LTC has a number of key differences from BTC. While both assets utilize a proof-of-work (PoW) mining consensus, Bitcoin employs a SHA-256 hashing algorithm, whereas Litecoin uses Scrypt. LTC has a larger maximum supply of 84 million coins compared with BTC’s 21 million. At 2.5 minutes per block, Litecoin transactions are faster and less costly than Bitcoin and its 10-minute blocks. Litecoin has been positioned in a similar light to silver in a world in which Bitcoin is compared to gold.
Similar to Bitcoin, Litecoin completes a halving event approximately every four years, cutting its mining reward in half. Litecoin’s first halving event occurred in 2015, trimming its reward from 50 LTC to 25 LTC per block.
The crypto industry is filled with a history of price volatility. Litecoin is no exception to the market’s reputation in this regard. In the years since its inception, LTC has traded below $5 and above $400 per coin.
LTC is well known in the crypto world, and the asset can be bought and sold on numerous platforms.