are designed to serve as a medium of exchange and store of value while removing the need for a central party to serve as a guarantor, e.g. a central bank. Over the years, as new cryptocurrencies proliferate and attract ever more attention, both coins still remain highly popular. Bitcoin, of course, still occupies the top spot and remains the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. The most significant difference is in transaction speeds ranging from 2.5 minutes to 10 minutes, and transactions per second ranging from 5-7 to over 50 transactions per second.
Transaction Speed
Essentially, it all comes down to what you prefer — the security of Bitcoin’s brand or the benefits of Litecoin’s network. Essentially worthless at first, Bitcoin’s real value was in the idea that created it. This idea of digital money that no government could control attracted tech geeks but also online criminals. But, it also gave BTC its first price, moving it from $0 for the first time due to simple demand.
When it comes to making a decision, investors have a lot of factors to work with. Litecoin is frequently described as ‘the silver to Bitcoin’s gold’. Litecoin was designed to have faster transaction times than Bitcoin, with Litecoin transfers taking around two minutes compared to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. This was a major improvement over Bitcoin’s design, but today it is laughably slow compared to modern blockchains that can process transactions in seconds with minimal environmental impact.
You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Similar to gold and silver, buying both can be a good idea since they both offer value. They are also both great to trade and can be even more profitable with proper risk management and skills. Below we’re going to compare Bitcoin vs Litecoin in terms of price action, forecasts, charts, and more. Bitcoin was the first of its kind, so all it really had to do was work.
Litecoin has a maximum circulating supply of Ł84,000,000, which is four times larger than Bitcoin’s maximum circulating supply of ₿21,000,000. In May 2022, MWEB upgrade was activated on the Litecoin network as a soft fork. This upgrade provides users with the option of sending confidential Litecoin transactions, in which the amount being sent is only known between the sender and receiver. On top of all that, the market is volatile, and figures will continue to change daily. Market research and staying on top of all cryptocurrency types will be important tasks for investors in the future. It should come as no surprise thatBTC has LTC beaten out in terms of market capitalization.
The cryptocurrency got its name due to being a more lite version of Bitcoin due to these attributes. Litecoin’s belief system is the same as Bitcoin’s only seeking to do so at a slightly faster speed and transaction rate. The one in late 2017 is now a minor blip, although, at the time, it was a massive development. The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Watch out for scams and fraud when considering a Bitcoin or Litecoin transaction.
At the same time, Litecoin was invented as a cryptocurrency to initiate easy transactions between parties, remove ambiguities, and enhance efficiencies at a lower rate. Like the cryptocurrencies referenced, both precious metals have limited supplies, are used as a store of value, and have been used as a currency over the ages. Few other assets have these attributes, making them unique as an investment or trading asset. Just like the Litecoin network processes crypto transactions four times faster, Litecoin’s maximum coin supply is four times higher than that of Bitcoin.
The targeted block time is every 2.5 minutes for Litecoin, as opposed to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. This allows Litecoin to confirm transactions four times faster than Bitcoin. To address this, Charlie Lee, a Google employee who would later become engineering director at Coinbase, created an alternative version of Tenebrix called Fairbrix . Litecoin inherits the scrypt mining algorithm from Fairbrix, but returns to the limited money supply of Bitcoin, with other changes.