About the coin

Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was created by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee and Director of Engineering at Coinbase. It was developed based on the Bitcoin protocol but with some differences, particularly in the hashing algorithm used. Litecoin employs the Scrypt proof of work mining algorithm, which is memory intensive and allows consumer-grade hardware such as GPUs to mine the coins. This makes Litecoin more accessible to a broader range of miners compared to Bitcoin.

Main features

Litecoin is known for its faster transaction times compared to Bitcoin. It takes approximately 2.5 minutes to generate a block or transaction, whereas Bitcoin takes about 10 minutes. This faster block generation time allows Litecoin to handle a higher volume of transactions, making it more efficient for everyday use. Additionally, Litecoin has a larger supply cap of 84 million currency units, compared to Bitcoin's 21 million, which contributes to its affordability and accessibility.

How it works

The Scrypt proof of work algorithm used by Litecoin is designed to be more resistant to ASIC mining, which helps maintain a more decentralized network by preventing large mining conglomerates from dominating the mining process. This decentralization is further supported by the inability of Bitcoin miners to easily switch to Litecoin mining due to the different algorithms. The faster block time of Litecoin also reduces the risk of double spending attacks, enhancing the security of the network. Overall, Litecoin's design and features make it a popular choice for those looking to diversify their cryptocurrency portfolio.