Litecoin

Litecoin (LTC) is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies still in wide use, launched in October 2011 by former Google engineer Charlie Lee. It is a peer-to-peer digital currency designed for fast, low-cost payments, operating as an open-source network independent of banks or other intermediaries. Created as a lighter counterpart to Bitcoin, it is often described as "silver to Bitcoin's gold."

Litecoin was built from Bitcoin's codebase with a few deliberate changes. Blocks are produced roughly every 2.5 minutes — four times faster than Bitcoin — which means quicker confirmations and higher throughput. It also uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm for its Proof of Work mining instead of Bitcoin's SHA-256, a choice originally intended to broaden participation in mining.

Supply and mechanics

Litecoin has a fixed maximum supply of 84 million coins, exactly four times Bitcoin's cap, with more than 77 million already in circulation. New coins are issued to miners as block rewards, and those rewards halve approximately every four years, steadily reducing new issuance over time. In 2022 the network activated MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB), an opt-in feature that lets users make transactions with improved confidentiality.

Within the crypto ecosystem, Litecoin functions primarily as a payments and settlement network. Its long operating history, deep exchange liquidity, and low fees have kept it among the most widely supported coins across wallets, payment processors, and trading platforms. The project is supported by the non-profit Litecoin Foundation, and its network has run continuously without major protocol failures since launch — a track record few chains can match.