| Revision as of 11:46, 16 March 2024 editBOGLA (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users1,028 edits rm ref spamTag: Undo← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 02:12, 16 December 2024 edit undo2a02:6b67:e500:a601:8001:4c68:ced7:737 (talk) Updated latest release, updated market cap and price.Tag: Visual edit | ||
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| | image_title_1 = Official Litecoin logo | | image_title_1 = Official Litecoin logo | ||
| | subunit_ratio_1 = {{frac|1|1000}} | | subunit_ratio_1 = {{frac|1|1000}} | ||
| | subunit_name_1 = lites,<ref>renaming of mLTC/ |
| subunit_name_1 = lites,<ref>renaming of mLTC/μLTC to lites/photons https://github.com/litecoin-project/litecoin/pull/375 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208102643/https://github.com/litecoin-project/litecoin/pull/375 |date=2021-12-08 }}</ref> millilitecoin, mŁ | ||
| | subunit_ratio_2 = {{frac|1|1000000}} | | subunit_ratio_2 = {{frac|1|1000000}} | ||
| | subunit_name_2 = microlitecoins, photons, μŁ | | subunit_name_2 = microlitecoins, photons, μŁ | ||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
| | subunit_name_3 = litoshis | | subunit_name_3 = litoshis | ||
| | plural = Litecoins | | plural = Litecoins | ||
| | symbol = Ł{{cn|date=April 2024|reason=Please include a reliable, independent source for the use of this symbol}} | |||
| | symbol = Ł | |||
| | ticker_symbol = LTC | | ticker_symbol = LTC | ||
| | color = {{color test|#bebebe}} {{color test|#ffffff}} | | color = {{color test|#bebebe}} {{color test|#ffffff}} | ||
| Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
| | initial_release_version = 0.1.0 | | initial_release_version = 0.1.0 | ||
| | initial_release_date = {{Start date and age|df=1|2011|10|07}} | | initial_release_date = {{Start date and age|df=1|2011|10|07}} | ||
| | latest_release_version = 0.21. |
| latest_release_version = 0.21.4<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.litecoin.org/litecoin-core-v0-21-4-release-158f51431635 |title=Litecoin Core v0.21.4 Release |date=7 November 2024 |publisher=litecoin.org |access-date=2024-12-16}}</ref> | ||
| | latest_release_date = {{Start date and age|df=yes|2023|03|02}} | | latest_release_date = {{Start date and age|df=yes|2023|03|02}} | ||
| | code_repository = {{URL|https://github.com/litecoin-project/litecoin}} | | code_repository = {{URL|https://github.com/litecoin-project/litecoin}} | ||
| | status = Active | | status = Active | ||
| | forked_from = ] | | forked_from = ] | ||
| {{efn|group=infobox|] shouldn't be confused with ] or ].}} | |||
| | project_fork_of = | | project_fork_of = | ||
| | programming_languages = ] | | programming_languages = ] | ||
| | operating_system = ], ], ], ] | | operating_system = ], ], ], ] | ||
| | author = ] | | author = ] | ||
| | developer = Litecoin Core Development Team | | developer = Litecoin Core Development Team | ||
| | source_model = ] | | source_model = ] | ||
| | license = ] | | license = ] | ||
| | website = {{ |
| website = {{ofurl}} | ||
| | block_explorer = | | block_explorer = | ||
| | ledger_start = | | ledger_start = | ||
| Line 39: | Line 40: | ||
| | split_from = | | split_from = | ||
| | hash_function = ] | | hash_function = ] | ||
| | circulating_supply = Ł75,310,895 (16 December 2024)<ref name="revolut">{{Cite web |url=https://www.revolut.com/crypto/price/ltc/ |title=Litecoin (LTC) Price Today |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=]}}</ref> | |||
| | circulating_supply = Ł73,342,352 (12 July 2023) | |||
| | total_supply = | | total_supply = | ||
| | supply_limit = Ł84,000,000 | | supply_limit = Ł84,000,000 | ||
| Line 45: | Line 46: | ||
| | issuance = | | issuance = | ||
| | issuance_schedule = | | issuance_schedule = | ||
| | timestamping = ] | | timestamping = ] | ||
| | merged_mining_parent = | | merged_mining_parent = | ||
| | block_time = 2.5 minutes | | block_time = 2.5 minutes | ||
| | block_reward = Ł6.25 (as of August, 2 2023), (halved approximately every four years) | | block_reward = Ł6.25 (as of August, 2 2023), (halved approximately every four years) | ||
| | value = | | value = | ||
| | exchange_rate = US$ |
| exchange_rate = US$123.02 (December 2024)<ref name="revolut" /> | ||
| | market_cap = <!-- Requires a reliable source. --> | | market_cap = <!-- Requires a reliable source. --> | ||
| | footnotes = {{notelist|group=infobox}} | | footnotes = {{notelist|group=infobox}} | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''Litecoin''' (]: '''LTC'''; ]: '''Ł''') is a decentralized ] ] and ] project released under the ]. Inspired by ], Litecoin was among the earliest ], starting in October 2011.<ref name="WIRED">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/08/litecoin/|title=Ex-Googler Gives the World a Better Bitcoin|magazine=WIRED|access-date=2017-10-25|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709221218/https://www.wired.com/2013/08/litecoin/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Gibbs |first1=Toby |last2=Yordchim |first2=Suwaree |date=2014 |title=Thai Perception on Litecoin Value |url=https://instructor.ssru.ac.th/suwaree/file.php/1/Thai-Perception-on-Litecoin-Value.pdf |journal=International Journal of Social, Education, Economics and Management Engineering |volume=8 |issue=8 |pages=2589–2591}}</ref> |
'''Litecoin''' (]: '''LTC'''; ]: '''Ł''') is a decentralized ] ] and ] project released under the ]. Inspired by ], Litecoin was among the earliest ], starting in October 2011.<ref name="WIRED">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/08/litecoin/|title=Ex-Googler Gives the World a Better Bitcoin|magazine=WIRED|access-date=2017-10-25|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709221218/https://www.wired.com/2013/08/litecoin/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Gibbs |first1=Toby |last2=Yordchim |first2=Suwaree |date=2014 |title=Thai Perception on Litecoin Value |url=https://instructor.ssru.ac.th/suwaree/file.php/1/Thai-Perception-on-Litecoin-Value.pdf |journal=International Journal of Social, Education, Economics and Management Engineering |volume=8 |issue=8 |pages=2589–2591 |access-date=2022-07-14 |archive-date=2022-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722110804/https://instructor.ssru.ac.th/suwaree/file.php/1/Thai-Perception-on-Litecoin-Value.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In technical details, the Litecoin main chain shares a slightly modified ] codebase. The practical effects of those codebase differences are lower transaction fees,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Miglietti |first1=Cynthia |last2=Kubosova |first2=Zdenka |last3=Skulanova |first3=Nicole |date=20 May 2019 |title=Bitcoin, Litecoin, and the Euro: an annualized volatility analysis |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334425756 |journal=Studies in Economics and Finance|volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=229–242 |doi=10.1108/SEF-02-2019-0050 |s2cid=199363476 }}</ref> faster transaction confirmations,<ref name=":0" /> and faster mining difficulty retargeting. Due to its underlying similarities to Bitcoin, Litecoin has historically been referred to as the "silver to Bitcoin's gold."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mandjee |first=Tara |date=2014 |title=Bitcoin, its legal classification and its regulatory framework. |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/bussecul15&div=10&id=&page= |journal=Journal of Business & Securities Law |volume=15 |access-date=2022-07-15 |archive-date=2022-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715012410/https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/bussecul15&div=10&id=&page= |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jumaili |first1=Mustafa Lateef Fadhil |last2=Karim |first2=Sulaiman M |date=2021 |title=Comparison of two cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Litecoin |journal=Journal of Physics: Conference Series |volume=1963 |issue=1 |pages=7|doi=10.1088/1742-6596/1963/1/012143 |bibcode=2021JPhCS1963a2143J |s2cid=236441485 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":1">Ismail, Ashiana. "Permissioned blockchains for real world applications." PhD diss., 2020.</ref> In 2022, Litecoin added optional privacy features via soft ] through the MWEB (] extension block) upgrade.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Hake |first=Mark R. |date=February 14, 2022 |title=Litecoin Should See Broader Appeal With New Privacy Technology |url=https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/litecoin-should-see-broader-appeal-with-new-privacy-technology |access-date=July 14, 2022 |website=Nasdaq |archive-date=July 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715020408/https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/litecoin-should-see-broader-appeal-with-new-privacy-technology |url-status=live }}</ref> | ||
| ==Design== | |||
| ===Units and divisibility=== | |||
| ]s for representing litecoin is LTC. Its ] character is Ł. | |||
| One litecoin is divisible to eight decimal places. Units for smaller amounts of litecoin are: | |||
| * lites, or millilitecoin (mŁ), equal to {{frac|1|1000}} litecoin, | |||
| * photons, or microlitecoin (μŁ), equal to {{frac|1|{{val|1000000}}}}, | |||
| * the litoshi, which is the smallest possible division, and named in homage to bitcoin's smallest denomination the satoshi, representing {{frac|1|{{val|100000000}}}} (one hundred millionth) litecoin. | |||
| == History == | == History == | ||
| === Pre-Litecoin === | === Pre-Litecoin === | ||
| By 2011, Bitcoin mining was largely ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Browne |first=Ryan |date=2017-12-20 |title=Litecoin founder Charlie Lee says |
By 2011, Bitcoin mining was largely ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Browne |first=Ryan |date=2017-12-20 |title=Litecoin founder Charlie Lee says he's sold all his holdings in the cryptocurrency |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/20/litecoin-founder-charlie-lee-sells-his-holdings-in-the-cryptocurrency.html |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=CNBC |language=en |archive-date=2021-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202150717/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/20/litecoin-founder-charlie-lee-sells-his-holdings-in-the-cryptocurrency.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This raised concern in some users that mining now had a high barrier to entry, and that ] resources were becoming obsolete and worthless for mining. Using code from Bitcoin, a new alternative currency was created called ''Tenebrix'' (TBX). Tenebrix replaced the ] rounds in Bitcoin's mining algorithm with the '']'' function,<ref name="elsevier">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=May 5, 2015 |title=Handbook of Digital Currency: Bitcoin, Innovation, Financial Instruments, and Big Data |publisher=] Science |page= |isbn=9780128023518 |editor-last1=Lee |editor-first1=David}}</ref> which had been specifically designed in 2009 to be expensive to ].<ref>{{cite web|title=scrypt page on the Tarsnap website|url=http://www.tarsnap.com/scrypt.html|access-date=21 January 2014|archive-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528073159/https://www.tarsnap.com/scrypt.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This would allow Tenebrix to have been "GPU-resistant", and utilize the available CPU resources from bitcoin miners. Tenebrix itself was a successor project to an earlier cryptocurrency which replaced Bitcoin's issuance schedule with a constant block reward (thus creating an unlimited money supply).<ref name="elsevier" /> However, the developers included a clause in the code that would allow them to claim 7.7 million TBX for themselves at no cost, which was criticized by users.<ref>{{cite book |last=Deng |first=Robert H. |date= 3 August 2017|title=Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, and Inclusion, Volume 1: Cryptocurrency, FinTech, InsurTech, and Regulation |location=United Kingdom |publisher=] Science |page= |isbn=9780128104422}}</ref> | ||
| To address this, ], a ] employee who would later become engineering director at ],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/20/litecoin-charlie-lee-conflict-of-interest/|title=Litecoin founder Charlie Lee has sold all of his LTC|work=TechCrunch|access-date=2018-08-20|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221213913/https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/20/litecoin-charlie-lee-conflict-of-interest/|url-status=live}}</ref> created an alternative version of Tenebrix called ''Fairbrix'' (FBX).<ref name="WIRED" /> Litecoin inherits the scrypt mining algorithm from Fairbrix, but returns to the limited money supply of Bitcoin, with other changes. | To address this, ], a ] employee who would later become engineering director at ],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/20/litecoin-charlie-lee-conflict-of-interest/|title=Litecoin founder Charlie Lee has sold all of his LTC|work=TechCrunch|access-date=2018-08-20|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221213913/https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/20/litecoin-charlie-lee-conflict-of-interest/|url-status=live}}</ref> created an alternative version of Tenebrix called ''Fairbrix'' (FBX).<ref name="WIRED" /> Litecoin inherits the scrypt mining algorithm from Fairbrix, but returns to the limited money supply of Bitcoin, with other changes. | ||
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| Lee released Litecoin via an open-source ] on ] on October 7, 2011.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Blockchain economics and financial market innovation: financial innovations in the digital age |date=2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-25275-5 |editor-last=Hacıoğlu |editor-first=Ümit |series=Contributions to economics |location=Cham |page=213}}</ref> The Litecoin network went live on October 13, 2011. | Lee released Litecoin via an open-source ] on ] on October 7, 2011.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Blockchain economics and financial market innovation: financial innovations in the digital age |date=2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-25275-5 |editor-last=Hacıoğlu |editor-first=Ümit |series=Contributions to economics |location=Cham |page=213}}</ref> The Litecoin network went live on October 13, 2011. | ||
| Litecoin was a source code fork of the ] client, originally differing by having a decreased block generation time (2.5 minutes), increased maximum number of coins, different ] (], instead of ]), faster difficulty retarget, and a slightly modified ].{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} | Litecoin was a ] of the ] client, originally differing by having a decreased block generation time (2.5 minutes), increased maximum number of coins, different ] (], instead of ]), faster difficulty retarget, and a slightly modified ].{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} | ||
| === 2011–2016 === | === 2011–2016 === | ||
| After launch, the early growth of Litecoin was aided by its increasing exchange availability and liquidity on early exchanges such as ]. During the month of November 2013, the aggregate value of Litecoin experienced massive growth which included a 100% leap within 24 hours.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/525867/20131128/litcoin-value-leaps-100-percent-market-cap.htm|title=Litecoin value leaps 100% in a day as market cap passes $1bn|work=International Business Times, UK Edition|first=Alistair|last=Charlton|date=2013-11-28|access-date=2013-12-16|archive-date=2013-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203023044/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/525867/20131128/litcoin-value-leaps-100-percent-market-cap.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cizek |first=Jakub |url=https://dspace.cuni.cz/bitstream/handle/20.500.11956/64877/BPTX_2013_2_11230_0_387819_0_150032.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Bitcoin as a leader of crypto-currencies: A predictability study |publisher=Charles University |page=11}}</ref> | After launch, the early growth of Litecoin was aided by its increasing exchange availability and liquidity on early exchanges such as ]. During the month of November 2013, the aggregate value of Litecoin experienced massive growth which included a 100% leap within 24 hours.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/525867/20131128/litcoin-value-leaps-100-percent-market-cap.htm|title=Litecoin value leaps 100% in a day as market cap passes $1bn|work=International Business Times, UK Edition|first=Alistair|last=Charlton|date=2013-11-28|access-date=2013-12-16|archive-date=2013-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203023044/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/525867/20131128/litcoin-value-leaps-100-percent-market-cap.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cizek |first=Jakub |url=https://dspace.cuni.cz/bitstream/handle/20.500.11956/64877/BPTX_2013_2_11230_0_387819_0_150032.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Bitcoin as a leader of crypto-currencies: A predictability study |publisher=Charles University |page=11 |access-date=2024-02-01 |archive-date=2024-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201223556/https://dspace.cuni.cz/bitstream/handle/20.500.11956/64877/BPTX_2013_2_11230_0_387819_0_150032.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> | ||
| In early 2014, Lee suggested merge mining (auxPOW) ] with Litecoin to the Dogecoin community at large. In September 2014, Dogecoin began merge-mining with Litecoin |
In early 2014, Lee suggested merge mining (auxPOW) ] with Litecoin to the Dogecoin community at large. In September 2014, Dogecoin began merge-mining with Litecoin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murdock |first=Jason |date=2021-04-14 |title=How to mine dogecoin as 129 billion tokens in circulation |url=https://www.newsweek.com/dogecoin-how-mine-cryptocurrency-explained-129-billion-tokens-circulation-1583515 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Newsweek |language=en |archive-date=2022-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713132230/https://www.newsweek.com/dogecoin-how-mine-cryptocurrency-explained-129-billion-tokens-circulation-1583515 |url-status=live }}</ref> | ||
| === 2017–2021 === | === 2017–2021 === | ||
| In 2020, ] added the ability for users to purchase a derivative of Litecoin along with ], ] and ] which could not be withdrawn or spent as part of its Crypto feature.<ref>BBC (2020) "PayPal allows Bitcoin and crypto spending", October 21. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54630283</ref><ref>, ].com</ref> | In 2020, ] added the ability for users to purchase a derivative of Litecoin along with ], ] and ] which could not be withdrawn or spent as part of its Crypto feature.<ref>BBC (2020) "PayPal allows Bitcoin and crypto spending", October 21. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54630283 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110133429/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54630283 |date=2021-11-10 }}</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120125607/https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/crypto |date=2022-01-20 }}, ].com</ref> | ||
| {{anchor|Walmart hoax}} | {{anchor|Walmart hoax}} | ||
| In September 2021, a fake press release was published on ] announcing a partnership between Litecoin and ]. This caused the price of Litecoin to increase by around 30%, before the press release was revealed as a hoax.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-13|title=Walmart denies tieup with litecoin, fake statement rattles cryptocurrency|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/press-release-walmarts-litecoin-partnership-is-fake-cnbc-2021-09-13/|access-date=2021-09-13|website=Reuters|language=en}}</ref> | In September 2021, a fake press release was published on ] announcing a partnership between Litecoin and ]. This caused the price of Litecoin to increase by around 30%, before the press release was revealed as a hoax.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-13|title=Walmart denies tieup with litecoin, fake statement rattles cryptocurrency|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/press-release-walmarts-litecoin-partnership-is-fake-cnbc-2021-09-13/|access-date=2021-09-13|website=Reuters|language=en|archive-date=2022-10-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015150302/https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/press-release-walmarts-litecoin-partnership-is-fake-cnbc-2021-09-13/|url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
| === 2022–present === | === 2022–present === | ||
| In May 2022, MWEB (Mimblewimble Extension Blocks) upgrade was activated on the Litecoin network as a ]. 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-20 |title=MWEB Has Officially Activated |url=https://www.litecoin.net/news/mweb-has-officially-activated |website=Litecoin Foundation}}</ref> | In May 2022, MWEB (Mimblewimble Extension Blocks) upgrade was activated on the Litecoin network as a ]. 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-20 |title=MWEB Has Officially Activated |url=https://www.litecoin.net/news/mweb-has-officially-activated |website=Litecoin Foundation |access-date=2022-06-01 |archive-date=2022-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526050915/https://www.litecoin.net/news/mweb-has-officially-activated |url-status=live }}</ref>{{primary inline|date=April 2024}} | ||
| In June 2022, ] added the ability for users to transfer Litecoin along with ], ] and ] between PayPal to other wallets and exchanges.<ref>PAYPAL (2022) "PayPal Users Can Now Transfer, Send, and Receive Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin", June 21. https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2022-06-07-PayPal-Users-Can-Now-Transfer-Send-and-Receive-Bitcoin-Ethereum-Bitcoin-Cash-and-Litecoin</ref> | In June 2022, ] added the ability for users to transfer Litecoin along with ], ] and ] between PayPal to other wallets and exchanges.<ref>PAYPAL (2022) "PayPal Users Can Now Transfer, Send, and Receive Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin", June 21. https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2022-06-07-PayPal-Users-Can-Now-Transfer-Send-and-Receive-Bitcoin-Ethereum-Bitcoin-Cash-and-Litecoin {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712070554/https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2022-06-07-PayPal-Users-Can-Now-Transfer-Send-and-Receive-Bitcoin-Ethereum-Bitcoin-Cash-and-Litecoin |date=2022-07-12 }}</ref>{{primary inline|date=April 2024}} | ||
| == Differences from Bitcoin == | == Differences from Bitcoin == | ||
| Line 98: | Line 90: | ||
| * 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.<ref>{{cite news|first=Ian|last=Steadman|date=2013-05-11|url=https://arstechnica.com/business/2013/05/wary-of-bitcoin-a-guide-to-some-other-cryptocurrencies/|title=Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies|work=Ars Technica|access-date=2014-01-19|archive-date=2014-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116040533/http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/05/wary-of-bitcoin-a-guide-to-some-other-cryptocurrencies/|url-status=live}}</ref> | * 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.<ref>{{cite news|first=Ian|last=Steadman|date=2013-05-11|url=https://arstechnica.com/business/2013/05/wary-of-bitcoin-a-guide-to-some-other-cryptocurrencies/|title=Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies|work=Ars Technica|access-date=2014-01-19|archive-date=2014-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116040533/http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/05/wary-of-bitcoin-a-guide-to-some-other-cryptocurrencies/|url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
| * ], an alternative ] algorithm, is used for Litecoin. According to '']'', "Scrypt was chosen because it theoretically prevents the use of ASICs, those specialized chips that greatly increase mining power and efficiency (though there is debate over the validity of this claim).".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/4x3ywn/beyond-bitcoin-a-guide-to-the-most-promising-cryptocurrencies|title=Beyond Bitcoin: A Guide to the Most Promising Cryptocurrencies|author=Alec Liu|date=29 November 2013|access-date=25 April 2024|archive-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613111615/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/4x3ywn/beyond-bitcoin-a-guide-to-the-most-promising-cryptocurrencies|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| * ], an alternative ] algorithm, is used for Litecoin. It differs from Bitcoin's SHA-256 algorithm in part by including a sequential ], requiring ] more memory than an algorithm which is not memory-hard.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hameed |first=Sufian |last2=Farooq |first2=Sameet |title=The Art of Crypto Currencies |url=https://arxiv.org/pdf/1711.11073.pdf |journal=IJACSA}}</ref> Due to Litecoin's use of the scrypt algorithm, ] and ] devices made for mining Litecoin are more complicated to create and more expensive to produce than they are for Bitcoin, which uses SHA-256.<ref>{{cite web |last=Coventry |first=Alex |date=2012-04-25 |title=Nooshare: A decentralized ledger of shared computational resources |url=http://mit.edu/alex_c/www/nooshare.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112210735/http://mit.edu/alex_c/www/nooshare.pdf |archive-date=2013-01-12 |access-date=2012-09-21 |publisher=Self-published |quote=These hash functions can be tuned to require rapid access a very large memory space, making them particularly hard to optimize to specialized massively parallel hardware.}}</ref> | |||
| * Litecoin is merge mined with another prominent cryptocurrency |
* Litecoin is merge mined with another prominent cryptocurrency, Dogecoin.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McGleenon |first1=Brian |title=Why is this crypto token rising amid crash and FTX collapse? |url=https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/crypto-token-crash-ftx-collapse-litecoin-doge-solana-144705733.html |website=Yahoo Finance |access-date=7 December 2022 |date=24 November 2022}}</ref> | ||
| * 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.{{cn|date=April 2024}} | |||
| * 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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nakamoto |display-authors=et al |date=1 April 2016 |title=Bitcoin source code - amount constraints |website=] |url=https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/08a7316c144f9f2516db8fa62400893f4358c5ae/src/amount.h |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701112835/https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/08a7316c144f9f2516db8fa62400893f4358c5ae/src/amount.h |archive-date=1 July 2018}}</ref>{{efn|The supply will approach, but never reach, '''₿'''21 million. Issuance will permanently halt {{circa}} 2140 at '''₿'''20,999,999.9769.<ref name="Antonopoulos2014">{{Cite book |last=Antonopoulos, Andreas M. |title=Mastering Bitcoin: Unlocking Digital Crypto-Currencies |date=April 2014 |publisher=O'Reilly Media |isbn=978-1-4493-7404-4 |author-link=Andreas Antonopoulos}}</ref>{{rp|ch. 8}}}} | |||
| * Both Litecoin and Bitcoin retarget their mining difficulty every 2016 blocks. However, due to the 4x faster block speed for Litecoin, mining difficulty retargets occur approximately every 3.5 days. This compares to approximately every 14 days for Bitcoin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crypto Guide: Understanding the Nuances of Bitcoin vs. Litecoin {{!}} SimpleSwap |url=https://simpleswap.io/blog/crypto-guide-understanding-the-nuances-of-bitcoin-vs-litecoin |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=SimpleSwap {{!}} Cryptocurrency exchange blog |language=en}}</ref> | |||
| * MWEB optional privacy was added to Litecoin's base layer in May 2022 via soft fork.<ref name=":2" /> This allows amounts held within wallets and transaction amounts within MWEB to be private.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Silveira |first1=Adrián |last2=Betarte |first2=Gustavo |last3=Cristiá |first3=Maximiliano |last4=Luna |first4=Carlos |date=2021-09-04 |title=A Formal Analysis of the Mimblewimble Cryptocurrency Protocol |journal=Sensors |volume=21 |issue=17 |pages=5951 |doi=10.3390/s21175951 |pmid=34502842 |pmc=8434605 |arxiv=2104.00822 |bibcode=2021Senso..21.5951S |issn=1424-8220|doi-access=free }}</ref> | * MWEB optional privacy was added to Litecoin's base layer in May 2022 via soft fork.<ref name=":2" /> This allows amounts held within wallets and transaction amounts within MWEB to be private.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Silveira |first1=Adrián |last2=Betarte |first2=Gustavo |last3=Cristiá |first3=Maximiliano |last4=Luna |first4=Carlos |date=2021-09-04 |title=A Formal Analysis of the Mimblewimble Cryptocurrency Protocol |journal=Sensors |volume=21 |issue=17 |pages=5951 |doi=10.3390/s21175951 |pmid=34502842 |pmc=8434605 |arxiv=2104.00822 |bibcode=2021Senso..21.5951S |issn=1424-8220|doi-access=free }}</ref> | ||
| Third party vendors providing ] for Litecoin include |
Third party vendors providing ] for Litecoin include ].<ref name=":3">{{Cite magazine |title=Bitcoin's Dominance of Crypto Payments Is Starting to Erode |url=https://time.com/6139727/bitcoin-crypto-payments/ |access-date=2022-07-16 |magazine=Time |language=en |archive-date=2022-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716025153/https://time.com/6139727/bitcoin-crypto-payments/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | ||
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| == Notes == | |||
| {{notelist}} | |||
| == References == | == References == | ||
Latest revision as of 02:12, 16 December 2024
Cryptocurrency Official Litecoin logo | |
| Denominations | |
|---|---|
| Plural | Litecoins |
| Symbol | Ł |
| Code | LTC |
| Precision | 10 |
| Subunits | |
| 1⁄1000 | lites, millilitecoin, mŁ |
| 1⁄1000000 | microlitecoins, photons, μŁ |
| 1⁄100000000 | litoshis |
| Development | |
| Original author(s) | Charlie Lee |
| Initial release | 0.1.0 / 7 October 2011; 13 years ago (2011-10-07) |
| Latest release | 0.21.4 / 2 March 2023; 21 months ago (2023-03-02) |
| Code repository | github |
| Development status | Active |
| Project fork of | Bitcoin |
| Written in | C++ |
| Operating system | Windows, OS X, Linux, Android |
| Developer(s) | Litecoin Core Development Team |
| Source model | Open source |
| License | MIT License |
| Ledger | |
| Timestamping scheme | Proof-of-work |
| Hash function | scrypt |
| Block reward | Ł6.25 (as of August, 2 2023), (halved approximately every four years) |
| Block time | 2.5 minutes |
| Circulating supply | Ł75,310,895 (16 December 2024) |
| Supply limit | Ł84,000,000 |
| Valuation | |
| Exchange rate | US$123.02 (December 2024) |
| Administration | |
| Issuing authority | decentralized, block reward |
| Website | |
| Website | litecoin |
| |
Litecoin (Abbreviation: LTC; sign: Ł) is a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open-source software project released under the MIT/X11 license. Inspired by Bitcoin, Litecoin was among the earliest altcoins, starting in October 2011. In technical details, the Litecoin main chain shares a slightly modified Bitcoin codebase. The practical effects of those codebase differences are lower transaction fees, faster transaction confirmations, and faster mining difficulty retargeting. Due to its underlying similarities to Bitcoin, Litecoin has historically been referred to as the "silver to Bitcoin's gold." In 2022, Litecoin added optional privacy features via soft fork through the MWEB (MimbleWimble extension block) upgrade.
History
Pre-Litecoin
By 2011, Bitcoin mining was largely performed by GPUs. This raised concern in some users that mining now had a high barrier to entry, and that CPU resources were becoming obsolete and worthless for mining. Using code from Bitcoin, a new alternative currency was created called Tenebrix (TBX). Tenebrix replaced the SHA-256 rounds in Bitcoin's mining algorithm with the scrypt function, which had been specifically designed in 2009 to be expensive to accelerate with FPGA or ASIC chips. This would allow Tenebrix to have been "GPU-resistant", and utilize the available CPU resources from bitcoin miners. Tenebrix itself was a successor project to an earlier cryptocurrency which replaced Bitcoin's issuance schedule with a constant block reward (thus creating an unlimited money supply). However, the developers included a clause in the code that would allow them to claim 7.7 million TBX for themselves at no cost, which was criticized by users.
To address this, Charlie Lee, a Google employee who would later become engineering director at Coinbase, created an alternative version of Tenebrix called Fairbrix (FBX). Litecoin inherits the scrypt mining algorithm from Fairbrix, but returns to the limited money supply of Bitcoin, with other changes.
Creation and launch
Lee released Litecoin via an open-source client on GitHub on October 7, 2011. The Litecoin network went live on October 13, 2011.
Litecoin was a source code fork of the Bitcoin Core client, originally differing by having a decreased block generation time (2.5 minutes), increased maximum number of coins, different hashing algorithm (scrypt, instead of SHA-256), faster difficulty retarget, and a slightly modified GUI.
2011–2016
After launch, the early growth of Litecoin was aided by its increasing exchange availability and liquidity on early exchanges such as BTC-e. During the month of November 2013, the aggregate value of Litecoin experienced massive growth which included a 100% leap within 24 hours.
In early 2014, Lee suggested merge mining (auxPOW) Dogecoin with Litecoin to the Dogecoin community at large. In September 2014, Dogecoin began merge-mining with Litecoin.
2017–2021
In 2020, PayPal added the ability for users to purchase a derivative of Litecoin along with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash which could not be withdrawn or spent as part of its Crypto feature.
In September 2021, a fake press release was published on GlobeNewswire announcing a partnership between Litecoin and Walmart. This caused the price of Litecoin to increase by around 30%, before the press release was revealed as a hoax.
2022–present
In May 2022, MWEB (Mimblewimble Extension Blocks) 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.
In June 2022, PayPal added the ability for users to transfer Litecoin along with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash between PayPal to other wallets and exchanges.
Differences from Bitcoin
Litecoin is different in some ways from 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.
- Scrypt, an alternative proof-of-work algorithm, is used for Litecoin. According to Motherboard, "Scrypt was chosen because it theoretically prevents the use of ASICs, those specialized chips that greatly increase mining power and efficiency (though there is debate over the validity of this claim).".
- Litecoin is merge mined with another prominent cryptocurrency, Dogecoin.
- 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.
- MWEB optional privacy was added to Litecoin's base layer in May 2022 via soft fork. This allows amounts held within wallets and transaction amounts within MWEB to be private.
Third party vendors providing point of sale infrastructure for Litecoin include BitPay.
See also
References
- renaming of mLTC/μLTC to lites/photons https://github.com/litecoin-project/litecoin/pull/375 Archived 2021-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
- "Litecoin Core v0.21.4 Release". litecoin.org. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ^ "Litecoin (LTC) Price Today". Revolut. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ^ "Ex-Googler Gives the World a Better Bitcoin". WIRED. Archived from the original on 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
- ^ Gibbs, Toby; Yordchim, Suwaree (2014). "Thai Perception on Litecoin Value" (PDF). International Journal of Social, Education, Economics and Management Engineering. 8 (8): 2589–2591. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-07-22. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
- Miglietti, Cynthia; Kubosova, Zdenka; Skulanova, Nicole (20 May 2019). "Bitcoin, Litecoin, and the Euro: an annualized volatility analysis". Studies in Economics and Finance. 37 (2): 229–242. doi:10.1108/SEF-02-2019-0050. S2CID 199363476.
- Mandjee, Tara (2014). "Bitcoin, its legal classification and its regulatory framework". Journal of Business & Securities Law. 15. Archived from the original on 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
- Jumaili, Mustafa Lateef Fadhil; Karim, Sulaiman M (2021). "Comparison of two cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Litecoin". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 1963 (1): 7. Bibcode:2021JPhCS1963a2143J. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1963/1/012143. S2CID 236441485.
- ^ Ismail, Ashiana. "Permissioned blockchains for real world applications." PhD diss., 2020.
- ^ Hake, Mark R. (February 14, 2022). "Litecoin Should See Broader Appeal With New Privacy Technology". Nasdaq. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- Browne, Ryan (2017-12-20). "Litecoin founder Charlie Lee says he's sold all his holdings in the cryptocurrency". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2021-02-02. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
- ^ Lee, David, ed. (May 5, 2015). Handbook of Digital Currency: Bitcoin, Innovation, Financial Instruments, and Big Data. Elsevier Science. ISBN 9780128023518.
- "scrypt page on the Tarsnap website". Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- Deng, Robert H. (3 August 2017). Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, and Inclusion, Volume 1: Cryptocurrency, FinTech, InsurTech, and Regulation. United Kingdom: Elsevier Science. ISBN 9780128104422.
- "Litecoin founder Charlie Lee has sold all of his LTC". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2021-02-21. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
- Hacıoğlu, Ümit, ed. (2019). Blockchain economics and financial market innovation: financial innovations in the digital age. Contributions to economics. Cham: Springer. p. 213. ISBN 978-3-030-25275-5.
- Charlton, Alistair (2013-11-28). "Litecoin value leaps 100% in a day as market cap passes $1bn". International Business Times, UK Edition. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
- Cizek, Jakub. Bitcoin as a leader of crypto-currencies: A predictability study (PDF). Charles University. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-02-01. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
- Murdock, Jason (2021-04-14). "How to mine dogecoin as 129 billion tokens in circulation". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2022-07-13. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
- BBC (2020) "PayPal allows Bitcoin and crypto spending", October 21. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54630283 Archived 2021-11-10 at the Wayback Machine
- Crypto with PayPal is here Archived 2022-01-20 at the Wayback Machine, PayPal.com
- "Walmart denies tieup with litecoin, fake statement rattles cryptocurrency". Reuters. 2021-09-13. Archived from the original on 2022-10-15. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
- "MWEB Has Officially Activated". Litecoin Foundation. 2022-05-20. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- PAYPAL (2022) "PayPal Users Can Now Transfer, Send, and Receive Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin", June 21. https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2022-06-07-PayPal-Users-Can-Now-Transfer-Send-and-Receive-Bitcoin-Ethereum-Bitcoin-Cash-and-Litecoin Archived 2022-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
- Steadman, Ian (2013-05-11). "Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
- Alec Liu (29 November 2013). "Beyond Bitcoin: A Guide to the Most Promising Cryptocurrencies". Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- McGleenon, Brian (24 November 2022). "Why is this crypto token rising amid crash and FTX collapse?". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- Silveira, Adrián; Betarte, Gustavo; Cristiá, Maximiliano; Luna, Carlos (2021-09-04). "A Formal Analysis of the Mimblewimble Cryptocurrency Protocol". Sensors. 21 (17): 5951. arXiv:2104.00822. Bibcode:2021Senso..21.5951S. doi:10.3390/s21175951. ISSN 1424-8220. PMC 8434605. PMID 34502842.
- "Bitcoin's Dominance of Crypto Payments Is Starting to Erode". Time. Archived from the original on 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
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