Litecoin Coming after our contract and holder checks finish for this coin. See the Scorecard for every call so far.
What it is
Litecoin launched in October 2011 as a lighter, faster offshoot of Bitcoin's code, and it is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies still widely traded. People use it mainly for payments and transfers where they want low fees and quicker confirmations than Bitcoin offers. The non-profit Litecoin Foundation supports development, which is carried out by a small group of contributors. There is no company in charge, and changes only take effect if miners and node operators adopt them.
Litecoin is a proof-of-work network. Miners produce a block about every two and a half minutes, four times as often as Bitcoin, using a different mining method called Scrypt. Most Litecoin miners also mine Dogecoin at the same time through merged mining. In 2022 Litecoin added an optional privacy feature, called MWEB, that lets users hide transaction amounts.
Supply is capped at 84 million LTC, four times Bitcoin's limit. The block reward halves every 840,000 blocks, about every four years; the last halving, in August 2023, cut it to 6.25 LTC, and the next is expected around 2027. A spot Litecoin ETF began trading on Nasdaq in October 2025.
What can go wrong
- After the MWEB privacy feature went live in 2022, South Korea's major exchanges delisted Litecoin, citing anti-money-laundering rules. Regulators elsewhere could take a similar view of privacy features.
- Development depends on a small team with limited funding, and Litecoin has added few major features compared with newer networks.
- Litecoin competes for payments with stablecoins and faster, cheaper networks, which has limited its real-world use.
Some Litecoin addresses look similar to Bitcoin addresses. Confirm you are on the Litecoin network before sending, and do not send from or to the optional MWEB privacy addresses with an exchange unless it says it supports them.
Safety checks
- Track recordGoodTrading since 2011, about 15 years. It has been through at least one full market cycle.
- Trading activityGood$242.4 million traded in the last 24 hours, 5.2% of its market value. That's enough activity that a normal-size order shouldn't move the price.
- Coins still to comeGood77.7 million of 84.0 million maximum coins are in circulation, so about 7% are still to be released. Little new supply is left to hit the market.
- Distance from its peakRed flagDown 85% from its all-time high of $410.26 in May 2021. Most people who bought near the top have lost most of their money. A big drop doesn't make a coin cheap.
- Past yearFor context−36.1% over the past year, against −25.3% for bitcoin. It has done worse than simply holding bitcoin.
History of trouble and big events
- 2022: The MWEB privacy upgrade activated in May; Upbit, Bithumb and other Korean exchanges announced delistings in June.
- 2023: The third halving took place in August.
- 2025: The first U.S. spot Litecoin ETF began trading in October.
Holding a token on a smaller network, or got sent one you don't recognize? Run its address through the free checker. Copycat tokens often borrow big names.