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Bitcoin

Litecoin vs. Bitcoin: The Difference and Which is Better.
Introduction: The Origins of Litecoin and Reasons for Its Creation.
More than a decade ago, an obscure person or group named “Satoshi Nakamoto” unleashed upon the world a digital currency that in its short lifespan, has become a global movement. Within a couple of years of its release, Bitcoin (BTC) started to inspire individuals who saw the potential in cryptocurrency and sought to start similar projects.
One such individual was Charlie Lee, a former Google engineer, who created a fork or split from Bitcoin called Litecoin (LTC), that was similar but had a few key differences. Despite its similarities with the original cryptocurrency, Litecoin became its own movement in itself, with its own community and a sizeable chunk of the crypto market.
Around the time of Litecoin’s creation, people saw Bitcoin’s value go from bASICally nothing to nearly $30 in June 2011, resulting in investment gains the likes of which no one had ever seen before.
However, it was hard to acquire Bitcoin in those days since there weren't easy ways to buy it.
Moreover, the process of mining, where users help validate Bitcoin transactions and get rewarded in transaction fees and newly minted BTC for doing so, was becoming increasingly difficult thanks to the rise of expensive specialized mining devices called application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). ASICs made mining harder and put mining out of reach for everyday individuals.
Therefore, while many realized the potential of Bitcoin both as a groundbreaking technology and investment vehicle, they felt that it was too late to get in on the ground floor of BTC as an early adopter (little did they know how wrong they were!).
As of writing, Bitcoin’s market capitalization (all Bitcoin in circulation multiplied by Bitcoin’s price) is higher than that of companies like PepsiCo, Toyota, HSBC, Citigroup, and Netflix. For those who thought it was “too late” back in 2011 - things were just beginning! Image credit: Statista.
Against this backdrop, Charlie Lee launched Litecoin (LTC), which sought to improve upon Bitcoin with faster transactions and a more egalitarian mining process thanks to Scrypt, a mining algorithm that would prevent ASICs from taking over.
While “another Bitcoin fork” doesn’t sound too revolutionary today, those were the early days of crypto and Litecoin quickly gained a following. It also rewarded early adopters who perhaps weren’t as early to the Bitcoin party, with 1 LTC going from $0.03 in July 2012 to $40 in November 2013 - a 1,300x or 130,000% increase.
With Bitcoin and Litecoin both being around for years now and being pillars of the crypto community, what other differences, aside from transaction speed and mining algorithm, exist? In this article we’ll compare Litecoin vs. Bitcoin in terms of transaction speed, transaction fees, scalability, mining, mining profitability, hashrate, community, merchant adoption, and price to see which is better.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin Transaction Speed.
As mentioned, one of the ways in which Litecoin creator Charlie Lee sought to improve upon the Bitcoin idea was making Litecoin transactions faster than those of Bitcoin.
On average, it takes 10 minutes to confirm a Bitcoin block (1 block contains many transactions), whereas it takes 2.5 minutes to confirm a Litecoin block. Image credit: BitInfoCharts.
Since Litecoin transactions confirm 4 times faster than Bitcoin transactions, Litecoin is the winner when it comes to transaction speed and for situations where people need transactions quickly validated.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin Fees.
The next point to consider when comparing Bitcoin vs. Litecoin is transaction fees. Staying true to its name, Litecoin again is “liter” when it comes to transaction fees:
As of writing, Litecoin has an average transaction fee of $.0327 while Bitcoin has an average transaction fee of $0.631, meaning that it’s nearly 20 times as expensive to get a Bitcoin transaction included in a new block of transactions. Image credit: BitInfoCharts.
Again, Litecoin takes the cake here, as Bitcoin’s higher transaction fees make it less suitable for everyday transactions.
Bitcoin vs. Litecoin Scalability.
If you look closely at the screenshot above with Litecoin and Bitcoin’s average transaction fees over time, you can see that Bitcoin’s transaction fees were once similar to those of Litecoin’s and at times even lower (especially in Bitcoin’s early days).
However, as more and more users have started to use Bitcoin over time, Bitcoin has struggled with scalability, or the ability to handle many transactions at once, which you can see in the form of higher transaction fees in order to get a transaction included in a new block.
While this might make you think that Litecoin is better able to handle lots of transactions or scale, due to its lower transaction fees, this is an unfair comparison, since Bitcoin routinely handles many more transactions than Litecoin:
As of writing, Bitcoin handles more than 10 times as many transactions as Litecoin per day, making any comparison of the two cryptos’ scalability irrelevant. Image credit: BitInfoCharts.
If Litecoin dealt with as many daily transactions as Bitcoin, comparing the two projects’ scalability would make sense. But since that isn’t the case, there isn’t a clear winner between Litecoin and Bitcoin when it comes to scalability.
Aside from that, Bitcoin and Litecoin are experimenting with similar scalability improvements, such as SegWit and Lightning Network. Indeed, Litecoin is sometimes referred to as a “testnet” for Bitcoin improvements.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin mining.
Along with faster transactions, the key improvement Charlie Lee wanted to emphasize with the release of Litecoin was its resistance to ASIC mining centralization.
While Scrypt, Litecoin’s mining algorithm, did fend off the ASICs for quite some time, it, too, fell victim to ASIC mining, as manufacturers were able to figure out a way to manufacture Scrypt ASICs.
Ironically, this has led to Litecoin mining becoming more centralized than Bitcoin mining, with 5 mining pools (groups of miners that “pool” their mining power together to mine more blocks while splitting rewards) accounting for 71% of Litecoin’s hashrate (Litecoin network’s total mining power).
Image credit: litecoinpool.org.
While Bitcoin’s hashrate distribution isn’t some decentralized utopia - in both networks, the top 3 pools make up 48% of the total hashrate, which is very close to the 51% needed for a 51% attack - it is still more decentralized than Litecoin’s. The top 5 Bitcoin mining pools “only” make up 60.4% of Bitcoin’s total hashrate:
Thus, while Bitcoin and Litecoin both have pretty centralized mining processes, Bitcoin is slightly less centralized in that respect relative to Litecoin. Of course, this is ironic since one of the main reasons for Litecoin’s creation was to prevent mining centralization.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin Profitability.
Perhaps one of the reasons for Litecoin’s heavy mining centralization is that Litecoin’s mining profitability is currently the opposite of good. With not many miners willing to operate in the red (no profits), one can assume that former Litecoin miners have backed out of mining LTC, at least until LTC mining profitability comes back.
A comparison of the profitability of some Litecoin (left) and Bitcoin (right) ASICs side by side, assuming an electricity cost of $0.04 per kilowatt hour, which most “mining farms” (facilities with many mining devices) pay or pay less than for low-cost renewable energy. Image credit: ASIC Miner Value.
This isn’t a good sign for Litecoin. If less miners are willing to mine a Proof of Work cryptocurrency, that means that the cryptocurrency isn’t as secure (it takes less mining power to launch a 51% attack on the network).
On the other hand, while Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is quite high, this is perhaps offset due to factors like Bitcoin’s higher price. When it comes to mining profitability, Bitcoin is the clear winner for now, and it shows in Bitcoin’s hashrate (shown below).
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin Hashrate.
The next point of comparison for Litecoin vs. Bitcoin is network hashrate, or the total mining power allocated to the network by miners. The significance of network hashrate is that the higher it is, the more secure the network is. This is because if a network has a high hashrate, it’s more resistant to a 51% attack, since any malicious actor or group would need to somehow gain control of that much more mining power in order to launch an attack.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s hashrate is orders of magnitude higher than Litecoin’s hashrate:
Image credit: BitInfoCharts.
Since Litecoin is currently unprofitable to mine, we can see that not only is Litecoin’s hashrate lower than Bitcoin’s (this could also be due to the fact that Bitcoin is more popular), but also that Litecoin’s hashrate has been decreasing while Bitcoin’s has been steadily increasing.
This of course isn’t a good sign for LTC since security - against 51% attacks and otherwise - is of paramount importance when peoples’ money is on the line.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin Community and Merchant Adoption.
Aside from the more technical differences between Litecoin and Bitcoin that have been discussed thus far, another important point to consider is the difference in community between BTC and LTC.
As of writing, Bitcoin is undoubtedly more popular than Litecoin:
Subreddit (communities for different topics on the social platform Reddit) subscribers - 1.3 million for r/Bitcoin vs. 211,000 for r/Litecoin Tweets per day - 25,457 for #Bitcoin vs. 744 for #Litecoin (Source) Merchant adoption - companies like Wikipedia, Microsoft, Expedia, Burger King, and Twitch accept Bitcoin vs. mainly lesser-known merchants for Litecoin. More crypto businesses like exchanges and wallets support Bitcoin compared to Litecoin, too There are more and more places you can spend your crypto popping up daily. Image credit: coinmap.org.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin Price.
As of March 9th, 2020, 1 LTC is $50.49, while 1 BTC is $8,007.03. However, keep in mind that the maximum limit for Litecoin’s total supply of LTC is 4 times greater than that of Bitcoin’s (84 million vs. 21 million), which can make Litecoin’s price seem relatively low despite the fact that it’s consistently one of the top 5-10 crypto assets by market cap (assets in circulation multiplied by asset price).
Though to newbie investors who don’t know what market cap is or means, the lower Litecoin price could signal more “room for growth” compared to assets like Bitcoin. From a price appreciation standpoint then, Litecoin might have a slight edge on Bitcoin, thanks to market psychology.
For the latest Litecoin vs. Bitcoin price, check the Exodus crypto charts.
In sum, Litecoin and Bitcoin are two of the most popular cryptocurrencies and have both been around for years. While Litecoin was originally created as a faster, less mining-centralized version of Bitcoin, some other differences have emerged since.
Indeed, Litecoin, as its “Lite” name would imply, has faster transactions and lower transaction fees. It also has a lower price than Bitcoin, which could entice more people to buy it, especially inexperienced investors.
However, Bitcoin has the upper hand when it comes to less mining centralization, increased mining profitability, higher hashrate, and wider community awareness and adoption.
Since Litecoin’s main technical advantages over Bitcoin - faster transactions and lower transaction fees - are being actively worked on by Bitcoin developers through developments like Lightning Network, one has to wonder what the point of Litecoin would be if Bitcoin is able to figure out its “scalability problem”.
If Bitcoin scales, transactions would be near instantaneous and free, making it even faster and cheaper than Litecoin or any other altcoin (cryptos that aren’t Bitcoin) that try to be a faster and/or cheaper version of Bitcoin. With that point in mind, we’re going to have to give this Bitcoin vs. Litecoin “fight” to BTC.
To safely secure your Bitcoin or Litecoin the easy way, check out the Exodus Bitcoin wallet and Litecoin wallet.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin Reddit.
Looking to continue the discussion on the topic of Litecoin vs. Bitcoin?
Here are some Reddit threads that might help:
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Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Is Litecoin Better Than Bitcoin?
Litecoin vs Bitcoin: what's the difference between Litecoin and Bitcoin? Is Litecoin better than Bitcoin? Read the Litecoin vs Bitcoin guide to find out.
First, it was Coke vs Pepsi, then it was Batman vs Superman, and now the main event! Litecoin vs Bitcoin!
Ten years ago, no one knew what a cryptocurrency was. Now there are thousands of them and they're turning into a very big business. Two superstars of the cryptocurrency world are Bitcoin and Litecoin. The two are closely linked, but which is better?
This Litecoin vs Bitcoin guide is going to teach you everything you need to know about this famous pair. You'll learn where they came from, how they work, what they're worth and which is better.
The world of crypto changes fast so we don't have time to waste. Go to the fridge and grab a can of Coke (or Pepsi, either is fine!) and let's get started.
1. A Short History of Litecoin vs Bitcoin 2. Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Technology 3. Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Investment 4. Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Store of Value 5. Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Money 6. Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Democracy 7. Litecoin vs Bitcoin: New Developments 8. And the Winner Is...
A Short History of Litecoin vs Bitcoin.
In November 2008, a paper was written by a mysterious coder called Satoshi Nakamoto. The paper was called Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. Just like that, cryptocurrency was born.
Bitcoin was the first real digital currency. It promised a future without banks. It offered a future where people could send money to each other, all around the world, quickly and safely.
In February 2011, 1 Bitcoin was worth 1 US Dollar. By June, 1 Bitcoin was worth 31 US Dollars. Over the next few years, Bitcoin would become more and more popular. However, not everyone was happy with the way it worked.
Charlie Lee thought that Bitcoin could work better. He decided to change some of Bitcoin's rules. He wanted to make Bitcoin faster and cheaper. His ideas caused a disagreement between Bitcoin users.
In crypto, a disagreement between users over the rules of a currency is called a fork. If a disagreement is big enough, the currency can be split in two. This is called a hard fork.



Bitcoin

On November 7, 2011, Bitcoin split in two. The hard fork created a new coin called Litecoin. Two years later, all the Litecoin in the world was worth 1 billion US Dollars (USD).
Both coins are now very popular. Which one is the best, you ask? Is it possible to have both, or will one replace the other? These are tough questions to answer.
In order to answer these questions, you need to compare Bitcoin and Litecoin in a number of ways. Below is a table of the main differences between the two coins.
Bitcoin Litecoin Created January 3, 2009 November 7, 2011 Created By Satoshi Nakamoto Charlie Lee Average Transaction Time 10 Minutes 2.5 Minutes Block Reward Per Block 12.5 25 Supply Limit 21 Million 84 Million Market Cap. in USD 153.9 billion 9.7 billion Value of 1 in USD 9088.16 173.55.
Figures accurate as of 03/21/18 (coinmarketcap.com)
Don't worry if you find all this confusing. By the end of this guide, you'll understand each difference between Litecoin and Bitcoin. You'll be able to give your own answer to the question, is Litecoin better than Bitcoin?
In Litecoin vs Bitcoin, Litecoin was created because Charlie Lee wanted to change the way Bitcoin worked. This is the first difference between the two, so let's start there...
Round 1! Ding!
Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Technology.
The special thing about the technology of Bitcoin is its blockchain . A blockchain is a huge digital record of trades. The record is stored across a network of thousands of computers called nodes .
Users can send each other money all over the world. They don't have to use banks or worry about large fees and exchange rates. Let's use an example to see how it works;
If Michael wants to send Jackson 10 Bitcoin (BTC), the trade needs to be verified . Verification means that the network needs to check that Michael has at least 10 BTC before he's allowed to send it. If more than half the nodes on the network agree that the trade is legit then the trade can happen, and it's added to the blockchain.
Transactions are put together into groups called blocks before being added to the blockchain. The nodes that verify blocks get a reward for the work they have done. The reward is a new currency. On Bitcoin's blockchain, the reward is 12.5 new BTC. This process is called mining because it's a bit like digging for gold!
Mining for Bitcoin is expensive. You need a powerful computer to do it and the process uses a lot of electricity. It is also quite slow. Each new block takes about ten minutes to get added to the blockchain. This is where Charlie Lee and Litecoin come in.
The rules for deciding how Bitcoin mining works are called SHA-256. It was these rules that Charlie Lee wanted to change. The new rules he created are called scrypt. Mining with scrypt is 4 four times faster than SHA-256 and requires a lot less electricity.
Each new block of transactions only takes 2.5 minutes to be added to the Litecoin blockchain. The reward for each verified block is 25 new Litecoin (LTC).
Bitcoin fans say that SHA-256 is safer than scrypt. They say this because SHA-256 takes longer and is, therefore, more likely to spot errors. They think that scrypt rushes the process of verification.
However, Litecoin fans think that the changes Charlie Lee made to the rules of Bitcoin are much better. As it makes Litecoin a cheaper and faster platform. Neither blockchain has ever been hacked.
What do you think, who got the best tech? I'm going to give this one to Litecoin.
Let's have a look at how the two compare as investments...
Round 2!
Ethereum Price Prediction: 2020.
The complete Ethereum price prediction 2020: find out how high will Ethereum price rise and more in this detailed Ethereum price prediction 2020.
Decentralized Applications: What Is a dApp?
Decentralized applications, blockchain applications. What is a dApp? Read our complete guide on decentralized applications to find out!
Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Investment.
Investors are very excited about cryptocurrency. Some are making a lot of money trading with cryptocurrencies. The table below shows the price changes of Litecoin vs Bitcoin over the last five years:
Date 1 Bitcoin 1 Litecoin June 16, 2013 100.16 USD 2.07 USD Dec 15, 2013 849.68 USD 29.39 USD June 15, 2014 568.19 USD 9.79 USD Dec 14, 2014 347.8 USD 3.48 USD June 14, 2015 233.28 USD 1.94 USD Dec 13, 2015 433.85 USD 3.59 USD June 19, 2016 752.33 USD 5.54 USD Dec 18, 2016 791.71 USD 3.7 USD June 18. 2017 2,621 USD 45.33 USD Dec 17, 2017 19,528.93 USD 318.89 USD March 18, 2018 7,720.85 USD 148.14 USD.
As you can see, both coins reached their highest value so far, in late 2017. Some critics think investing in cryptocurrencies now is a bad idea. They think that the popularity of Bitcoin and Litecoin is part of an investment bubble.
Note: In an investment bubble, the price of a product goes up a lot higher than its real-world value. When bubbles 'burst', the price of the product goes down, very fast!
Crypto fans think the coins will continue to be popular because of the real-world uses they have. Remember, all this blockchain tech is still new, no-one knows how important it could become.
Buying Bitcoin now is expensive and a bit risky. As an investment, it might be too late to start buying Bitcoin. The price has gone down a lot this year. However, Litecoin is newer and could still become as popular as Bitcoin. Its growth has been slow but steady.
The future is uncertain for all cryptocurrencies. No-one knows which coins will be valuable and which ones will be worthless. So, which do you think will be more valuable in the future, Bitcoin or Litecoin?
Round 3!
Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Store of Value.
If something is valuable it can be traded for goods and services. A store of value is something that is not only valuable but stays valuable. The most well-known store of value in the world is gold. Gold has been valuable for hundreds of years in every country on the planet, that's why it's called a precious metal.
Currencies can also be stores of value. The currencies of powerful countries, like the USA, are better stores of value than weaker, less stable countries like Syria. What about cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies are still new. None are stores of value like gold. However, they do have the potential to become stores of value.
Gold is a great store of value because it is precious and there is only a limited amount of it in the world. Gold is inflation proof. This means its value doesn't go up and down a lot. Its value is predictable and reliable.
This could also be true in the case of Bitcoin and Litecoin. They both have limited supplies. There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin and there will only ever be 84 million Litecoin. This means they could both become good stores of value.
Bitcoin is the oldest and most trusted cryptocurrency. It will also reach its supply limit first. Three-quarters of all Bitcoin has already been mined. This means that its value should become predictable and reliable in the near future, just like gold!
I think that Bitcoin will become a long-term store of value before Litecoin. Bitcoin wins the round!
Cryptocurrencies aren't just stores of value though, are they? You're supposed to be able to buy stuff with them, right? Let's have a look at which coin is better at being money...
Round 4!
Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Money.
Cryptocurrency hasn't replaced the money in your pocket yet. You can't go to your local supermarket and pay with Litecoin. You might be able to one day soon though.
There are quite a lot of well-known companies that take Bitcoin as payment. These companies include KFC Canada, Expedia.com, OKCupid, and Playboy! What more could you need!
There are fewer companies that accept Litecoin as payment. Although, Uber has taken Litecoin as payment as a part of trials in the Czech Republic.
So, Bitcoin wins? Maybe not. Litecoin isn't as popular as Bitcoin but its technology might make it a better currency for spending. The Litecoin transaction time is four times faster than Bitcoin's. Businesses and customers might like this idea and start using Litecoin instead of Bitcoin.
Or will they? Litecoin fans often say that the Litecoin transaction time makes it a better currency because it's fast. If you tried to spend Bitcoin in a shop, you would be standing at the counter for 10 minutes before you could leave! This is because it takes 10 minutes for the Bitcoin blockchain to verify the transaction.
However, this isn't really how spending Bitcoin works. When you spend Bitcoin in a shop (or KFC Canada!) the shop will only check that your payment is legit with a few nodes on the system. It won't wait for the full ten minutes it takes for the blockchain to verify the transaction.
By checking with a few nodes, the shop can be almost certain that you have enough money to pay. This is called a zero-confirmation transaction.
It's like spending money with a normal bank card. If I buy a hat with my bank card today, the money won't leave my account until tomorrow. The hat store is happy to let me have my hat today. It has done a quick check and knows that I have enough money in my account to pay.
Bitcoin is more popular and it's taken as a payment in more places. It also makes use of zero-confirmation transactions to make buying things faster. Sorry, Litecoin fans! Bitcoin wins again!
I've talked a lot about the tech and the numbers. It's easy to forget why cryptocurrencies got started. Cryptocurrencies were invented to help people. Their creators wanted to take power away from banks and governments. They wanted to give power back to the people of the world.
So, which is more democratic, Litecoin or Bitcoin?
Round 5!
Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Democracy.
The main difference between Litecoin vs Bitcoin is the way mining on each platform works. As I said earlier, mining Bitcoin is more difficult and more expensive than mining Litecoin. So, to make money mining Bitcoin, you need a very powerful computer.




Bitcoin

Most people use special computers that are designed to mine Bitcoin. Which are called ASIC miners? As Bitcoin has grown in value, Bitcoin mining has become its own industry. Whole warehouses have been set up to mine Bitcoin. This means that new Bitcoin is going to fewer and fewer people.
The risk here is that a high percentage of Bitcoin's total supply will be owned by a small number of people and companies. Cryptocurrencies are supposed to be different. They were created to spread wealth more evenly.
It can also be argued that the amount of power used to mine Bitcoin is bad for the environment.
Charlie Lee knew all this when he created Litecoin. Litecoin can be mined using normal computers. ASIC miners can't be used to mine Litecoin. So, new coins go to a wider group of users.
Litecoin is more democratic because more people can get involved. This round is an easy win for Litecoin.
Before you decide who the overall winner is, let's have a look at what new stuff Bitcoin and Litecoin are doing now...
Round 6!
Litecoin vs Bitcoin: New Developments.
Bitcoin vs Litecoin both want to speed up transaction times. Both are using the same idea to get this done. It's called the Lightning Network . The Lightning Network is a way of verifying transactions away from the main blockchain. Miners will have less work to do and the whole system will work faster.
The Lightning Network will allow users to open their own mini-networks. These networks are called payment channels. The transactions that happen in these networks will be guided by rules called smart contracts.
Note: A smart contract is a set of conditions that must be met before a transaction can happen.
It's hoped that thousands or even millions of transactions could take place in this way. Using this system would also make trading across platforms possible. This means that you could change your Bitcoin to Litecoin without using a crypto exchange. Which is great because crypto exchanges charge fees and aren't as safe as trading on blockchains.
If you wanted to change your Litecoin to Bitcoin then all you would need to do is set up a payment channel with a user on the Bitcoin network. This kind of transaction is called an atomic swap. As long as both users have enough currency to do the swap, it will happen. If one user doesn't have enough currency then it won't happen.
Bitcoin and Litecoin have both started using the Lightning Network. However, some people think that Bitcoin using the Lightning Network will end Litecoin. They think that faster Bitcoin transaction times will make Litecoin useless.
I disagree. I think that the introduction of the Lightning Network will bring the two platforms closer together. Charlie Lee described the Lightning Network as a bridge between two roads. He said that the Bitcoin road is full of cars, moving slowly. The Litecoin road is nearly empty. The Lightning Network bridge will make it easier for cars to move between the two roads.
Who wins this round? It's too early to say. They might both be winners here. It's a tie!
You now know everything you need to know. Litecoin vs Bitcoin: Which is better?
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And the Winner Is...
Over six rounds of exciting competition, Litecoin wins two rounds and Bitcoin's wins two. However, this is just one person's opinion. My opinion doesn't change the fact that the biggest name in cryptocurrency is still Bitcoin.
Some people think that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency worth using. So, if you're one of those people, remember this, Bitcoin can't serve the whole world. It's thought that Bitcoin can only support about 500 million users. That's about 15% of the world's population. There is a place in the market for other coins. Out of these other coins, Litecoin is one of the best.
Bitcoin and Litecoin are often compared to gold and silver. However, I think they're more like Coke and Diet Coke. Some people love Coke, others want that great Coke taste but with less sugar. Coke and Diet Coke are on supermarket shelves all around the world. They are right next to each other and they probably always will be.
I'll leave you with a quote from Charlie Lee, "Litecoin and Bitcoin will work together to solve the world's transaction needs in the future".
What do you think about Litecoin vs Bitcoin? Is Litecoin is better than Bitcoin? Do you think the two can work together? Let me know!
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Should I mine bitcoins or litecoins?
I don't pay for my own power, but I have two problems mining. I am CPU mining at 250 mhash/s because my AMD Radeon HD 7800 series graphics card will only produce 4.0 mhash/s (the other problem I'm having that I don't understand) but my main question is- what is more profitable to me? litecoin mining or Bitcoin mining?
Litecoin mining is currently more profitable for likely all GPUs.
From the bitcoin and litecoin hardware wikis, you'd get 300-400MH/s for Bitcoin mining and 340-470kH/s for litecoin mining if you set it up properly (and there is something VERY fishy about you getting 250MH/s with your CPU, I'd guess it is using your GPU though you don't know it. ).
For bitcoin, the current difficulty is about 6,500TH/s. Thus, you'd own about 300/6,500,000,000 of the network. At 25 bitcoins per block, 6*24 blocks per day, and $800 per bitcoin, you'd make about $0.13/day. There is specifically-designed hardware for mining Bitcoins, which is way more powerful than GPUs, so unless you can buy a dedicated mining ASIC, your energy bill would overcome your revenue.
For litecoin, the current difficulty is about 90GH/s. Thus, you'd own about 340/90,000,000 of the network. At 4*6*24 blocks per day, 50 litecoins per block, and $25 per litecoin, you'd make about $2.72/day. It uses a different algorithm (called Scrypt) than Bitcoin. FPGAs and ASICs can't be optimized for this algorithm as much as they can be optimized for Bitcoins' algorithm, so Litecoins are mined exclusively with GPUs. This means that you can still be comptetitive, and you should mine those.
Two Sides of the Coin: Litecoin Mining vs Bitcoin mining.
The heyday for mining established cryptocurrency has all but come and gone. These days you seriously need to know what you're doing if you want to compete with the big boys. Industrial-scale operations have driven many enthusiasts to look for opportunity in smaller coins in hopes of catching the next big trend.
We've covered cryptocurrency mining in quite some detail previously on CoinCentral. However, we thought it was about time to see how two cryptocurrency heavyweights stack up in the mining department. This is Bitcoin mining vs Litecoin mining.
Before jumping into the differences, here are some important cryptocurrency mining factors to consider if you plan on getting your feet wet:
Cheap and Stable Electricity Geographic Location Hardware and Software Costs Expertise Miner and Transaction Fees.
Specialized mining hardware is designed to run at the limit and, as a result, uses up a lot of electricity. It's no surprise then that the greatest number of miners are found in countries with cheap electricity. These machines also run particularly hot and cooling your precious equipment becomes an issue in warmer climates.
To stay competitive you need to have the latest hardware and software. Furthermore, you need the expertise to ensure that your rig is working at optimum capacity. Investing in mining equipment also means putting in the time to educate yourself. Finally, it's important to consider all the fees associated with mining on either the Bitcoin or Litecoin blockchain.
Let's Shake on It - Coming to Consensus.
Both Bitcoin and Litecoin use proof-of-work to validate and secure transactions on their networks. Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 algorithm to achieve this. The secure hash algorithm is a function which is commonly used in blockchains and was pioneered by Bitcoin.
Bitcoin mining is considered more complex than Litecoin mining because of the algorithm differences. Over the years more and more computing power has been committed to securing the Bitcoin network. As a result, the Bitcoin mining difficulty has increased dramatically until the present day.
Bitcoin was designed to confirm transactions at around 10-minute intervals . And to keep this time steady, the difficulty has increased so that more computing power doesn't upset the predictable transaction speed of the network. Unfortunately, this also means that unless you have the latest hardware you're probably going to have a tough time turning a profit in this market.

Bitcoin

Sharpen Your Tools - Hardware.
Mining hardware has evolved from your bASIC desktop processing into specialized chips called ASIC s. The application-specific integrated circuit was designed purely for cryptocurrency mining. ASICs don't come cheap however and a top-of-the-range Bitcoin mining rig can set you back a couple thousand dollars.
Japan's first Bitcoin miner. Image courtesy of Yuji Nakamura.
GMO recently announced Japan's first Bitcoin miner, the B2, which sells for a cool $2000. GMO is challenging Bitcoin mining leader BitMain head-on with the B2. CEO Masatoshi Kumagai recently had the following to say about their controversial competitor:
"I respect Bitmain, but we will top them"
You'll want to stay abreast of the latest developments in the hardware race and ensure sure you have the right equipment when you need it.
Litecoin Mining.
A Faster Consensus.
In comparison, Litecoin uses the Scrypt algorithm instead of SHA-256. It was initially designed to be ASIC resistant to prevent the kind of mining centralization we are currently seeing in proof-of-work blockchains. However, with dedicated research and development, established miners have regardless been able to build specialized hardware specifically for mining Litecoin.
A major advantage Litecoin has over its bigger brother is the 2.5 minute transaction time. At 4x the speed of Bitcoin, it seems like Litecoin would be more of a contender for merchant adoption. Both coins, however, have probably lost that edge to near-instant transactions from newer contenders.
2.5 And 10 minutes respectively are excellent transaction times for wire transfers, both local but in particular international transfers. A traditional international transfer through the existing banking system can take anywhere between a ridiculous 7-10 business days to confirm. Keep these kinds of use cases in mind. As cryptocurrency adoption grows, the best mining opportunities will take place where it makes the most sense for users.
Litecoin Mining Hardware.
The best Litecoin mining rig out there at the moment is probably the Antminer L3++ from Bitmain. We are currently in a tricky market as the fall in cryptocurrency prices has made mining unprofitable for many smaller miners. Any investment made today should consider the longer-term price chart of Litecoin. Your preferences may differ so always make a point of doing your own research.
Considering Network Security.
In proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, if a miner achieves > 50% of the network hash rate (amount of computing power committed to the network) they have the ability to stage a 51% attack. This bASICally allows the miner to steal money from the network by double spending.
Such an attack would initially be very profitable for the miner. However, the network would ultimately become unusable and coin holders would move their funds to a safer blockchain. An interesting cost estimate to initiate this kind of attack for several blockchains can be found here.
Mining centralization remains a concern for Bitcoin as Bitmain continues to dominate the market. If Bitmain is ever able to capture more than 50% of the network hash rate, any Bitcoin mining equipment you hold is going to lose value very quickly.
In terms of Litecoin's position on security, Charlie Lee, the founder of Litecoin had the following to say in a tweet earlier this year (2018):
In lite of recent 51% attacks and https://t.co/yfy2GcBfQE info, rest assured that the Litecoin is extremely secure and mining is very healthy. 👍🚀 - Pools are well distributed (largest 22%) - Hashrate up 50x (past 1 year) - High capital costs to attack ($322-761MM +
Barriers to Entry.
In the beginning, just about anybody could mine Bitcoin with a stock-standard computer. Then, shrewd miners saw the immense profits that could be made via mining. These days companies have dedicated research and development teams and put large budgets in place to stay on the cutting edge of cryptocurrency mining tech.
Fortunately, there is a solution if you're a smaller fish in this rather large pond - mining pools. If you took the leap and invested in some reasonable hardware you now have the option of contributing your hash power to a group of miners known as a pool. Both Bitcoin mining pools and Litecoin mining pools offer their respective miners a lower barrier to entry to mine. The shared power of the pool allows you to collect your reward in proportion to your power contribution.
The major advantage of this approach is a regular payout on a predictable time-frame. The major disadvantage, however, is that you are concentrating power to the pool's owner. This is centralizing the network, even if only by a fraction. The beauty, of course, is that you can move your hardware to another pool if you don't like what your current pool is about.
Bitcoin Hash Rate Distribution:
Percentage breakdown of Bitcoin mining pools courtesy of Blockchain.com.


Bitcoin

Litecoin Hash Rate Distribution:
Percentage breakdown of Litecoin mining pools courtesy of litecoinpool.org.
And now to the section you've no doubt been waiting for! So, which is more profitable, Bitcoin or Litecoin mining? Well, at this particular snapshot Bitcoin was well in the lead. There are, however, so many factors to consider in such a calculation that it's recommended you approach this with a healthy grain of salt.
Coinwarz provides an interesting real-time comparison of the most profitable coins:
A detailed look into cryptocurrency mining profits.
These calculations focus almost entirely on hash rates . Other factors to consider include exchange rate fluctuations , pool efficiency, fees , changes to the code and so on. Finally, it's worth noting that monitoring the tables here and at other sites should give a better representation over time. Monitoring data for just one day is not particularly reliable.
Final Thoughts: Bitcoin mining vs Litecoin Mining.
Making the decision to jump into the world of cryptocurrency mining is not an easy one. That kind of decision effectively means competing with large-scale operations around the globe. It definitely pays to get involved early in the launch of a new coin. However, the market has quickly become saturated with so many useless cryptocurrencies it has become a lot harder to know which will succeed and consequently where to commit your resources.
Bitcoin and Litecoin mining is still feasible if you are prepared to invest in the right hardware and software and dedicate those resources to a mining pool. With so many choices and so many factors outside of your control, it appears though that the probability of turning a good profit gets harder by the day.
A healthy debate continues in the cryptocurrency community. The general feeling is that those passionate about cryptocurrency, the hardware, and the technical chops to make it happen will do just fine. Those with pure investment goals would probably do better by buying the coins outright.
Free online Bitcoin mining.
30197+
Macbook pro Bitcoin mining.
How To Mine Cryptocurrency on a Macbook Pro?!
BitRPC.
Jul 10, 2018 · 3 min read.
So you've purchased a Macbook Pro and you're interested in testing out mining cryptocurrencies. The good news is you can start mining right away.
Wait just one second...
While it is possible to mine cryptocurrencies on your laptop, you should know that mining might be harmful to your hardware and may reduce the longevity of it. That's because as most know mining can be very demanding and taxing on your computer parts, especially the CPU.
The next thing is that the Ma c book Pro or any Apple laptop for this matter does not usually cool effectively enough for mining. As before, the cooling on the Macbook Pro tends to be not so effective at this type of task and people including myself have taken temperatures of the bottom of the laptop to check this. After much testing it usually isn't such a good idea unless you can figure out a way to cool it better.
But I Want to Anyways!
Alright, so you've decided you still want to mine and no one will take that away from you. If you want to mine with the Macbook Pro without any extra hardware, the best thing to mine is Monero (XMR). Monero is one of the few coins that can still be mined with a CPU, but you may not earn as much as you expect. I know you probably want to try Bitcoin, but at this point, it would take over a decade to earn a few dollars, so it's not a good idea.
Before you start mining, you should check this handy Monero mining hashrate table to see how much your processor hashes and hopefully a power usage amount. Table here: https://bitrpc.com/intel-processor-cpu-hashrates-for-monero-mining/.
Next, you'll want to find a free online calculator to determine your profitability.
You will need to know how much electricity costs unless it is free for you.
If all works out and you're profitable, you will need to have a program to mine Monero with as well as a wallet address for Monero. If you're not sure how to get a wallet address at this point, you could sign up at an exchange and use an exchange's address, but we highly recommend you download the Monero wallet at their website.
Once you've got your wallet address, you will need to download Docker to help you run a cpu mining program called cpuminer-opt. Here's the link for Docker.
After downloading Docker, open your Mac's Terminal and paste in this command:
"docker run hmage/cpuminer-opt -a cryptonight -o stratum+tcp://cryptonight.usa.NiceHash.com:3355 -O [MoneroAddress].[workername]:x"
It should look like this once you've replaced it with your address and worker name.
"docker run hmage/cpuminer-opt -a cryptonight -o stratum+tcp://cryptonight.usa.NiceHash.com:3355 -O 444SZ4VznMULSGQLzaHpPMS8s6r26THCwY8sz6rFYZaEKAkhKzwgLur3viZJv1B4TZFZLvWkZPo495aKikYC252ZD5VqPcW.CoolGuy :x"
Once complete the program will automatically download the latest version of cpuminer-opt, and may begin mining.
If everything works out, great! You're now earning that sweet crypto and have become a full-fledged miner.
This completes the non-external hardware portion for mining. If however you are more serious about mining, we'll cover the external graphics card setup for mining on Mac, which will definitely provide more hashrate and more coins mined, but will cost additional dollars.
A Beginner's Guide to Mining Cryptocurrencies on the Mac.
@ gotham.dev Gowtham V.
Python Programmer /ML Developer. Tech Enthusiast. UI/UX Design.
If you are looking to make a profit immediately by mining cryptocurrencies on the Mac, stop right here. Don't waste your time. Close this article and go buy yourself a mining rig /decent Gaming Laptop or buy crypto with your credit card.
Bitcoin(BTC) is the most dominant cryptocurrency. It's dominance is over 51% of the market. 1 BTC = $ 6581. Want to mine Bitcoins with a Mac and cash in that Satoshi? Forget about it. With Bitcoin mining difficulty increasing you need specialised hardware for mining(ASIC). Without it, you can use a very fast graphic card, but unless you have free electricity, it won't even repay itself. And moreover GPU mining is not supported for most Macs with most mining softwares. CPU-only mining is meaningless.
If you were to mine Bitcoin on a mid-tier MacBook Pro for 24 hours for an entire month you would only make less than micro-cents worth of bitcoins. Not to mention the wear and tear to your expensive machine and you'll probably burn your Graphics card before you mine even 0.00001 BTC! Hell you probably wouldn't mine a single bitcoin in this century!

Bitcoin

First of all, What in the world is Mining?
So where does all of this mining take place and where does the Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin come from? Well, your computer is solving math problems to make sure no one makes transactions on the Blockchain network that aren't true. If your computer manages to solve the problem, you get rewarded. Mining is also used to release new currency into the Blockchain. And that is bASICally mining. Everyone has an opportunity to help solve these problems and claim rewards. So in short mining is nothing but the validation of a transaction .
(You can skip the following part about ASIC Mining.)
The controversy around ASIC Mining :
At the point when Bitcoin was begun, the only way to mine was utilizing Central Processing Unit (CPU) on PC and Bitcoin core wallet. When bitcoin was released you could mine only 100 coins a day using a CPU. CPU was designed to switch between different tasks. Hash required proof of work in mathematical calculation and CPU has less arithmetic logical units so, when it comes to performance in the large calculation CPU is relatively slow.
GPU can mine much faster than CPU. GPUs are faster than CPUs for the kind of repetitive math involved in mining. They solve more blocks in the same amount of time. CPUs have a large instruction set with a few cores. GPUs have sometimes thousands of shaders with a simpler math instruction set. So, a thousand shaders becomes hands down faster than a few cores for mining coins.
But right now it is impossible to mine Bitcoin using CPU because of ASIC miners. The introduction of ASIC mining rigs has always sparked controversy in cryptocurrency communities. ASIC mining rigs bring a slew of benefits and disadvantages to a cryptocurrency's ECOSystem. For example, they bring economies of scale to operations because they are relatively inexpensive and more efficient (as compared to GPU rigs) at processing hash functions. In turn, this translates to higher profit margins for miners. But mining efficiency comes at the cost of decentralization.
ASIC Miners ruined mining for the common man.
The reason many crypto purists have a problem with ASICs is that individuals like you and I, using comparatively sluggish PCs or even more powerful graphics cards, can't compete with the ruthless efficiency with which the ASIC mining farms carry out the proof-of-work consensus test and win bitcoin rewards. If the little guy can't participate, they argue, the result is re-centralization. There's a security argument, for example, all that expensive, efficient hashing power makes for a more formidable expenditure barrier for a potential "51-percent attacker" to overcome.
So What Cryptocurrencies should I mine on a Mac?
Altcoins! Anything but Bitcoin. Bitcoin's popularity makes the bitcoin market extremely competitive and it's difficult and expensive for beginners to get started on. Most Altcoins on the other hand, are much less popular, much less competitive, much less expensive, and can ofter even be mined by beginners with CPUs. There are even some CPU-only coins! So Altcoins are the best cryptocurrency to mine for people who want to experience mining for fun or looking to make a few extra bucks every month.
What are the possible Altcoins to mine on a mac?
There are like a thousand different Altcoins. 1854 to be exact. Including Bitcoin there are 1855 different cryptocurrencies. All of these 1854 Altcoins want to be the next Bitcoin or something even better.
But we are going to look at the most popular / advanced / practical coins to mine on a Mac. All the test mining results that follow were run on a MacBook Pro 15" mid 2017 (A1701).
Monero (XMR) :
Monero stands out among other cryptocurrencies as it is widely considered as the most advanced anonymous digital currency . Monero is based on a proof-of-work algorithm known as CryptoNight , which is designed with certain specifications that make it difficult for Monero mining using ASICs to work well. In turn, it is actually relatively easy to mine Monero on your PC / Mac.
This means people all over the world will be leaving mining software running on their home or work PCs. Those that do this will earn Monero in exchange for running the software that processes and verifies other Monero transactions. Therefore, if someone else is paying the electricity bill (e.g. an employer or a university), then there will be a financial incentive for people to mine Monero using the spare capacity of the computers they already have access to. Far more people will be willing to casually use existing computers for this task than there would if they would need to purchase and install purpose built ASIC mining hardware. Because no special mining equipment is required, it means that it would be easy for anyone that downloads a Monero wallet to simply click a single button to start mining on their computer.
Monero is the most profitable coin to mine on a Mac. Or any other Laptop. Period. Monero is one of the best coins to mine for absolute beginners. All you need to do is fire up the GUI and hit mine. That simple. But still Profitable.
So ordinary people who are interested in Monero will be able to earn their first little bit of Monero by participating in the mining process. This is a major marketing win, as it distributes Monero to the broadest possible number of participants to fuel their enthusiasm. Monero is currently the 10th largest cryptocurrency. 1 XMR = $96.7. Monero supports mining with CPU/GPU or both.
So if you have a more powerful Mac and if you hook in a supported GPU, you could be making serious money in the future if not immediately.
Ethereum / Ethereum Classic (ETH / ETC) :
Ethereum was developed to augment and improve on bitcoin, expanding its capabilities. Importantly, it was developed to feature prominently " smart contracts " : decentralized, self-executing agreements coded into the blockchain itself so that there is no authenticating third party required.
Ethereum is the second most valuable cryptocurrency (market cap). Ethereum Classic is a fork of Ethereum . 1 ETH = $302. Ethereum rewards its miners based on the proof of work algorithm called Ethash , which actually encourages decentralized mining by individuals and doesn't support ASICs mining. You can mine Ethereum with CPU/GPU mining or both. But recently ASIC mining became possible on the Ethereum Blockchain.
So unfortunately, Ethereum is also a no show on the Mac. But external GPUs will really help boost your earnings. But your best bet is to buy it or ASIC mine it.
Litecoin (LTC) :
Litecoin is a fork of the Bitcoin Core client, with a few slight differences. It had a reduced block generation time at two and a half minutes; it had significantly more coins or tokens and a different hashing algorithm using scrypt, instead of SHA-256. 1 Litecoin costs about $56.90. It has the 7th highest market cap as of 2018.
CPU only mining of Litecoins is still sort of possible. In the sense that if you mine for 24/7 for an entire year with an average hashrate of 15 kh/s you would mine 0.0003841 LTC. Which is about $0.022 ! If you continue to mine at this rate you would make a dollar in 45 years !
So Leaving your Mac running the mining program 24/7 would almost definitely cost you more in electricity than it would earn you in Litecoin, so I don't recommend trying this! Ever! Again if you are serious about mining, buy a mining rig ! But anways here's a link to a guide where you can set it up on a mac.
Bytecoin (BCN) :
Bytecoin was the first ever Altcoin based on CryptoNote technology. Bytecoin advertises itself as a totally anonymous Altcoin and as the first enterprise-ready altcoin. Fee-free instant international payments: The Bytecoin network works as fast as the internet. Your payments will take a little bit of time to process, as payments require cryptographic confirmation. Bytecoin claims transactions are processed in about 2 minutes. The makers of Bytecoin claim that hacking the currency "would require immense amount of expensive electricity and computational power of a supercomputer".
Bytecoin is the 27th largest cryptocurrency in the world. 1 BCN = $ 0.001816!
The only reason you would want to mine Bytecoin is for HODLing. 1 Bytecoin now worth micro cents maybe worth hundreds someday. And that is a huge MAYBE. Huge. Huuuugeeee. So keep calm on HODL!

Bitcoin

But here's what a smart person would do instead of mining Bytecoin:
Instead of mining Bytecoin, use the same compute power and time to mine Monero which is more profitable and use it to buy Bytecoin.
A week of mining Monero will give you about 0.00711 XMR which will buy you about 378 Bytecoins ! So mining Bytecoin for an entire year will make you only 50 more coins. But mining monero for an entire year will buy you 19,845 Bytecoins! Well let's make it more simple. $1 will buy you 551 Bytecoins . Just simply buy using cash. You'll save time and also your precious machine!
This applies for all those penny cryptocurrencies that can be mined and those that can't be mined like XRP(Ripple), EOS, Stellar, IOTA, Tether. A $5 investment in any of these coins is a safe bet to make and will buy you a bucket load of those coins. It's 5 bucks!
The most simple way to mine crypto on a Mac is using a mining software called Minergate.
You can download the GUI(Graphical User Interface) version here.
The UI can't be more straight forward.
Sign-up. Quit the app. Login using the extended mode. Go the miner tab on top. Choose the cryptocurrency of your choice. Hit the Start Mining Button. Select the no. of cores you wish to allot for the mining process (Higher the no. of cores, higher the hashrate).
That's it. You have begun mining a Cryptocurrency! It also has a built in wallet to store the crypto you mine. Using the waller address you can send and receive various cryptocurrencies. Although after mining i would recommend you transfer it to another wallet for security purposes.
I use the Lumi Wallet to store my Cryptos. They have a Web app, an iOS app and an Android app. And they use mnemonic phrase method to secure the wallet.
You can use the CoinMarketCap to keep track of the current exchange rates. They have mobile apps as well.
One More Thing.
When you are mining for long periods of time, your Mac cannot handle the heat produced. It may even shutdown to avoid damage to the internal components. To avoid this, use a software called smcFanControl. It let's you control the fan speed and cool your Mac down to an optimum temperature (50-55° C). The default fan setting for a 15 inch is 2155 rpm. You can increase it all the way upto 5927 rpm. The fans will sound loud when you increase it all the way up. So ideally you can set it to 4000 rpm for a more bearable fan noise. This way your Mac will perform better as there will be no thermal throttling. And the coins will keep on comin'!
If you found this useful consider smashing that CLAP button! It will show your appreciation to the content! Thank You!
And that's it from me. Adios Miner!
References :
At the time this article was published, here are the exchange rates of the crypto we talked about :