How to Buy Litecoin (LTC)

I'm Donny. I'm a world traveler, investor, entrepreneur, and online marketing aficionado who has a big appetite to compete and disrupt big markets. I thrive on being able to create things that impact change, difficult challenges, and being able to add value in negative situations.

Litecoin is a peer-to-peer Internet currency that enables instant, near-zero cost payments to anyone in the world. Litecoin was an early bitcoin spinoff or altcoin, starting in October 2011.

How to Buy LTC

  1. Create a Coinbase account - We recommend using Coinbase as it offers $5 in free Bitcoin when you sign-up.
  2. Add a payment method - Add your payment method and fund your account.
  3. Research the coin - Search for the coin by name or ticker symbol - LTC.
  4. Decide the amount of coins - Now it is time to decide how many coins you want to buy of Litecoin.
  5. Purchase coins of LTC - Buy the amount of coins you want with at the current price on Coinbase.

Why we like Coinbase:

Coinbase is a secure platform that makes it easy to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more.

>> Read our full review

Fees: 1.49% per trade

Account minimum: $0

Promotion: Get $5 in Bitcoin after your 1st trade

Litecoin is one of the top cryptocurrencies currently on the crypto market. This token is among cryptos like Bitcoin and ETH, which have revolutionized the digital money system in 2024

The Litecoin (LTC) price today is $193. The price is expected to follow suit with Bitcoin’s rise as the second half of the bull market continues to ramp up.

What is Litecoin (LTC)?

Litecoin is one of the oldest and most well-known cryptocurrencies on the market.  Litecoin, like other cryptos, is a system of digital money that operates and exists on the blockchain network.

This system is securely encrypted and does not require a central bank.  You can exchange Litecoin P2P (peer to peer) without the need for third parties.

Litecoin can be bought and sold, gifted, or stored on an online or offline wallet. Many businesses have begun setting up Litecoin as payment in 2021 because the token is being recognized for its security and appreciating value.

The Litecoin (LTC) price today is once again on the rise, breaking its previous all-time high earlier this year at $388.85. The token is likely to take another leg up soon based on the steadily rising demand for cryptocurrency.

Who Are The Founders of Litecoin?

Litecoin was founded under MIT/X11 licenses by Charlie Lee in 2011. Lee coined this token “Litecoin” as his goal was to create a faster and less expensive crypto alternative to Bitcoin.

Litecoin launched after people began using GPUs (graphics cards) to mine Bitcoin. Lee saw an opportunity to create a cryptocurrency that was more feasible for miners.

One that wouldn’t require such advanced hardware to mine.  Lee is one of the early adopters of crypto. He has a background as a computer scientist and Bitcoin miner.

He has experience working for Google as a software engineer and later worked as director of engineering for Coinbase from 2015 to 2017.

Charlie Lee is the managing director of the LiteCoin Foundations. Alongside Lee in this foundation are Zing Yang, Alan Austin, and Xinxi Wang.

This non-profit works with the Litecoin Core Development team to improve the crypto space and update Litecoin. 

Litecoin (LTC) Price Today

How Many Litecoin (LTC) Coins Are in Circulation?

There are currently over 68 million Litecoins in circulation on the market, with a maximum supply of 84 million. The limit given to the amount of Litecoins created is one reason why it is more robust than the fiat system.

As this limit is reached, it will have a deflationary effect.  When all 84 million Litecoins are mined, this will cause the demand for these coins to go up because they can no longer be created.

Higher demand means a higher price for cryptocurrency.  You see the opposite effect happen in the fiat system when more money is created and put into circulation, causing deflation and decreasing the value.

These tokens are mined by “miners” using “mining rig” hardware, designed to solve complex mathematical equations. Solving these equations is how miners verify transactions, encrypt them, and update transactions to the blockchain.

This system of mining also allows new tokens to be added to circulation. Every time a miner successfully mines a block, they are rewarded in cryptocurrency.

How is Litecoin Network Secured?

Blockchain is rivaling the fiat system because it is decentralized and uses secure, encrypted P2P transactions. Litecoin is mined on its own Litecoin blockchain network. 

The Litecoin blockchain is fundamentally similar to Bitcoin’s blockchain. Both use the PoW (Proof of Work) system for mining. The difference between these two coins is that Litecoin achieves faster transactions on its blockchain network using a scrypt-hashing algorithm

Scrypt-hashing is a more simplified hashing algorithm, which makes mining easier, less expensive, and more efficient than Bitcoin’s SHA-256 hashing algorithm.

The tradeoff to using this system versus proof of work is that it is less secure. Scrypt-hashing doesn’t carry the same complexity. 

Hacking the Litecoin system would still be extremely challenging because the Litecoin blockchain carries the same robust fail-safes as the original blockchain.

Trying to hack into the blockchain takes an incredible amount of computing power.

What Makes Litecoin Unique?

Bitcoin pathed the way with cryptocurrencies, showing the value of blockchain as a means for secure transactions. Bitcoin, however, isn’t perfect.

Transactions can be slow and costly, and Bitcoin doesn’t have many applications provided with other cryptocurrencies.  Litecoin has a transaction speed of roughly 2.5 minutes, much faster than Bitcoin’s average 10 minute transaction time.

Litecoin’s blockchain system has been integrated with the SegWit (Segregated Witness) system since 2017. SegWit has allowed Litecoin’s transactions to become even faster by making the blocks in the Litecoin blockchain smaller. 

Each block comprises fewer transactions with SegWit, so there are fewer overall transactions to be verified before the block is completed.

Litecoin can potentially perform transactions in seconds, depending on how busy the blockchain network is at any given time.

Litecoin Alternatives

Should I Invest in Litecoin?

Bitcoin’s first ETF has just been created. This groundbreaking step forward has caused BTC to reach a new all-time high, leading to the subsequent surge in the crypto market.

Litecoin is following Bitcoin and Ethereum as one of the most successful cryptocurrencies on the market.  We are now witnessing the early stages of cryptocurrency becoming normalized as payment in financial institutions.

The cryptocurrency market is expected to continue skyrocketing into the future, bringing Litecoin along on the ride. The government still considers cryptocurrency as a security as of 2021, meaning it is as much an investment or store of value as money.

Litecoin is a good investment, even if you don’t plan on using it as a currency anytime soon.  The Litecoin (LTC) Price Today reflects its growth and success over the last decade as one of the most purchased and exchanged cryptocurrencies.

Litecoin has currently ranked the #15 cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap. This token has yet to reach its full potential as a cryptocurrency, with the potential for new features to make it even faster and more secure.

Coinbase

Coinbase is a secure platform that makes it easy to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more.

Coinbase icon

I'm Donny. I'm a world traveler, investor, entrepreneur, and online marketing aficionado who has a big appetite to compete and disrupt big markets. I thrive on being able to create things that impact change, difficult challenges, and being able to add value in negative situations.

More Posts

You May Also Like

NEO crypto

Coins

How to Buy Neo (NEO)

Tezos crypto

Coins

How to Buy Tezos (XTZ)

EOSIO Crypto

Coins

How to Buy EOSIO (EOS)

Monero review

Coins

How to Buy Monero (XMR)