If most people have heard of bitcoin, only insiders in the world of cryptocurrencies know about litecoin, one of the other alternative virtual currencies to the famous bitcoin.
You will understand in this article that the choice of the title is not a coincidence, because litecoin is really the little brother of bitcoin. At least from a technological point of view.
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WHAT IS LITECOIN?
Litecoin is a cryptocurrency invented on October 7, 2011. It uses the same source code as that of bitcoin, but has been modified to address the problems of slowness and transaction costs of bitcoin.
Like bitcoin, which has experienced many “forks” and has seen the birth of bitcoin cash, litecoin also has its new cryptocurrency: litecoin cash. If the value of bitcoin cash held steady and as the capitalization of this cryptocurrency is in the top 5 of the largest values in the world of encrypted currencies, the experience of litecoin cash was a failure.
In terms of capitalization, litecoin cash (LTC) is currently in 7th position with a capitalization of 2.7 billion euros .
Like all other cryptocurrencies, the value of the LTC fell sharply during the explosion of the speculative bubble “blockchain” passing from 360 $ to 48 $ but its price stabilized around 50-60 $.
THE CREATOR OF LITECOIN, FORMER GOOGLE ENGINEER
If for bitcoin reigns a great mystery around its creator, that of litecoin is known, even recognized thanks, I will say, to its experience at Google.
This is Charlie Lee, originally from Ivory Coast, this American MIT graduate worked as an engineer at Google to develop the Google Chrome browser. In 2013, after the creation of litecoin, he joined the giant of cryptocurrency brokerage Coinbase and it seems that he has sold all of the LTCs in his possession today.
VIRTUAL CURRENCY: LITECOIN VS BITCOIN
We have understood, even if the technology of litecoin comes from the computer code of bitcoin, there are several differences between the two cryptocurrencies.
The most important difference between the two encrypted currencies is conceptual, since there is no body that will govern the bitcoin network but a consortium of miners . While on litecoin, although mining also exists and a consortium of miners make decisions, the views and opinions of its creator will impact the technological development of litecoin. As Charlie Lee points out in an interview, “[His] opinion weighs in the balance when decisions regarding the LTC are made. This therefore facilitates more dynamic governance ”. However, he believes that the very presence of his person makes “litecoin more centralized than bitcoin (BTC) and therefore potentially more vulnerable. "
Note that there is a non-profit organization based in Singapore which aims to promote litecoin, the Litecoin Foundation! The litecoin network therefore makes it possible to validate transactions more quickly and reduce transaction costs. In other words, solve the two main problems of bitcoin.
Since the technology is the same as that of bitcoin, all bitcoin mining machines work to mine litecoin.