Litecoin is a cryptocurrency launched in 2011 as a lighter, faster alternative to Bitcoin. It runs on its own proof-of-work blockchain, confirms blocks about four times as often as Bitcoin and has a fixed supply of 84 million LTC. It is used mainly to send and receive payments.
Who created Litecoin?
Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee, a former Google engineer, who released it in October 2011 as a fork of Bitcoin's code. In 2017 he sold or gave away almost all of his LTC to avoid a conflict of interest. Development is now supported by the non-profit Litecoin Foundation and volunteer developers.
What is the difference between Litecoin and Bitcoin?
Both are proof-of-work cryptocurrencies with fixed supplies and halving schedules. Litecoin uses the Scrypt mining algorithm instead of SHA-256, produces a block every 2.5 minutes instead of 10, and has a maximum supply of 84 million coins instead of 21 million. Bitcoin is far larger by market value and is mostly seen as a store of value, while Litecoin focuses on payments.
How many Litecoin are there?
Litecoin's maximum supply is 84 million LTC. Around 76 million have already been mined, and the rest are released as block rewards that halve every 840,000 blocks. The live circulating supply is shown in the market data on this page.
When is the next Litecoin halving?
The next halving is expected around July 2027, at block 3,360,000, when the reward for each new block drops from 6.25 LTC to 3.125 LTC. The last halving took place on 2 August 2023. Because block times vary slightly, the exact date can shift by a few days.
How is Litecoin mined?
Litecoin is mined with specialized Scrypt ASIC machines. Most Litecoin miners also mine Dogecoin at the same time through merged mining, which lets them earn rewards on both networks for the same work and adds security to both.
What is MWEB on Litecoin?
MWEB, short for MimbleWimble Extension Blocks, is an optional privacy upgrade that went live on Litecoin in May 2022. Users can move LTC into MWEB to send confidential transactions that hide amounts, then move it back to regular addresses. Some exchanges do not support MWEB transactions. In April 2026 attackers exploited a bug in MWEB's validation rules, and the network reorganized 13 blocks to remove the invalid transactions; the bug has been patched and regular LTC balances were not affected.
Is there a Litecoin ETF?
Yes. The Canary Litecoin ETF (LTCC) began trading on Nasdaq on 28 October 2025 as the first US spot Litecoin ETF. An ETF gives price exposure through a brokerage account, but you do not hold the LTC yourself.
Is Litecoin a good investment?
Whether LTC suits you depends on your goals and risk tolerance, and this page is not financial advice. Litecoin has run since 2011 and now has a US spot ETF, but its price has been volatile, it has lost market share to newer payment networks and stablecoins, an exploit of its MWEB privacy feature in April 2026 forced a 13-block chain reorganization, and its value depends on continued use. Only invest what you can afford to lose, and speak to a licensed financial adviser before making investment decisions.
What is Litecoin (LTC)?
Litecoin (LTC) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency built for fast, low-cost payments. It runs on its own proof-of-work blockchain, adds a new block about every 2.5 minutes and has a fixed maximum supply of 84 million coins. Like Bitcoin, it has no company or central bank behind it: independent miners secure the network, and anyone can send LTC to anyone else without asking permission.
Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee, a former Google engineer, and launched in October 2011 as a fork of Bitcoin's code. He changed a few key settings so that blocks arrive four times as often and mining uses a different algorithm, and the project became known as the "silver to Bitcoin's gold". It is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies still in wide use.
Litecoin at a glance
Item
Detail
Type
Proof-of-work cryptocurrency for payments
Created by
Charlie Lee
Launch
October 2011
Ticker
LTC
Mining algorithm
Scrypt
Block time
About 2.5 minutes
Maximum supply
84 million LTC
Block reward
6.25 LTC (since August 2023)
Next halving
Expected around July 2027
Privacy option
MWEB (since May 2022)
How Litecoin works
Litecoin works much like Bitcoin. Transactions are grouped into blocks, and miners compete to add each new block by solving a computational puzzle. The winner earns the block reward plus the fees in that block, and every node on the network checks the result before accepting it. Coins are tracked as unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs), the same accounting model Bitcoin uses.
The differences are in the settings Charlie Lee chose at launch:
Faster blocks: a new block every 2.5 minutes instead of 10, so a payment gets its first confirmation sooner.
A different mining algorithm: Litecoin uses Scrypt instead of Bitcoin's SHA-256. Scrypt was chosen to make mining less dominated by specialised hardware, but dedicated Scrypt machines (ASICs) have done most Litecoin mining since around 2014.
A larger supply: 84 million coins, four times Bitcoin's 21 million, to match the four-times-faster block schedule.
Mining and merged mining with Dogecoin
Litecoin miners run Scrypt ASICs, specialised computers that do nothing but compute the Scrypt hash. Since 2014, most of them also mine Dogecoin at the same time through merged mining. Because the two coins use the same algorithm, a miner can submit the same work to both networks and earn rewards on each, which adds hash power and security to both chains. Learn more about how this kind of mining works.
LTC supply and the halving
Litecoin's supply schedule is fixed in its code. The reward for each new block started at 50 LTC and halves every 840,000 blocks, which takes roughly four years. Like the Bitcoin halving, this slows the creation of new coins over time until the 84 million limit is reached.
Halving
Date
Block reward after
First
August 2015
25 LTC
Second
August 2019
12.5 LTC
Third
About 90% of all LTC has already been mined. The live circulating supply is shown in the market data on this page.
Litecoin's upgrades: SegWit, Lightning and MWEB
Litecoin has often adopted new technology before Bitcoin, which has earned it a reputation as a testing ground.
SegWit (2017): Litecoin activated Segregated Witness in May 2017, a few months before Bitcoin. SegWit fixed a long-standing transaction bug and made room for second-layer payment networks.
Lightning Network: with SegWit in place, Litecoin supports the Lightning Network, which lets users open payment channels and send near-instant payments off the main chain.
MWEB (2022): MimbleWimble Extension Blocks went live in May 2022. MWEB is an optional side area of each block where amounts and addresses are hidden. Users can move LTC into MWEB, send confidential transactions, and move it back to normal addresses. Regular Litecoin transactions remain fully public, so privacy is a choice rather than the default, which sets Litecoin apart from privacy coins that hide everything.
Developers are also working on LitVM, a proposed layer 2 that would add smart contracts to Litecoin without changing the main chain. It was still in development as of 2026.
What is Litecoin used for?
Payments: Litecoin's fast blocks and low fees make it one of the more widely accepted cryptocurrencies at merchants and payment processors.
Transfers and remittances: sending LTC across borders usually costs a small fraction of a dollar and confirms within minutes.
Trading and investment: LTC is listed on most major centralized exchanges and, since 2025, through a US spot ETF.
Litecoin ETF
The Canary Litecoin ETF (LTCC) began trading on Nasdaq on 28 October 2025 as the first US spot Litecoin ETF. An ETF lets investors get price exposure through an ordinary brokerage account, but they do not hold the LTC themselves and cannot send it on the network.
Key milestones
Date
Milestone
Oct 2011
Litecoin launches
Sep 2014
Merged mining with Dogecoin begins
May 2017
SegWit activates on Litecoin
Dec 2017
Charlie Lee says he has sold or given away nearly all his LTC
May 2022
MWEB privacy upgrade goes live
Jun 2022
Major South Korean exchanges delist LTC over MWEB
Aug 2023
Third halving cuts the reward to 6.25 LTC
Oct 2025
First US spot Litecoin ETF launches
Apr 2026
MWEB bug exploited, causing a 13-block reorganization
Jul 2027
Fourth halving expected
Risks and controversies
Regulatory pushback on privacy: after MWEB went live, Upbit, Bithumb and the other large South Korean exchanges delisted LTC in June 2022, citing anti-money-laundering rules. Exchanges elsewhere can also restrict MWEB deposits and withdrawals.
The April 2026 MWEB exploit: in April 2026 attackers used a flaw in MWEB's validation rules, which had been patched but not yet installed by every miner, to push invalid transactions through. The network reorganized 13 blocks, roughly half an hour of history, to remove them, and some cross-chain swap services that had accepted the transactions lost about $600,000. Regular LTC balances were not affected, but the episode showed the risk that comes with adding complex features to a payment network.
Competition: stablecoins and newer, faster networks now handle a large share of crypto payments, and Litecoin's share of the overall crypto market is much smaller than it was in its early years.
Mining concentration: a few large mining pools produce most Litecoin blocks, so a small number of operators has a strong influence over the network.
Price volatility: like any cryptocurrency, LTC's price can move sharply. This page is not financial advice.
How to buy, sell and store Litecoin
You can buy Litecoin on Bitcoin.com with a card or bank transfer through a payment provider, which sends the LTC to a Litecoin wallet you control. When you want to cash out, you can sell LTC for local currency, and the LTC to USD converter shows what your coins are worth.
To hold LTC yourself, you need a self-custody wallet that supports the Litecoin network, and a hardware wallet is worth considering for larger amounts. Litecoin addresses look different from Bitcoin addresses, so always check that you are sending LTC on the Litecoin network. If you use MWEB, check that the exchange or service on the other side supports MWEB transactions.
Litecoin vs. Bitcoin
Feature
Litecoin
Bitcoin
Launched
2011
2009
Mining algorithm
Scrypt
SHA-256
Block time
Litecoin has kept the core of Bitcoin's design for well over a decade while making payments faster and cheaper. Its open questions are about relevance: whether merchants and users keep choosing it over stablecoins and newer networks, and whether features such as MWEB and LitVM can grow without adding new risks.
