About Litecoin
As Bitcoin is considered equivalent to gold, Litecoin(LTC) is popularly known as silver. LTC is one of the oldest digital currencies, which was launched in 2011. It is ranked 9th in the global crypto market with a market capitalization of $13.133 billion and valued at $195.16. LTC price prediction suggests that multiple strategic partnerships and the halving event will lead to a surge in the price of Litecoin that is set to touch the $600 mark by the end of 2021, and its price will further double by 2025.
Litecoin was invented by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee intending to gain a competitive advantage over the market that remained untouched due to bitcoin’s complexities and tap the less sophisticated users. Litecoin is a fork of bitcoin, with a faster block generation speed of 2.5 minutes, while bitcoin’s block generation takes 10 minutes. Another key difference between both cryptocurrencies is that only 210,000 bitcoins can be mined, while Litecoin’s limit is 840,000. Litecoin uses the same blockchain technology as bitcoin to offer decentralized peer-to-peer transactions but with higher scalability and low costs.
Use Cases
Litecoin has successfully managed to thwart the major FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) that has been lingering since 2018. Litecoin is now available on PayPal, which gives it a more competitive advantage over its competitor. In other words, Litecoin is widely accepted as a digital currency that can be traded against a wide range of goods and services. Another reason why users prefer Litecoin is the lightning-fast transactions that the cryptocurrency offers.
Most loyal users of Litecoin vouch for its lower transaction fee at an average of $0.031339, which is light on pocket and hence easily adopted by a wider audience that finds Bitcoin far more expensive. Since Litecoin is deflationary with only a limited supply of 840,000 Litecoins, it witnesses price rise from time to time. As per Litecoin price prediction, the cryptocurrency will hit new heights, making it a sought-after cryptocurrency of the future.
Litecoin Mining
Miners are drawn to Litecoin mining because of its lucrative market. Besides, miners are rewarded with 12.5 new Litecoins for every block they validate. Miners have three options to begin the process of minting Litecoins, and each of them has its benefits and features. Solo mining will require mining devices like Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or Graphics processing unit (GPU) rig to support the mining process right from scratch. The miner will have to bear all the cost of setup, equipment, and electricity; however, mining rewards need not be shared, unlike mining pools.
The mining pool is another option if miners want to share the burden of the set-up costs and share the incentives against it. This means that a group of miners will share the resources like setup, hardware, software, and electricity bill to earn consistently. In this case, the income is shared between the group members.
The third option of Cloud mining has the benefit of not having to own any equipment, hardware, software, or setup. Miners use cloud computing power and have access to cloud mining rewards. Each of the mining techniques has its pros and cons, and miners can choose from any one of them based on the available resources.
Litecoin (LTC) Halving
Litecoin miners are rewarded for the mining process with transaction fees and Litecoins. If the mining process continues cyclically, it will soon reach the 840,000 Litecoin cap, further depreciating the value. Hence, a Litecoin halving event is introduced every four years to allow only a certain amount of coins to be mined. Once a certain amount of coins are mined, the rewards are halved, putting a cap on the mining process. This restriction helps in preventing the deflation of Litecoins and the circulation of excessive Litecoins.
Litecoin’s Worth
At the time of writing the value of Litecoin is $195.16 with 67.26 millions Litecoins in supply.
Conclusion
Many business experts hint at a bullish market for Litecoin that is rapidly gaining popularity in the crypto space. With lower transaction fees, global reach, utility payments, lightning-fast transactions, Litecoin is about to set a new trend in the crypto town.
