Ethereum (ETH) is leagues ahead of Litecoin (LTC) in terms of crypto popularity. Ethereum currently occupies 2nd place in the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the world. Litecoin, on the other hand, isn’t in the top 10. Still, when looking at the crypto space, both ETH and LTC occupy a large part of the market share.
Both Litecoin and Ethereum are worthy alternative investment options to Bitcoin. However, you should decide to invest based on what you wish to use cryptocurrency for. Ethereum is an entire blockchain platform, while Litecoin is a peer-to-peer lending site. There are also many differences when it comes to transaction fees, block size, and many other categories.
In this guide, we’ll take a comparative look at the Ethereum blockchain and the Litecoin platform.
History
Existing for slightly longer, Litecoin has a fuller history than Ethereum. However, both coins went through the same challenges that the crypto market faced as a whole throughout the 2010s. Both are valuable pieces of the bigger cryptocurrency story.
Ethereum (ETH)
The Ethereum whitepaper was published in 2013. In it, the founder Vitalik Buterin explained his vision for the Ethereum blockchain. Buterin wanted to go a step further than other cryptocurrencies had up to that point. He wanted to create an entire cryptocurrency community, with smart contracts established by digital entrepreneurs.
Throughout 2014, Buterin heavily crowdfunded and added more crypto experts to his team. This team built the Ethereum network, which went live on the 30th of July 2015.
In the years following, Ethereum underwent several updates to ensure maximum scalability. By January 2018, ETH officially became the second-biggest cryptocurrency in the world in terms of market cap. It has maintained this second-place position since.
Litecoin (LTC)
Litecoin was one of the original alt-coin cryptocurrencies. Launched in October 2011, the world was still getting used to the concept of Bitcoin when Litecoin came around.
The crypto was invented by former Coinbase engineer, Charlie Lee. Litecoin is the result of a Bitcoin source code fork. Lee created Litecoin to rectify some of the limitations that Bitcoin was facing.
With improvements to the Bitcoin source code, Litecoin became more popular following its official launch. It gained popularity on early crypto exchange sites such as BTC-e. In November 2013, the coin experienced a 100% value jump within the space of 24 hours. This made it one of the most successful altcoins of the era.
Litecoin has steadily maintained itself through the decade following.
What Are They, And Why Were They Created?
Just because both Litecoin and Ethereum are cryptocurrencies doesn’t mean that they serve the same purpose. The coins were introduced for different reasons.
Ethereum
The Ethereum network is a blockchain technology-based platform. It is powered by its native coin, known as Ether. Ethereum changed the possibilities of smart contracts. It opened doors for game developers, advertisement creators, and supply chain management operators.
A smart contract is basically a virtual exchange that does not involve a centralized party. So, like many other crypto exchange sites, Ethereum is a decentralized application.
Other than using the Ethereum platform for creating smart contracts, it can also be used to exchange Ether.
Litecoin
The Litecoin platform stands as a peer-to-peer lending site. Here, crypto investors can transfer Litecoins without having to go through a central body. Like most crypto, Litecoin is a decentralized application.
Litecoin, in essence, is very similar to Bitcoin. However, due to the changes that Lee made to the Bitcoin source code, it has some advantages over BTC. This includes the hashing algorithm, supply, block time, and distribution. Litecoin has an 84 million coin max supply and a 2.5-minute block time.
By being able to provide quicker block confirmation, Lee hoped that Litecoin would overtake Bitcoin. He had also hoped that the increased max supply would prevent Litecoin from becoming too expensive. Overall, he created Litecoin to make a bigger and more accessible crypto alternative to Bitcoin.
Price History
For this section, we’ll examine the current exchange rate of both coins. Then, we’ll compare this to the highest and lowest points of each crypto coin.
Ethereum
A single Ethereum coin is currently worth $1,239. This high price – which is based on data provided by CoinMarketCap – is to be expected from the 2nd biggest cryptocurrency in the world. Although Ethereum has maintained its second-place position since 2018, its value has since fluctuated.
Ethereum reached its highest value point on the 9th of November 2021, when the coin was worth $4,815. Although its value has obviously reduced since then, Ethereum remains high above its lowest value point. Throughout the entirety of 2015, the coin never increased past the $1 mark.
Litecoin
According to CoinMarketCap statistics, Litecoin holds a value of $75.76 in December 2022.
In May of 2021, Litecoin quickly rose to its highest price ever, when it reached $412.96. This peak was short-lived, as its value plummeted by 50% in the following 6 months. The lowest price of Litecoin ever recorded was around $1.03.
Market Cap
The market cap reflects how much crypto is worth if you were to add all the individual values of the coins together.
Ethereum
The current market cap of Ethereum is $151,569,393,316. This is based on figures provided by CoinMarketCap and reflects the price at the time of December 8th, 2022.
Litecoin
The market cap of Litecoin is $5,420,705,968. Again, this is based on statistics provided by CoinMarketCap on the 8th of December 2022. The world of crypto is a volatile one, so it’s worth checking CoinMarketCap regularly to see how the value dramatically changes.
Daily Transactions
The daily transaction count is an interesting statistic to examine as it reflects how much interest there is in a specific coin on a specific day. From this, you can gauge how popular the coin is currently, and potentially predict how popular it will be in the coming days.
Ethereum
There are currently around 972,121 Ethereum transactions per day.
Litecoin
The Litecoin daily transaction count is 95,779.
Block Size
The block size of both Ethereum was made big to compete with Bitcoin. However, Litecoin’s block size actually matches that of Bitcoin. The block size reflects a coin’s transaction capacity in a specific time frame.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum currently has a block size of 4 MB. This size allows the crypto to process 15-30 transactions per second.
Litecoin (LTC)
Litecoin has a block size of 1 MB. This is the exact same block size as Bitcoin. A relatively small size, Litecoin cannot handle as many transactions.
Similarities
- Proof-of-work: Ethereum and Litecoin use some form of proof-of-work mechanism. Litecoin has its own Litecoin Scrypt mechanism, while Ethereum uses Ethash.
- Both are decentralized applications: Ethereum and Litecoin fit the bill of a decentralized application platform. This means that you can transfer property on both applications without the interference of a central authority.
- Availability: You can perform Ethereum and Litecoin transactions on most of the big crypto exchange sites.
Differences
- Coin limit: Each coin takes a very different approach to coin limit. While Ethereum has an unlimited supply of coins, Litecoin has limited its supply to 84 million coins.
- Block size: Ethereum supports blocks that are four times the size of Litecoin. Therefore, it can handle four times as many exchanges at one time as Litecoin can. If you need to make multiple transactions, go with Ethereum.
- Transaction speed: Litecoin can deal with transactions faster than Ethereum can. The average transaction speed for Litecoin is 2.5 minutes. Ethereum can sometimes take up to 6 minutes to process.
- Transaction fees: Bigger transaction fees can be found on Ethereum. Litecoin offers significantly lower transaction fees.
Risks
As with all cryptocurrencies, both Litecoin and Ethereum come with their own risks. The Ethereum and Litecoin blockchain come with these specific risks:
Ethereum
- As Ethereum grows more popular, it may move towards a more centralized form of governance. Despite the fact it has existed for a while, crypto on the whole is still in the early stages. You don’t know what could happen in the future.
- As a digital currency, Ethereum is one of the most prominent. Given its fixed supply limit, the coin will likely grow more expensive in the future. So, you’ll need to risk a lot of money to gain profit from Ethereum.
Litecoin
- The founder of Litecoin, Charlie Lee, has sold all his Litecoin holdings. This would suggest a lack of faith within the company.
- Litecoin’s market share has been decreasing in recent years.
Where to Buy
You can buy Ethereum and Litecoin on the following platforms:
Ethereum
Litecoin
- Coinbase
- Binance
- Kraken
- MoonPay
- BitPay
Exchanging Ethereum for Litecoin
Litecoin and Ethereum can be exchanged for each other on all the main exchange platforms, including Kraken and Coinbase
.
Future Plans
When it comes to determining the outcome of Ethereum Vs. Litecoin, roadmaps need to be considered. The future plans of Litecoin and Ethereum are as follows:
Ethereum
Ethereum has several protocol updates lined up shortly. These will make the platform more sustainable, scalable, and beneficial to investors.
Litecoin
Litecoin has an MWEB update planned. This will allow investors to send confidential transactions on the Litecoin blockchain. They also plan to develop the LiteVerse Litecoin NFT Marketplace.
https://messari.io/asset/litecoin/profile
https://www.coindesk.com/price/litecoin/
https://www.litecoinroadmap.com/
https://www.gobankingrates.com/investing/crypto/what-is-litecoin/
https://messari.io/asset/litecoin/profile
https://kraken.pxf.io/B0Rny4compare/litecoin-vs-ethereum
https://www.stilt.com/blog/2021/07/litecoin-vs-ethereum/
https://www.trality.com/blog/litecoin-vs-ethereum
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