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Bitcoin vs Litecoin – Major Differences and Similarities!

Bitcoin was launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto as the world’s first crypto-currency. The code is open source, meaning that it can be freely modified by anyone and used for other projects. Several crypto-currencies with varying levels of success have been launched with modified versions of the code. In 2011, Litecoin was created by Charles Lee, a Google engineer, with the aim of being the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. Litecoin was the second best market cap of any mined crypto-currency after Bitcoin. In this article, Bitcoin vs Litecoin, we are going to compare in detail what makes each coin unique and what they share in common.

Bitcoin vs Litecoin

Both coins are crypto-currencies generated by mining. They are both deflationary; the cost of commodities and services will only keep on dropping in comparison to the coins’ price. The creation and transfer of Bitcoin is controlled by an open-source cryptographic protocol. This protocol isn’t overseen by any principal authority. One Bitcoin is subdivided further into a 100 million smaller units called Satoshis. Litecoin, on the other hand, is an alternate peer-2-peer digital currency that’s based on Bitcoin. The coin targets a faster block rate than that of Bitcoin and relies on script hashing in the mining process, whereas Bitcoin relies on SHA-256 in its hash function.

Bitcoin and Litecoin also have different hashing power during writing. Bitcoin has a total hashing rate of more than 20, 000 TH (Terra Hashes) per second, whilst Litecoin has a hashing rate of only 95, 642 MH per second. Litecoin address usually begins with L, simply because of their version number. This is what differentiates them from Bitcoin addresses. Otherwise, their generation process is the same.

Related: What is Bitcoin Mining, How to Mine BTC

Looking at the block chain in the Bitcoin vs Litecoin comparison we find that the two currencies differ a lot as well. For example, the chain produces a new block after every two and half minutes. This is similar to 4 times the rate at which the chains of Bitcoin create a new block. This means that there is faster confirmation with Litecoin than with Bitcoin. Conversely, there is a shortcoming to the faster confirmation rate. You’ll require more blocks to get similar confirmation strength as that of Bitcoins. This simply means that, for example, 8 blocks of Litecoin aren’t equal to 8 Bitcoin blocks.

The total number of Litecoins that are introduced is 4 times the total number of Bitcoins – 84 million as compared to 21 million. Each Litecoin block has a reward of 50 Litecoins. The generation rate of Litecoin is halved every 840, 000 blocks – 4 times more blocks. This means that the monetary inflation of Litecoin follows a similar trajectory to that of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin vs Litecoin Video


Source: CryptoCurrency

The other major difference when comparing Bitcoin vs Litecoin is that Litecoin cost less to begin mining than Bitcoin. Actually, the only thing needed to begin Litecoin mining is a computer and a connection to the internet. Additionally, you can as well use CPUs in Litecoin mining; although this comes with its own shortcomings. The minimized entry to market means that the mining power is decentralized. This brings in a risk of a number of investors making a big one-time venture on Litecoin. An investor would require a lot of cash to do the same for Bitcoin. It is this constraint that makes Bitcoin mining safer than Litecoin.

When we compare Bitecoin vs Litecoin you find out that both currencies have many differences and a few resemblances. They are accepted currencies and you need to analyze these similarities and difference before making your crypto-currency option.

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