Litecoin (LTC) turns 11 years old this month. Touted as being the only altcoin with a 100% uptime, this cryptocurrency boasts the longest uninterrupted live run in the industry. Only Bitcoin is older than LTC, and only by two years. Litecoin deems itself as the “Future of Money” and takes great pride in being a “pure” cryptocurrency. It is the epitome of crypto’s core principles: decentralization and financial opportunity for all.
Frequently called an alternative cryptocurrency, Litecoin was released as a direct competitor to Bitcoin. If Bitcoin is the gold standard of digital assets, Litecoin takes a silver medal behind the ruling giant. Litecoin was released in the digital frontier on October 7, 2011. The network went live a few days later on October 13.
The “light” part of LTC comes from this alt being four times fater than Bitcoin. Specifically, Litecoin processes a block every 2.5 minutes as opposed to the ten minutes Bitcoin needs. LTC miners can obtain Dogecoins as they mine for Litecoin, making LTC a “double duty” currency.
While Litecoin shares the same code as Bitcoin, and the two assets stay in step with the development of one another, this is where the similarities end. LTC uses Scrypt as its proof of work algorithm while Bitcoin uses theSHA-256 protocol. This means Litecoin mining devices are more complex and expensive than those used to mine Bitcoin.
Litecoin also boasts a much higher circulating supply of coins compared to its big brother. While there is a supply of 84,000,000 on the web, there are only 21,000,000 Bitcoins. Yet price difference per unit does play a significant role in the supply.
LTC is fast, secure, and quickly minted. For those looking to invest in altcoins, this could be a secure investment. After all, there is more than reason why Litecoin is celebrating its 11th birthday. These include security among private transactions and scalability. Think the conveniences of a modern bank just without the rules.
After all, crypto is a new frontier that borders uncharted waters. And decentralization is about rule breaking rather than rule making. So happy birthday, Litecoin, may you continue your disruptions for many years to come.
