Before the Bitcoin entered the market, it was difficult to even imagine that this type of currency can even exist, let alone be so present on the market. When it first appeared in 2009, it was a new concept of currency and it completely changed the game. Its value started really low, just to gain enormous attention and value over the course of a decade. Bitcoin gained many fans over the years and that certainly didn’t happen by accident – its value is truly high and many people got rich thanks to Bitcoin mining.
On the other hand, the Litecoin was made as a way to improve Bitcoin, because the inventor Charlie Lee though that there are things that could be a lot better. The disagreement among the Bitcoin users initiated the split of Bitcoin in two. This dispute is called the hard fork and it happened in November 2011. This is the moment when the Litecoin was born. It was a response to all the things that were not good about Bitcoin. These two currencies act like rivals that try to be better, faster, richer that the other one. We must say that the race is tight. Here are some information that might help you understand their positions on the market better.
Main Characteristics of Both
In order to understand which of these coins is better, you must get familiar with both to be able to assess which one is better positioned. You need to keep in mind that the crypto-currencies don’t rely on the outside factors such as political situation and legal mechanism of the state, but rather on the network cryptographic integrity. The average transaction time for Bitcoin is ten minutes, while Litecoin needs two and a half minutes giving a Litecoin slightly better position.
The supply limit for Bitcoin is twenty-one million and Litecoin is eighty-four million. Even if these figures don’t mean much to you now, here is a little help so you can make an informed decision about the current position of both Bitcoin and Litecoin. The limit refers to the rules of the protocol that the reward (new currency) gets halved every 4 years which means that at some point it will be zero. This limit shouldn’t be reached soon, so all the Bitcoin fans are on the safe side. There are nearly 21 million bitcoins in total in supply.
Concerning value, the Bitcoin value is much higher than Litecoin. At the moment, one Bitcoin equals 8,889.00 US dollars, while Litecoin equals only 61,04 US dollars. The technology behind the Bitcoin is called the blockchain which is a record of trades recorded digitally. The computers where these records are stored are called nodes. The transactions are made without the banks, fees and worrying about the exchange rates.
If one user wants to send Bitcoins to another user, their trade must be verified first which means that the sender must have that amount before he sends it. When the trade is allowed, the info gets added. Blocks are the transactions that are grouped together and added to the blockchain. The verification of blocks by nodes results in more currency which is why it is known by the term mining. This process is quite pricey and it requires a computer that is powerful enough to support the process. Adding blocks to the blockchain requires about ten minutes which is pretty slow. If you want to find out more about the Bitcoin click thebitcoinrevival.com.
Mining for Litecoin uses rules called script which is faster up to four times. It uses equipment made by ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) miners.
This is why it seems that Litecoin gains popularity and slowly grows value. Litecoin has been progressing steadily so far. Cryptocurrency is still not widely accepted as the money, but there are some companies that accept it without issues. Even Uber accepts Litecoin as a way of payment and it wins the race when it comes to the popularity and the ease of use. It is less time consuming than Bitcoin, making it more efficient and useful in real-time situations.
Important Notice
Litecoin has become a valuable and stable currency on the market, but its future development is not clear. There are no certain plans and many people still believe that Litecoin is just a shadow of Bitcoin. This is why Litecoin should be working more on marketing because they are simply not present enough. Heavier marketing could move it to the spotlight and gather more people who will use it and support the idea.
Experts familiar with the Litecoin and cryptocurrency in general, believe that the value of Litecoin will go up to $1,200 in the course of the next five years. Looking at the wider picture that refers to a span of one decade, it can go up to $8,000. On the other hand, the predictions for Bitcoin are a little bit more ambitious – from $100, 000 up to one million dollars.
Both are trying to speed up the time necessary for one transaction. They both use the Lightning Network which is a verification process outside the blockchain making it much faster. This system enables the user to open small (mini) networks which are also known as the payment channels. Smart contracts are the rules necessary for these transactions.
There are opinions that if Bitcoin manages to make the transaction time faster, it will be the end of Litecoin making it useless. However, it can go in the completely opposite direction – it can actually be the way to bring these two currencies closer and maybe make them work together.
It the end, it is important to stress that no one can predict with certainty how the situation will evolve in the future concerning cryptocurrency. Steady progress that we saw with Bitcoin, may repeat with Litecoin. It is not easy to tell. What is sure is that Bitcoin managed to maintain in steady position all this time – almost 11 years, which is certainly outstanding.
