Litecoin, also known as LTC, is the third-largest peer-to-peer, decentralized cryptocurrency on the market as well as an open-source software project released on October 7, 2011, by Charlie Lee. But the economic record of the coin began in November 2013 with a newer and better version of LTC that offered a reduction in transaction fees along with other security and performance improvements in the network.

New Litecoins are generated every single day. The process of solving complex mathematical equations to create new coins is known as ‘mining’, which is nothing but updating transaction records as blocks in the underlying blockchain.
The people who add blocks to the chain of transactions are called miners and they get rewarded with 25 freshly minted Litecoins after they successfully create a block. The blocks get harder to locate when there is increased competition between the miners. So, instead of creating extra blocks, miners create cryptographic hashes of the previous blocks which are bound to meet certain criteria on the network.

Buying LTC from crypto-exchanges in countries where the use of LTC is legal would be the simplest and most reliable way to purchase Litecoin. But using a well-established and leading exchange would be strongly recommended in order to avoid fraud and scammers. Here are a few more aspects that one should consider while choosing an exchange to buy Litecoin:
• Fast Transaction Speeds
• Fewer Transaction Fees
• 24/7 Customer Support

After deciding on your preferred exchange, you should get yourself a wallet to store your Litecoins. Accordingly, you will have a variety of options to choose from as there are many categories of crypto wallets i.e. hardware wallets, software wallets, mobile wallets, desktop wallets, and paper wallets. You should use one that is safe, easily accessible from anywhere in the world and better suits your requirements as well.
But, if you want to explore online wallets, go for something that offers both desktop as well as mobile compatibility and will provide you with the opportunity to conveniently access your Litecoins.

Litecoin and Bitcoin might act similarly, but they have many differences. Many crypto enthusiasts liken both of them to gold and silver. However, both use different algorithms and have different mining conditions. Although Bitcoin’s algorithm is broadly recognized to be more complex and requiring more processing power, people generally do not consider it to be as user-friendly as Litecoin’s algorithm. Litecoin can even process and handle a transaction faster, as compared to Bitcoin, and resists double-spending.

The market capitalization of LTC according to CoinMarketCap is about $3.6 billion as of 2020. Currently, over 62.98 million Litecoins are in circulation across the globe. Mining of Litecoins is capped at 84 million coins which is more than the biggest cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin.
However, like other cryptocurrencies, Litecoin can be distributed among traders in smaller amounts to make the trading process simpler, and therefore the status of whole Litecoins has somewhat been moderated. According to January 2020 data, Litecoin is valued at around $60.25.

Litecoin Halves are strictly tracked by crypto investors, as the subsequent drop in mining profitability affects the price of the coin. There’s a probability that miners stop producing new coins until they start earning profits again. The price of LTC goes up because its increasing demand and instability can get exposure in the already volatile market.