People commonly say that Litecoin is the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. Even though there are about a thousand other digital currencies, it is Litecoin that gets this reputation. There must be more to this, though? It cannot live under Bitcoin’s shadow for long. Cryptocurrency newbies would always ask if Litecoin is better than Bitcoin.
We’ll dive into this question and other cryptocurrency news, such as the price of Litecoin, Litecoin mining, and Litecoin price predictions.
Litecoin History
Charlie Lee, a computer scientist for Google, decided to join the cryptocurrency game in 2011 after seeing Bitcoin’s rising issues. He created a new blockchain by borrowing Bitcoin’s original code and adding in what he wanted to create his ideal cryptocurrency.
Litecoin (with currency code LTC) was Lee’s attempt to refine Bitcoin. He made its blockchain lighter to make it significantly faster than Bitcoin’s mining time of 10-15 minutes. His LTC took less than 3 minutes to verify transactions, making its processes cheaper and quicker. We’ll get to these comparisons and more later on in the article.
Future Litecoin Worth
Cryptocurrencies are notorious for their volatility, and Litecoin is no exception. The price of Litecoin decreased about five times in 2018, just seven years after its release to the public. This did not help its reputation amongst investors nor its predictability in the coming years.
As of 2020, predictions for Litecoin prices are still as varied as they were years ago. Litecoin price predictions for the year range from $22.95 to $124. There is an atmosphere of big risks still if you want to join in on the Litecoin market.
After Litecoin’s second halving in 2019, some investors opted to drop out. Experts expect a fourth halving to happen in 2030, and this, along with Litecoin’s adoption methods, may affect the cryptocurrency’s pricing for the next decade. With all these considered, many predict Litecoin to shoot up to $1500 by 2030. It could be one of the top cryptocurrencies of over a thousand available in the market. While it is risky, these sights prove that it is somehow worth the risk, right? Just don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
One thing’s for sure, though: Litecoin will only continue gaining relevance in the years to come.
Litecoin Purchase Process
You can buy Litecoin easily by using your fiat money, which is any government-issued currency that is not backed by a physical commodity. Simply put, you can buy it with your regular paper and coin money (credit and debit cards, too!)! Money can be easily transferred from your currency to Litecoin, should you want to get involved in its interesting web of mining and blockchains!
We can summarize buying Litecoin in three steps. First, you just need to get a cryptocurrency wallet. There are a lot out there, but two of the most popular are Ledger and Trezor. You may also want to look into relatively new cryptocurrency wallets if you haven’t had positive experiences with your previous ones. Crypterium is one great option since it is one of the most promising tech startups of 2018.
Next, you need to get some Litecoins! Numerous programs that help you in your cryptocurrency exchange, the most popular being CoinMama and eToro. These programs can allow you to buy Litecoins with any credit or debit cards, or through transfer. We’d suggest looking into Litecoin prices before you go ahead with your decision.
There are major differences between the two. CoinMama requires you to have a Litecoin wallet before you carry out transactions in the cryptocurrency while eToro is simply an investment platform that does not give you access to your physical Litecoins.
Use CoinMama if you want access to your Litecoins. eToro is better for price speculation and pure investment since you cannot withdraw nor send coins through the program.
Finally, you can now withdraw your Litecoins after opening an account in any of these given programs (or more, if you’re interested).
Introduction to Blockchain
A blockchain is the digital ledger used in recording cryptocurrency transactions. Independent computers are typically used in processing these transactions, whose servers are commonly known as “decentralized nodes.”
Now, there are two definitions to unpack here: “decentralized” and “nodes.”
Decentralized and Nodes
The blockchain is only processed by computers and not by third-party authorities (banks or the government). Because of this, cryptocurrencies come equipped with their biggest selling point: they are decentralized.
Nodes are simply the computers that are a part of these transactions. Each node (computer) will have the same digital ledger, and each node will add to the ledger after confirming or denying the validity of the cryptocurrency transactions it is processing. These are real-time updates that are also available to all stakeholders, making Litecoin and all other cryptocurrencies transparent by nature.
Blockchains make it near impossible for anyone to alter or control their ledgers’ data because it relies on node distribution to work. Changes will be made to any hacked ledgers because outliers with changed or malicious information will be put to place.
Benefits of Investing in Litecoin
Secure From Flood Attacks
Before we get into it, you may ask: what are flood attacks?
You know these attacks as spam. You have them in your email all the time. Sometimes, you even have them as messages from your friends and family’s hacked personal accounts! It is essentially a virus with the goal to overwhelm a system’s server by sending continuous requests that ultimately make servers unresponsive
Bitcoin had a flood attack in 2015 because of its limited servers, though it was quickly resolved in the same year. Charlie Lee, however, founded his cryptocurrency while looking ahead. Litecoin is less susceptible to flood attacks compared to Bitcoin because it allows for more simultaneous transactions.
Put simply, a flood attack is easier dealt with by Litecoin servers because there are more of them to handle it. Its servers do not have Bitcoin’s scalability issues.
This makes people ask is Litecoin is better than Bitcoin. It’s hard to say, but all we know is that the former has not had a dangerous flood attack or a sprout of viruses since its comeuppance in 2011. While Litecoin prices are slightly lower, it had a chance to improve on its coding. At the very least, it is faster than Bitcoin.
But why does it have more servers and faster transactions? Read on.
High Investment Rates
Litecoin is one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies available. It slowly built its way from the bottom up since its conception almost a decade ago. Its longevity in the cryptocurrency world is a strong suit: you know that you can trust Litecoin!
Because of its popularity, Litecoin has a high trading volume. Their market comes packed with people, so you don’t need to worry about investing in Litecoin with vultures circling around your investment. People, at least for the next 10 years, will still be interested in Litecoin just by the rate the cryptocurrency is going.
Verified by Coinbase
Even if you’re new to the cryptocurrency world, you might already know about Coinbase. The popular cryptocurrency exchange platform only has four coins listed, but one may argue that those are the four most important coins around. Litecoin, unsurprisingly, is one of them.
Another advantage of using Litecoin is that you can buy and sell (as well as withdraw and deposit) your Litecoins. You can even get fiat money (your regular money) out of it through regular means.
You can check Litecoin value on Coinbase after you read this article!
Speedier Transactions
The mining process for any cryptocurrency can be tricky, so learning how to mine Litecoin will not hurt. But for now, we’ll give you a briefing. Speed is always a factor whenever people into cryptocurrency assess whether Litecoin is better than Bitcoin.
We’ll stick to the facts. Mining Bitcoin has been increasingly difficult because (1) you almost need expensive hardware to verify transactions and get extra Bitcoin; (2) even then, competition in Bitcoin mining has only gone up in recent years due to its popularity. With so many miners and only 21 million Bitcoins to mine, you best believe it’s a survival of the fittest out there.
This popularity has several repercussions, but we’ll focus on one. The more competition there is, the more heavy-duty (and expensive) your software (and electricity bill) will be if you want to mine Bitcoins successfully.
Litecoin mining is a relatively easier process than Bitcoin’s because its blockchain verifies transactions differently. It is compatible with Graphics Processing Units or GPUs, which is cheaper and more energy-efficient. It is also important to note that there are about 84 million Litecoins in circulation, which is over 100% more than Bitcoin’s.
Uses Scrypt Algorithm
Litecoin uses the Scrypt algorithm in its blockchain network. This algorithm is a password-based key derivation function or KDF. Without getting too into jargon, Litecoin using KDF basically means that their blockchain networks are more efficient at preventing attacks via password guessing.
KDFs have been present for a while now, but what makes Scrypt special is that it has memory space as wide and deep as its computational capacity.
It is also important to note that Scrypt makes it possible for GPUs (as mentioned above) to mine coins. You can use the usual software in mining Litecoins, making it more accessible to everyone.
Dangers of Cryptocurrency Investments
Possibility of Cybertheft
The internet is home to the world’s most famous web for a reason. It is home to information encompassing all possible topics and all types of people you can think of. Almost everything is making a shift to the internet due to this, from late-night shows to viruses.
Since cryptocurrencies are all based on this intangible space called the internet, it is prone to cyberattacks. Whether or not it uses all the latest security guidelines is moot at this point, especially since even Bitcoin was not immune.
Litecoin, and all other cryptocurrencies, can learn from Bitcoin’s mistakes, but it can only see so far ahead. Hacking and flooding are still big risks you take when you invest in cryptocurrencies and mingle with those who claim to do so. Cryptocurrency wallets are one line of protection, so take the selection process seriously because these methods of exchange and safekeeping are the apple of hackers’ eyes.
Lack of Cryptocurrency Regulation
Cryptocurrencies operate in a decentralized market. This is an advantage, as we have previously said, but it also has its downfalls. Litecoin, Bitcoin, and all other cryptocurrencies are not regulated. In some places, they aren’t even taxable yet. Governments are yet to make decisions on cryptocurrency and its role in our day-to-day lives. You can read more about it in this ultimate cryptocurrency guide.
This uncertainty — especially with unavoidable real-world forces such as the government, the law, and taxes — leaves cryptocurrencies as vulnerable methods of income.
Cryptocurrency’s Age
Volatile is just the nature of cryptocurrencies at this point. As we have mentioned early in the article, you cannot put all your eggs in one basket on this one. Cryptocurrency, as an idea and a technological advancement, is still so new and so young. You cannot really predict where it will be in the far (or even near) future.
Be smart about your investments. Dabbling in cryptocurrencies is tempting when you’re fixated on innovation and the “next new thing,” but do not let it completely overhaul your financial decisions because you might not have enough left for the even bigger thing coming up.
For a more extensive discussion, please do check out this day trading cryptocurrency guide and decide the cryptocurrencies you want to utilize.
What to Look for in Cryptocurrency
Decentralized
Just in case this article hasn’t made it incredibly clear yet: most cryptocurrencies are decentralized. Litecoin, Bitcoin, Etheruem? They aren’t regulated by the government.
The use of blockchains to sort through ledgers create this decentralized control. This makes it relatively secure and promises to transact in cryptocurrency platforms, as a general rule.
Anonymous
Buying, trading, and selling in cryptocurrencies (including Litecoin) are usually under a pseudonym. This makes the transactions somehow anonymous, in hopes of being another protective measure for buyers, traders, and sellers.
Blockchains are completely available to the public, but the humans involved in these processes are mostly not. Make of that what you will. On one hand, you remain anonymous; but how protected are you, really?
Pseudonyms are not placeholders for anonymity since the latter requires you to hide your name. Meanwhile, the former does not require you to give out your name at all.
Secure and Encrypted
This one really speaks for itself: you want to be safe and secure in your chosen cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency wallet.
Do a quick search on the levels of encryption your platforms are taking. Encrypted data, as it is for all cryptocurrencies, turns your information into inaccessible ciphers and codes. As we said, there are levels of encryption. So, please do take your research seriously.
As Dwight Schrute of The Office would say, “Identity theft is not a joke, Jim! Millions of families suffer every year!”
Immutable
You cannot change transactions made on the blockchain. These are one-and-done transactions. And we cannot stress this enough: be careful. What happens to you after cryptocurrency transactions are not specifically (and deeply) backed up by laws yet.
If you are on the other side of this already, and what’s done is done, you can still try other legal options.
Trustless
A trustless system, in the world of cryptocurrencies, means that you do not have to trust the people you’re dealing with or the system you’re partaking in in order for your transactions to work. Cryptocurrencies, by virtue of “anonymity” (check #2), are trustless systems due to decentralization.
But that is not entirely true.
Blockchains are still a third-party system that you have to trust, even though supercomputers oversee transactions in a transparent process.
Final Word on Litecoin
With cryptocurrencies, there really is no sure way of telling what is a good deal. So if you’re wondering whether Litecoin is safe to invest in, the answer is a reserved yes.
Generally, Litecoin being a popular cryptocurrency makes it verified by so many people. It’s one of the safer ones you can partake in, for sure. One cannot give a 100% guarantee that only completely smooth transactions come out of Litecoin. But to play the devil’s advocate, that is the case for most cryptocurrencies and even real-world investments.
Go for it, but make sure you’ve considered all other options before you make an informed decision. If you want to look into the difference between Litecoin vs. Ethereum, continue your dive into the cryptocurrency rabbit hole with us.
