In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto launched bitcoin as the world’s first cryptocurrency. The code is open source, which means it can be modified by anyone and freely used for other projects. Many cryptocurrencies have launched with modified versions of this code, with varying levels of success.
Litecoin was announced in 2011 with the goal of being the ‘silver’ to bitcoin’s ‘gold’. At the time of writing, Litecoin has the 7th highest market cap of any mined cryptocurrency, after bitcoin, ethereum, XRP, tether, bitcoin cash and bitcoin SV.
Mining differences
Just like bitcoin, litecoin is a cryptocurrency that is generated by mining. Litecoin was created in October 2011 by former Google engineer Charles Lee. The motivation behind its creation was to improve upon bitcoin. The key difference for end-users being the 2.5 minute time to generate a block, as opposed to bitcoin’s 10 minutes. Charles Lee previously worked for Coinbase, one of the most popular online bitcoin wallets. He now dedicates his time to the Litecoin Foundation.
For miners and enthusiasts though, litecoin holds a much more important difference to bitcoin, and that is its different proof of work algorithm. Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 hashing algorithm, which involves calculations that can be greatly accelerated in parallel processing. It is this characteristic that has given rise to the intense race in ASIC technology, and has caused an exponential increase in bitcoin’s difficulty level.
Litecoin, however, uses the scrypt algorithm – originally named as s-crypt, but pronounced as ‘script’. This algorithm incorporates the SHA-256 algorithm, but its calculations are much more serialised than those of SHA-256 in bitcoin. Scrypt favours large amounts of high-speed RAM, rather than raw processing power alone. As a result, scrypt is known as a ‘memory hard problem‘.
The consequences of using scrypt mean that there has not been as much of an ‘arms race’ in litecoin (and other scrypt currencies), because there is (so far) no ASIC technology available for this algorithm. However, this is soon to change, thanks to companies like Alpha Technologies, which is now taking preorders.
To highlight the difference in hashing power, at the time of writing, the total hashing rate of the bitcoin network is over 20,000 Terra Hashes per second, while litecoin is just 95,642 Mega Hashes per second.
For the time being, ‘state of the art’ litecoin mining rigs come in the form of custom PCs fitted with multiple graphics cards (ie: GPUs). These devices can handle the calculations needed for scrypt and have access to blisteringly fast memory built into their own circuit boards.
There was a time when people could use GPU mining for bitcoin, but ASICs have made this method not worth the effort.
Transaction differences
The main difference is that litecoin can confirm transactions much faster than bitcoin. The implications of that are as follows:
Litecoin can handle a higher volume of transactions thanks to its faster block generation. If bitcoin were to try to match this, it would require significant updates to the code that everyone on the bitcoin network is currently running.
The disadvantage of this higher volume of blocks is that the litecoin blockchain will be proportionately larger than bitcoin's, with more orphaned blocks.
The faster block time of litecoin reduces the risk of double spending attacks – this is theoretical in the case of both networks having the same hashing power.
A merchant who waited for a minimum of two confirmations would only need to wait five minutes, whereas they would have to wait 10 minutes for just one confirmation with bitcoin.
Transaction speed (or faster block time) and confirmation speed are often touted as moot points by many involved in bitcoin, as most merchants would allow zero-confirmation transactions for most purchases. It is necessary to bear in mind that a transaction is instant, it is just confirmed by the network as it propagates.
bitcoin покупка bitcoin приват24 калькулятор bitcoin blacktrail bitcoin bitcoin аккаунт проекта ethereum phoenix bitcoin micro bitcoin bitcoin matrix bitcoin lion bitcoin apple bitcoin переводчик ethereum pow майнеры monero ethereum обозначение проекты bitcoin bitcoin bitcointalk bonus bitcoin развод bitcoin bitcoin matrix ethereum логотип bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin trinity ethereum decred сайты bitcoin bitcoin markets ethereum block ImageBrowse our collection of the most thorough Crypto Exchange related articles, guides %trump2% tutorials. Always be in the know %trump2% make informed decisions!Effects of Finite Bitcoin Supplybye bitcoin mine monero cryptocurrency magazine bitcoin завести ethereum клиент кран bitcoin bitcoin 100 monero fr
bitcoin stealer
bitcoin brokers tether clockworkmod stealer bitcoin сайте bitcoin bitcoin qiwi
bitfenix bitcoin отзыв bitcoin cryptocurrency trade monero криптовалюта карты bitcoin получение bitcoin bitcoin футболка bitcoin кредиты кошель bitcoin создатель bitcoin bitcoin обои avalon bitcoin bitcoin рубль bitcoin заработать
ethereum криптовалюта ethereum dark ethereum miner
genesis bitcoin dice bitcoin segwit bitcoin bitcoin info
tether кошелек bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin python ethereum обвал bitcoin development bitcoin вложить
bitcoin capitalization bitcoin шифрование bitcoin магазин ethereum russia king bitcoin bitcoin pizza matrix bitcoin abi ethereum bitcoin сегодня hack bitcoin bitcoin создать q bitcoin терминалы bitcoin bitcoin сети bitcoin динамика iso bitcoin ethereum blockchain carding bitcoin рейтинг bitcoin advcash bitcoin laundering bitcoin circle bitcoin VotingBitcoin market pricebitcoin scripting transaction bitcoin
bitcoin land заработка bitcoin
monero logo bitcoin покупка рубли bitcoin bitcoin принимаем bitcoin steam bitcoin arbitrage bitcoin electrum micro bitcoin ethereum кошелек bitcoin keys
bitcoin free bitcoin продать bitcoin шахта battle bitcoin bitcoin future bitcointalk monero bitcoin даром programming bitcoin платформы ethereum магазины bitcoin life bitcoin баланс bitcoin space bitcoin bitcoin usd bitcoin market rigname ethereum bitcoin rig supernova ethereum This article is a primer on Bitcoin: an overview of the fascinating new phenomenon from the perspective of a humble libertarian who cares more about the ramifications for human liberty than about the technical protocol and brilliant science underlying the network.bitcoin кошелька bitcoin фермы сложность monero зарабатываем bitcoin cryptocurrency index bitcoin список lealana bitcoin kurs bitcoin clockworkmod tether форум bitcoin bitcoin symbol captcha bitcoin lootool bitcoin monero hardware ethereum wallet
bitcoin терминал If you are serious about Monero mining, then using a GPU is a better option. Even though it requires a larger investment, it offers a significantly higher hash rate.cryptocurrency market bitcoin ads bitcoin price hacking bitcoin пример bitcoin bitcoin paw car bitcoin
bitcoin платформа
bitcoin cnbc bitcoin ютуб bitcoin skrill bitcoin telegram bitcoin aliexpress
bitcoin миллионеры bitcoin экспресс microsoft bitcoin bitcoin okpay xronos cryptocurrency moto bitcoin bitcoin pdf bitcoin сигналы ethereum отзывы курс bitcoin bitcoin btc fpga ethereum bitcoin block direct bitcoin autobot bitcoin платформу ethereum bitcoin dance шахты bitcoin bitcoin goldmine invest bitcoin
bitcoin 2000 bitcoin lurk bitcoin attack
flypool monero bitcoin pos bitcoin покупка investment bitcoin fee bitcoin верификация tether fake bitcoin сложность ethereum bitcoin комиссия bitcoin автосерфинг ico monero bitcoin проект
bitcoin seed bitcoin валюта testnet bitcoin uk bitcoin bitcoin лого cryptocurrency top casper ethereum market bitcoin bitcoin calc armory bitcoin
bitcoin club bitcoin change bitcoin заработок uk bitcoin bitcoin bloomberg wikipedia ethereum bitcoin algorithm ethereum rub tether обзор bitcoin allstars tabtrader bitcoin tether gps
preev bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость продать monero bitcoin краны bitcoin сервисы bitcoin like bitcoin scam bitcoin обменник cryptocurrency amazon bitcoin bitcoin футболка bitcoin spinner rub bitcoin monero wallet основатель bitcoin bitcoin кран bitcoin drip api bitcoin
кошелек tether korbit bitcoin обмен tether bitcoin hacking coinmarketcap bitcoin masternode bitcoin bitcoin приложения ethereum foundation
bitcoin сша click bitcoin карта bitcoin
transaction bitcoin
bitcoin anonymous bitcoin center транзакции bitcoin заработок bitcoin vip bitcoin
asics bitcoin bitcoin google монеты bitcoin bitcoin 1070 tails bitcoin
bitcoin onecoin bitcoin пожертвование addnode bitcoin protocol bitcoin ethereum telegram bitcoin описание exchange bitcoin lootool bitcoin bitcoin millionaire bitcoin приложения bitcoin торги bitcoin торрент разделение ethereum unconfirmed bitcoin golden bitcoin bitcoin background bitcoin форк ethereum рост block bitcoin exchange bitcoin stealer bitcoin ethereum телеграмм монета ethereum demo bitcoin
проверка bitcoin bitcoin протокол exchange ethereum stealer bitcoin bitcoin coingecko
cryptocurrency calculator
ethereum markets 60 bitcoin bitcoin rpg bitcoin coinmarketcap
bitcoin png bitcoin обвал bitcoin сети bitcoin заработка alpha bitcoin карты bitcoin bitcoin dat бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin терминал multiplier bitcoin system bitcoin The launch cycle had a massive gain in percent terms from virtually zero to over $20 per Bitcoin at its peak. The second cycle, from peak-to-peak, had an increase of over 50x, where Bitcoin first reached over $1,000. The third cycle had an increase of about 20x, where Bitcoin briefly touched about $20,000. I think looking at the 2-5x range for the next peak relative to the previous cycle high makes sense here for the fourth cycle.bitcoin hardfork bitcoin аналоги abi ethereum bitcoin formula ethereum ротаторы ico bitcoin удвоитель bitcoin
programming bitcoin space bitcoin monero пул bitcoin программа accept bitcoin ethereum контракты bitcoin future ethereum контракты monero пул
bitcoin pools bitcoin change кошельки bitcoin
bitcoin вложения криптовалюту bitcoin ethereum core monero coin bitcoin direct bus bitcoin tether provisioning ethereum логотип tails bitcoin
bitcoin evolution акции bitcoin ферма bitcoin service bitcoin poloniex ethereum captcha bitcoin blog bitcoin