With the gaining popularity of altcoins, investors have started looking for more cryptocurrencies that are offering them a lucrative upsell for their investment. Of all other altcoins available, Litecoin is gaining the most attention for the right reasons. If you’re an investor hoping to invest in Litecoin, make sure you read this beginner’s guide to Litecoin for best results.
What is Litecoin?
Litecoin was among the first cryptocurrencies that entered the market. It is still the most valuable coin in the sector, based on market capitalization. It can be found on almost every cryptocurrency exchange, enabling you to keep track of the latest Litecoin to INR figures quite easily. It’s also one of the most accepted cryptocurrencies worldwide. Litecoin can be used to purchase goods and services or to invest in other crypto projects that are emerging.
Litecoin, like most cryptocurrencies, uses blockchain technology to maintain its decentralization. In many ways, decentralized currencies are different from traditional fiat currencies. They are not directly issued by a central authority like a government. Officially, Litecoins are released under the MIT/X11 license.
Block Time Reduction
Litecoin’s block time reduction has given it more scalability than its predecessors. LTC now processes transactions 4x faster than Bitcoin in terms of transactions per second. Charlie Lee, Litecoin’s founder, also modified the LTC transaction fee model to appeal to more people. Litecoin’s fees are 1/50th that of Bitcoin.
The platform’s main draw is its fee structure. It costs only 1/1000 LTC to process transactions. The fee is always the same, regardless of how large your transaction is. This strategy is a major upgrade for the market leaders. PayPal, for example, charges a 3% transaction fee for transactions within its network.
Some Interesting Facts about Litecoin
Litecoin works in a relatively similar way to Bitcoin. This online payment system was actually inspired by Satoshi Nakamoto’s release of the Bitcoin protocol. It is surprising to many that Litecoin was among the first Bitcoin forks on the market. This cryptocurrency is almost identical to Bitcoin in terms of technicality but with important differences.
Charlie Lee, LTC’s developer, borrowed the core code of Bitcoin to start his Litecoin project. The protocol was then modified in several ways. He also reduced the time it took to approve blocks from 10 minutes to 2.5 minutes. These blocks contain the subsequent batch of transactions that are awaiting approval, just like Bitcoin.
Where to store Litecoin?
There are many options readily available when it comes to storing your Litecoin. You can store your Litecoin in an exchange wallet for daily trading. It’s important for everyone to quickly note that this is not the most secure way to store cryptocurrency today. Next, you should consider mobile or PC wallets. There are many Litecoin-capable wallets that are available today. These wallets allow you to store your favorite cryptocurrencies alongside your Litecoin. It means if you’ve converted XRP to INR or preferred to store XRP in the original form alongside Litecoin, it can be done easily.
A hardware wallet will be the best choice if you plan to invest in LTC large-scale or keep this crypto for a long time. Hardware wallets store your crypto offline in “cold stock.” This makes it fairly difficult for online threats to gain access to your holdings.
LTC Continues to Expand
Each week, Litecoin is experiencing some kind of expansion in its network or capabilities. Recently, the Kyber Network listed the Ethereum-compatible token pLTC to its exchange. Although this project does not directly use Litecoin, the strategy clearly uses the coin’s value and reputation. The pLTC token, which is Litecoin-pegged, lives on Ethereum. Keenly, pLTC can be pegged 1:1 with Litecoin.
Investment Should Always be Done After Due Research
Now that you’re aware of the basic highlights of Litecoin, you might be tempted to invest in this cryptocurrency. But to trade staying on the safer side, we’d suggest analyzing your investment goals and risk appetite before adding Litecoin to your portfolio.