Litecoin vs Bitcoin
Over the past few years, the interest of the general public in cryptocurrency has increased greatly. This is mostly due to the surge in the price of Bitcoin, which has been the most dominant name in the industry.
In recent years, there has been many other cryptocurrencies which have come into the market which many people do not know about. Most people are only aware of a few common ones like Litecoin and Ethereum. Even more people are, however, still not aware that these digital currencies are different from one another in lots of ways, including their price in terms of dollars.
Similarities and Differences Between Bitcoin & Litecoin
In order to differentiate between Bitcoin and Litecoin, it is important to understand that the developers of Litecoin created this currency as a response to Bitcoin. They wanted Litecoin to be “silver” when Bitcoin was “gold.”
To the layperson, it may appear that both these currencies have quite a lot in common, the first and foremost fact being that they are both cryptocurrencies.
Store of Value
Bitcoin is probably the best store of value when it comes to cryptocurrencies. It is recognized by most people and is supported by most service providers. It has also been around the longest. However, Litecoin is also quite popular and is probably one of the best alt coins to be considered as a store of value. It is also quite a good option to consider for those who want to try another cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin.
Being a good store of value is important since most cryptocurrencies are volatile. For example, Bitcoin was trading at $1,000 at the beginning of 2017 but was at $20,000 by the beginning of 2018. Litecoin also rose in price in a similar way from just $4 in the beginning of 2017 and to around $370 by the beginning of 2018.
This pattern is not uncommon in cryptocurrencies, but Bitcoin and Litecoin are well recognized in the market, which makes it easier to buy them.
Medium of Transaction
Litecoin definitely has an edge over Bitcoin when it comes to making transactions and for transferring money. When it comes to the speed of transactions, the confirmation time for Bitcoin takes about ten minutes and 2.5 minutes for Litecoin, the latter being literally a quarter of the time it takes for Bitcoin transactions. This means that the transfers through Litecoin happen faster and there is less backlog.
Furthermore, the fees are lower for Litecoin as compared to Bitcoin. This makes Bitcoin more expensive as well.
However, Bitcoin does have an edge; if you want to buy something with your digital currency, Bitcoin offers more options.
There are improvements being made for both cryptocurrencies, but for now, Litecoin is cheaper as well as a faster way of making transactions, while Bitcoin has more options for making use of the cryptocurrency. Litecoin could be kind of compared to a coin like Ripple (strictly for payments).
Total Number of Coins
The total amount of Bitcoin cannot exceed 21 million, while for Litecoin, the limit is at 84 million. Even though it may appear that Litecoin has an edge over Bitcoin, in the real world, this is quite a negligible number as both these currencies are divisible into infinitesimal amounts.
For example, the minimum amount of Bitcoin that can be transferred is one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin, that is, 0.00000001 Bitcoin, which is also known as “satoshi.” As such it does not pose much of a problem when the price for an undivided single Litecoin or Bitcoin is high.
Mining
When it comes to mining, which is the process whereby new cryptocurrency is created, the process for Bitcoin involves advanced computer processing power which is used to run complex algorithms through which new blocks are created on the blockchain. As Bitcoin gained popularity, the mining also became a race where miners used large amounts of processing power to quickly create more coins.
When it comes to Litecoin mining, it is based on a concept called scrypt rather than the algorithm that is used for Bitcoin. The speed for creating new Litecoin cannot be increased just by increasing the processing power. This was done particularly to keep the creation of Litecoin steady.
Buying Litecoin or Bitcoin
Bitcoin is obviously the most popular cryptocurrency in the industry, but Litecoin is also quite readily available in most digital exchanges. For instance, Coinbase, the most common and reliable exchange, is one such place where you can easily buy both Bitcoin and Litecoin easily.
Which One Is the Best?
It is not easy to determine which cryptocurrency is the best. All cryptocurrencies have some positive features as well as some negative features. The best digital currency varies from person to person as it depends on what you want to use the cryptocurrency for.
When it comes to Bitcoin vs Litecoin, you must consider two things. If you are looking for long-term investment in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is the best choice.
However, if you want to use the cryptocurrency for spending or for transferring from one place to another on a regular basis, then investment in Litecoin is definitely a better decision for you.
No matter which one you choose, you can rest assured that you won’t be disappointed. Both of these cryptocurrencies are quite useful and reliable. Litecoin is fast becoming a pretty good store of value as well, and the transaction speed for Bitcoin is also increasing over time.
Your choice may even depend on when you want to invest and your preferences. There is no concrete answer for which one is the best.
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