Litecoin is a cryptocurrency that launched in 2011 to complete cryptocurrency transactions quickly and cheaply. It was developed using a copy of Bitcoin’s source code, and it is one of the first altcoins, a term used to refer to every cryptocurrency other than the market leader Bitcoin.
Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is a scaling solution that essentially creates an extra layer on top of a cryptocurrency’s blockchain, in which transactions are fast and fees are minuscule. That extra layer consists of user-generated payment channels. It was originally designed to be implemented on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Like SegWit, the network was first implemented on Litecoin which many used to test Lightning Network in a real economic environment. The layer-two scaling solution is controversial. According to critics, it pushes users to non-custodial wallets, on which users would have to run their own node.
Litecoin’s Lightning Network adoption has been somewhat slow while Bitcoin’s Lightning Network adoption has grown exponentially in its initial months. The reason for the slowdown on LTC may be the base layer’s already low transaction fees.
Who created Litecoin?
Since 2011, Litecoin has been closely associated with its founder and creator, Charlie Lee, a computer scientist and graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lee would go on to a career in technology before creating Litecoin, working at Internet giant Google. He later joined cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase as Director of Engineering in 2013.
Once joining the startup, Lee largely put the development of Litecoin aside, saying in 2017 that he thought his most important goal at the time was to help people “own bitcoin and hold bitcoin.”
In late 2017, Lee departed Coinbase to pursue Litecoin development full time. Lee now serves as the managing director of the Litecoin Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the project.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin differences
