Pros of Litecoin
- One of the fastest mean block times
- Loyal following
- Easy to use for everyday transactions
Cons of Litecoin
- Reputation took a knock when the creator sold his coins
History: Where it all began for Litecoin
Litecoin was released in 2011 by a man by the name of Charlie Lee. The cryptocurrency was released via an open-source source client called GitHub. Lee was a google employee who was working on blockchain in his spare time. He then came up with his idea of Litecoin after taking inspiration from the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Litecoin was a fork from the original Bitcoin Core client and the two are nearly identical in their makeup. However, Charlie Lee started Litecon so that it would serve a very different purpose to its forefather.
There had only been 150 successfully mined Litecoins before Lee decided to take the crypto public late in 2011. Litecoin was always meant to serve a different function to Bitcoin. Lee’s plan for Litecoin was to have it be the currency you turn to for making your daily, smaller transactions. A stark difference to the way that Bitcoin is being used today for larger transactions and storing. The value of Litecoin has been on a bit of a rollercoaster since its start date (much like many other cryptos). During 2017 it hit record highs of $300 in Litecoin price only to be brought back down to earth in the years after as it dropped below $100. It steadily maintained this value until rising again in 2020 and 2021 but not near the heights it had it in the 2017 boom period.
The history of Litecoin is notable, particularly for its ups and downs. Check out our
Binance Coin
review to see how the two cryptos compare in terms of their journey until now.
Development: How Litecoin got to where it is today
The main crux of why Charlie Lee started Litecoin was based on efficiency and ease of use. Where Bitcoin processes a block every 10 minutes, Litecoin can execute the same process in 2.5 minutes. This makes it four times faster when conducting any of your transactions.
This is down to a few variables but one of the notable differences between the two is that Litecoin uses the Scrypt algorithm where Bitcoin uses the SHA-256. Scrypt is used in Litecoin’s proof-of-work algorithm to verify transactions and make the Litecoin network safer.
As it is with most cryptocurrencies there is a finite supply of Litecoins to be mined. The total supply of Litecoin available is 84 million. There are currently only 16 million Litecoins left to be mined in total and around 6.5 million to be mined before the next block halving.
Litecoin’s development was of course based on it being a fully decentralised cryptocurrency. This provides users with greater anonymity when conducting transactions with the network. Litecoin sought to improve this still by introducing the privacy protocol known as Miblewimble. This privacy protocol serves to further protect the identities of senders and receivers of Litecoin. This protocol has also helped to improve the blockchain’s capabilities when it comes to handling larger amounts of transactions. Check out our
Ethereum Coin trading
review to see how another crypto’s privacy protocols stack up against Litecoin’s.
Statistics/ Major Facts: What you need to know before you buy Litecoin
Let’s take a look at some of the major statists and facts of Litecoin as it stands today. As we mentioned before, the maximum supply limit of Litecoin is capped at 84 million coins. There are currently 66 million mined coins in circulation leaving only about 16 million left to mine. The reward for mining Litecoin is currently sitting at 12.5 LTC per block mined which should hold until around the middle of 2023.
Looking to
buy crypto currency online? You can stay up-to-date with all the latest Litecoin changes easily when you use the best crypto exchange platforms. There, you can find the latest ebbs and flows in the coin’s valuation, the net change over the past 24-hours, the average transaction fee and much more. These crypto exchanges give you minute-to-minute updates on the crypto so you can see exactly how well it has done in the past and how well it is currently doing.
Security, Features, Use Cases: What makes Litecoin stand out?
So, what are some of the features of Litecoin? Where am I better off using Litecoin than I otherwise would be using Bitcoin? The two cryptocurrencies share remarkably similar DNA. Both are decentralised allowing straight peer-to-peer transactions, both are mined to create the supply, they need to be stored in crypto wallets to be secured and both require proof-of-work to verify transactions and make the networks more secure.
While they definitely hold similarities in their make-up the two cryptos have vastly different practical uses. Yes, both are cryptocurrencies but Litecoin trading doesn’t merely need to be an asset that you acquire and store to gain interest before being sold. In fact, the true significance of Litecoin lies in its convenience for your everyday transactions.
The Scrypt algorithm makes the mean block time of Litcoin is 4 times faster than Bitcoin. This was always the goal of the crypto, to be used as a payment method rather than to be held as an asset or bought and sold for short term profits.
As a result of a shorter mean block time, you can use Litecoin to buy your everyday essentials like coffee, lunch, clothing, tickets or whatever your heart desires. Its purpose is to be a day-to-day payment method that you come back to for quick and easy crypto transactions.
But how secure is Litecoin in reality? The cryptocurrency itself is very secure as it provides users with anonymity when conducting payments from peer-to-peer. With that being said, you should be storing your Litecoin in a crypto wallet. The crypto wallet provider you use should ideally offer you the option to use both a software and a hardware wallet. The hardware wallet will store the bulk of your Litecoin offline and away from any potential hacker threats. While the software wallet is there for you to access your crypto quickly and to make payments with ease.
How to Trade: Where and how to buy Litecoin
Since its arrival in 2011 Litecoin has garnered more support as a day-to-day payment method for people to use. As more people are waking up to the potential of cryptocurrencies, they now wish to get their hands on more Litecoin. This produces ample opportunity for the buying and selling of Litecoin on the best crypto exchanges in New Zealand.
At TradersBest.com NZ we review just about every Litecoin trading site under the sun and give you detailed pieces on how to buy Litecoin with these platforms. Take a look at our site and read the Litecoin trading reviews we have put together to understand more on what makes the best Litecoin trading sites.
There are a few important elements for you to consider before you try to buy Litecoin. Firstly, what does the market currently look like? You need to put yourself in the strongest position to do Litecoin trading by doing some market research. Are there any expected spikes or drops in value in the coming weeks?
What is the news saying about the crypto? Litecoin trading can be fruitful if you put in the necessary hours to understand the current environment of the cryptocurrency. Always put some time and effort into understanding the current state of the crypto before you get straight into Litecoin trading.
Research is your ally and once you have done enough of it and have decided you want to crack on with your Litecoin trading endeavours you then need to find a trading platform that is going to facilitate this process for you. There are a number of excellent crypto exchanges and trading platforms for New Zealnders that allow you to buy crypto online.
Plus500 is a great CFD provider for you to trade Litecoin CFDs as the website is well made and the tools at your disposal are fantastic. Remember that when you open buy and sell positions on CFDs, you don’t own the underlying asset. Also, CFDs are complex instruments that come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.
We could rifle off tons more for you to check out but if we only had to give you two more we would suggest using XTB or FP Markets. Stick to these popular names as you won’t likely run into any Litecoin trading scams with them.
Remember you can always check out our TradersBest.com NZ website to read our Litecoin trading reviews and check out our rankings for the best crypto trading platforms. We give you a detailed breakdown on the quality of the trading tools, customer service, payment methods and most importantly we let you know if the site is safe to use. Our comparison tools and reviews will make finding the best Litecoin trading site a breeze. We always give you detailed analysis on how you can buy Litecoin on each of these individual sites.
Future Outlook: What does the future hold for Litecoin trading?
If you take enough time to scour the internet you will see that every other “expert” claims to know exactly what Litecoin trading is going to look like in the future. We would take any Litecoin price prediction with a healthy handful of salt to be honest as it is near impossible to gauge exactly where the crypto will stand years down the line. There are simply far too many factors that influence the valuation of the coin and that is not even including factors yet unseen that could influence it further down the line.
There are many elements to consider about Litecoin trading. Of course, you don’t want to miss the bus on a crypto that may continue to rise in value as the years progress (much like most of us did with Bitcoin). Litecoin does appear to be on an upward trajectory at least since the start of 2020 but most experts agree that it is highly unlikely that it will ever surpass the likes of
Bitcoin trading
or
Bitcoin Cash trading
in value.
As it stands, we wouldn’t subscribe too closely to anyone’s Litecoin prediction. Keep reading the experts’ opinions but do so with some skepticism. The future of Litecoin could either drop off drastically in value, it could remain on the same flat line that it has done in past years or it could continue to rise.
Reputation and Customer Feedback – Decent feedback overall
We won’t lie to you, the reputation of Litecoin took a significant knock when Charlie Lee, the crypto’s creator, sold his stash of Litecoins in 2017. The devout cryptocurrency fans saw this as a sign of “selling out” and this had a knock on effect with Litecoin’s value in the year after.
While this may have had an effect on the Litecoin valuation it seems to have stabilized and continued to slowly rise since then. Most users are more than happy with their experience using the crypto and its reputation has continued to go from strength to strength over the years.
Overall Conclusion – Great for fast transactions
There are few options better than Litecoin for fast daily transactions. The mean block time for Litecoin surpasses almost all of its crypto competitors and makes your daily transaction with the crypto a breeze. If you want to buy Litecoin then we would suggest taking a look at some of the exchanges and platforms we mentioned in our review.
They are the most popular options for this reason as they don’t charge users excessive trading fees. You also won’t likely run into any Litecoin trading scams with them either. Furthermore, they are safe to use and they make it easy to buy Litecoin. Check out our review for how to
buy XRP Ripple
as it is another fantastic crypto that is fairly priced at the moment.
