Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was modelled after Bitcoin and designed to offer some key improvements to Bitcoin’s model. Some of the benefits Litecoin initially sought to improve on included faster transaction times and near-zero transaction fees while still maintaining many of Bitcoin’s other characteristics.
Litecoin should continue to be a force for years to come. Users can buy Litecoin (LTC) on the Swyftx cryptocurrency trading platform. Since Litecoin was first created by Charlie Lee, it has been an anchor in the digital currency industry.
As an emerging asset class, digital currency is often considered to be similar to precious metals in regard to its scarcity. Bitcoin is often compared to gold and is considered by many to be a form of ‘digital gold.’ Similarly, Litecoin is considered silver to Bitcoin’s gold. Litecoin has a strong pool of developers, and an active community, both helping to move its adoption and integration by mainstream finance and payment systems. Litecoin has consistently maintained its position as one of the top digital currencies in the space in terms of its total market value and daily trading volume.
How do I buy Litecoin in New Zealand?
Buying Litecoin on Swyftx's trading platform is fast and simple. All that’s required once you log into Swyftx is to select the amount of Litecoin that you want to buy, or the Australian dollar amount equivalent of Litecoin that you want to buy. You’re shown the current price in Australian dollars, and when you’re ready to buy, press the ‘Buy LTC’ option and your purchase will be completed. Once the transaction is complete, Litecoin will be instantly deposited into your Swyftx wallet. Once funds are transferred to your account you can begin to trade Litecoin immediately along with other cryptocurrencies. Then you can buy whichever trading pair you want, whether that be AUD/ LTC or any other type of digital currency you want to buy with your account.
Litecoin vs Bitcoin: What’s the difference?
Litecoin was created based on the Bitcoin protocol and shares many similarities with the world’s largest cryptocurrency. However, there are some key differences separating LTC and BTC. Namely, Litecoin blocks are generated 4 times quicker than Bitcoin blocks. This means that Litecoin transactions can be completed in a quarter of the time of Bitcoin transactions. Additionally, the supply maximum of Litecoins is much larger than the supply of BTC. There is a maximum limit of 84 million Litecoins that can be created, compared to Bitcoin’s 21 million.
Can you mine Litecoin?
Much like Bitcoin, new Litecoins are created by being mined. Mining is performed by high-powered computers that seek to solve complex maths problems that cannot be solved by hand. When the computers solve these problems, a new Litecoin is produced. Although still somewhat profitable, mining Litecoin has increased in difficulty over the years. These days, mining Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies are dominated by large companies with extensive resources, budgets and computational power. Fortunately, you can acquire Litecoin in other ways other than mining it. For instance, you can buy and sell Litecoin on a cryptocurrency exchange such as Swyftx.