Litecoin launched in October 2011, created by former Google engineer Charlie Lee as a direct fork of Bitcoin's code with a small number of deliberate changes: a faster block time and the Scrypt hashing algorithm in place of Bitcoin's SHA-256. Positioned from the outset as 'silver to Bitcoin's gold', it is one of the longest continuously operating altcoins and has generally been used as a testbed for changes later considered for Bitcoin itself.
Category
layer-1
Consensus mechanism
Proof of Work (Scrypt)
Launched
2011
Technical differences from Bitcoin
Litecoin's roughly 2.5-minute block time (against Bitcoin's roughly 10 minutes) gives faster transaction confirmation, and its Scrypt algorithm was originally chosen to be more resistant to the specialised ASIC mining hardware that came to dominate Bitcoin mining — though Scrypt ASICs eventually emerged too. Litecoin adopted Segregated Witness (SegWit) and the Lightning Network ahead of Bitcoin, functioning in practice as an early proving ground for upgrades the wider Bitcoin-family ecosystem later adopted.
Merge mining with Dogecoin
Since 2014, Litecoin has supported merge-mining with Dogecoin, allowing the same Scrypt mining hardware to secure both chains simultaneously — a relationship that has materially bolstered Dogecoin's network security and tied the two coins' mining economics together, even though they otherwise serve different purposes.
Tokenomics
| circulating-supply | — |
|---|---|
| max-supply | 84,000,000 LTC (protocol-fixed) |
| issuance-model | Fixed cap; block reward halves approximately every four years, modelled on Bitcoin's schedule |
Last verified: 8 July 2026. before you rely on any figure — live circulating supply and market cap are never published here; check a live tracker.
Risks & criticisms
- As an older, well-established asset, Litecoin's development pace and headline attention have generally been slower than newer layer-1s — check current activity levels before assuming feature parity with more actively developed chains.
- Its differentiation from Bitcoin is primarily around speed and mining algorithm rather than a fundamentally different security or programmability model.
- Like Bitcoin, private-key custody is the user's sole responsibility, with no recovery mechanism for lost keys.
Where to buy
Related buying guide
→ Litecoin — related buying guideFrequently asked questions
Who created Litecoin?
Charlie Lee, a former Google engineer, created Litecoin in October 2011 as a fork of Bitcoin's code.
Does Litecoin have a maximum supply?
Yes — the protocol caps total supply at 84,000,000 LTC, four times Bitcoin's cap, with a similar halving schedule.
Is Litecoin mined the same way as Bitcoin?
No. Litecoin uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm rather than Bitcoin's SHA-256, and has a roughly four-times-faster block time.