Litecoin: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 23:57, 26 April 2013 editStatecraft (talk \| contribs)36 edits →Transactions: memory intensive repeated, remove dead reference← Previous edit		Revision as of 00:13, 27 April 2013 edit undoStatecraft (talk \| contribs)36 edits Add Ars Technica reference to mining requiring less sophisticated computersNext edit →
Line 29:		Line 29:
	}}		}}
	]		]
	'''Litecoin''' (]: '''Ł'''; ]: '''LTC''') is a ] ] and open source software project released under the MIT/X11 license.<ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref> Inspired by and technically nearly identical<ref> http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21576149-even-if-it-crashes-bitcoin-may-make-dent-financial-world-mining-digital, Mining digital gold, ], April 13th, 2013</ref> to ] ('''BTC'''), Litecoin creation and transfer is based on an ] encryption protocol and is not managed by any central authority.<ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref><ref name="Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System">{{cite web\|last=Satoshi\|first=Nakamoto\|title=Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System\|url=http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf\|publisher=Bitcoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013\|}}</ref> Litecoin is intended to be an alternative cryptocurrency<ref name="Linux Journal, March 2012">{{cite web\|last=Powers\|first=Shawn\|title=Cryptocurrency: Your Total Cost Is 01001010010\|url=http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/ftp/LinuxJournal/LJ12-03.pdf\|work=Linux Journal, March 2012\|publisher=Linux Journal\|accessdate=21 October 2012\|page=29}}</ref><ref name="The Market Oracle, 17th April 2013">{{cite web\|last=BATR\|title=Bitcoins Risk Reward\|url=http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article39996.html\|accessdate=24 April 2013\|}}</ref><ref name="Bitcoin Isn’t the Only Cryptocurrency in Town, 15th April 2013">{{cite web\|last=Simonite\|first=Tom\|title=Bitcoin Isn’t the Only Cryptocurrency in Town\|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513661/bitcoin-isnt-the-only-cryptocurrency-in-town/\|accessdate=24 April 2013\|}}</ref> to Bitcoin and offers three key differences. Firstly, the Litecoin network processes a block every 2.5 minutes, rather than every 10 minutes, which allows for the faster confirmation of transactions.<ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref> Secondly, the Litecoin network will produce roughly 4 times as many units as Bitcoin, or about 84 million litecoins.<ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref> Thirdly, Litecoin uses ] in its proof-of-work algorithm: a sequential memory-hard function first conceived by Colin Percival.<ref name="Stronger Key Derivation Via Sequential Memory-Hard Functions">{{cite web\|last=Percival\|first=Colin\|title=Stronger Key Derivation Via Sequential Memory-Hard Functions\|url=http://www.tarsnap.com/scrypt/scrypt.pdf\|accessdate=24 April 2013\|}}</ref><ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref> Each litecoin is subdivided into 100,000,000 smaller units, defined by eight decimal places.		'''Litecoin''' (]: '''Ł'''; ]: '''LTC''') is a ] ] and open source software project released under the MIT/X11 license.<ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref> Inspired by and technically nearly identical<ref> http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21576149-even-if-it-crashes-bitcoin-may-make-dent-financial-world-mining-digital, Mining digital gold, ], April 13th, 2013</ref> to ] ('''BTC'''), Litecoin creation and transfer is based on an ] encryption protocol and is not managed by any central authority.<ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref><ref name="Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System">{{cite web\|last=Satoshi\|first=Nakamoto\|title=Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System\|url=http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf\|publisher=Bitcoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013\|}}</ref> Litecoin is intended to be an alternative cryptocurrency<ref name="Linux Journal, March 2012">{{cite web\|last=Powers\|first=Shawn\|title=Cryptocurrency: Your Total Cost Is 01001010010\|url=http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/ftp/LinuxJournal/LJ12-03.pdf\|work=Linux Journal, March 2012\|publisher=Linux Journal\|accessdate=21 October 2012\|page=29}}</ref><ref name="The Market Oracle, 17th April 2013">{{cite web\|last=BATR\|title=Bitcoins Risk Reward\|url=http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article39996.html\|accessdate=24 April 2013\|}}</ref><ref name="Bitcoin Isn’t the Only Cryptocurrency in Town, 15th April 2013">{{cite web\|last=Simonite\|first=Tom\|title=Bitcoin Isn’t the Only Cryptocurrency in Town\|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513661/bitcoin-isnt-the-only-cryptocurrency-in-town/\|accessdate=24 April 2013\|}}</ref> to Bitcoin and offers three key differences. Firstly, the Litecoin network processes a block every 2.5 minutes, rather than every 10 minutes, which allows for the faster confirmation of transactions.<ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref> Secondly, the Litecoin network will produce roughly 4 times as many units as Bitcoin, or about 84 million litecoins.<ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref> Thirdly, Litecoin uses ] in its proof-of-work algorithm: a sequential memory-hard function first conceived by Colin Percival, that makes mining easier to carry out on less-sophisticated computers than Bitcoin requires.<ref name="Stronger Key Derivation Via Sequential Memory-Hard Functions">{{cite web\|last=Percival\|first=Colin\|title=Stronger Key Derivation Via Sequential Memory-Hard Functions\|url=http://www.tarsnap.com/scrypt/scrypt.pdf\|accessdate=24 April 2013\|}}</ref><ref name="Litecoin.org, April 2013">{{cite web\|title=Litecoin.org\|url=http://litecoin.org\|work=Litecoin.org, April 2013\|publisher=Litecoin.org\|accessdate=24 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|title=Potent DDoS attacks on Mt. Gox delay rollout of new virtual currency, Support of Litecoin is postponed as Bitcoin exchange struggles to stay online.\|url=http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/04/potent-ddos-attacks-on-mt-gox-delays-rollout-of-new-virtual-currency/, April 2013\|publisher=Ars Technica\|accessdate=26 April 2013}}</ref> Each litecoin is subdivided into 100,000,000 smaller units, defined by eight decimal places.

	==Transactions==		==Transactions==

Revision as of 00:13, 27 April 2013

Litecoin


"Litecoin Accepted Here" logo	Litecoin client (overview tab)

Unit

Plural

Litecoin, litecoins

Symbol

Ł‎

Nickname

LTC

Denominations

Subunit

0.001

mLTC (millicoin)

0.000001

μLTC (microcoin)

0.00000001

Smallest unit

Demographics

Date of introduction

7 October 2011

User(s)

International

Issuance

Central bank

None. The Litecoin peer-to-peer network regulates and distributes through consensus in protocol.

Valuation

Inflation

Limited release (Geometric series, rate halves every 4 years reaching a final total of 84 million LTC)

Litecoin (sign: Ł; abbrv: LTC) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open source software project released under the MIT/X11 license. Inspired by and technically nearly identical to Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin creation and transfer is based on an open source encryption protocol and is not managed by any central authority. Litecoin is intended to be an alternative cryptocurrency to Bitcoin and offers three key differences. Firstly, the Litecoin network processes a block every 2.5 minutes, rather than every 10 minutes, which allows for the faster confirmation of transactions. Secondly, the Litecoin network will produce roughly 4 times as many units as Bitcoin, or about 84 million litecoins. Thirdly, Litecoin uses scrypt in its proof-of-work algorithm: a sequential memory-hard function first conceived by Colin Percival, that makes mining easier to carry out on less-sophisticated computers than Bitcoin requires. Each litecoin is subdivided into 100,000,000 smaller units, defined by eight decimal places.

Transactions

A peer-to-peer network similar to Bitcoin's handles Litecoin's transactions, balances and issuance through Scrypt, the proof-of-work scheme (Litecoins are issued when a small enough hash value is found, at which point a block is created, the process of finding these hashes and creating blocks is called mining). The issuing rate forms a geometric series, and the rate halves every 4 years (every 840,000 blocks) reaching a final total of 84 million LTC. The memory intensive nature of Scrypt means that unlike with Bitcoin, Litecoin is better suited for GPU mining. FPGA and ASIC implementations are more expensive to create for Scrypt than for sha256 as used by Bitcoin.

Litecoins are currently traded for both fiat currencies and bitcoins, mostly on online exchanges. Reversible transactions (such as those with credit cards) are not normally used to buy litecoins as Litecoin transactions are irreversible, so there is the danger of chargebacks. As of 25 April 2013, 1 LTC is worth approximately 3.97 USD or 0.028 BTC. This makes Litecoin the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap with a cap of 35,000,000 USD.