Top 20 Alternatives: Litecoin (LTC)

Highlights, summary, review and discussion of Litecoin

Litecoin was introduced in October 2011 and is a blockchain system very similar to Bitcoin with shorter confirmation times (2.5 min vs 10 min for Bitcoin) and that requires a different proof-of-work (POW) hashing algorithm (scrypt vs SHA-256) for mining. Litecoin is scheduled to have four times as many coins as Bitcoin (84 million vs 21 million) over time. Litecoin retains much of the unique characteristics of Bitcoin with minor differences, but specialized hardware called ASICs have come out and negated much of its potential to make mining more decentralized. Recently the Coinbase GDAX stated it plans to add Litecoin to its exchange. It is also traded on Bitfinex.

Bottomline: Litecoin (LTC) is a proof-of-work coin that is considered the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. It may be able to ride the coattails of Bitcoin since it has the same unique characteristics. There is some risk that it doesn’t differentiate enough. Keep an eye on trends in the Bitcoin/Litecoin ratio to see if there is a long term divergence between prices or if the correlation between the two remains strong.

Please respond below to add any insight or ask a question to elevate the community's understanding of Litecoin. Here are some questions to consider:

• What are the main reasons why you invest or don't invest in LTC?
• What projects & applications are you most excited about?

For some background on this blog series and analysis of other currencies click below:
Top 20 Alternatives: Introduction

1. Ethereum
2. Ripple