Litecoinย is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market, as well as among the oldest assets in the space. Same as its โbig brother,โย Bitcoin, Litecoin comes equipped with a mechanism called โhalvingโ. If youโre curious about Litecoin halving dates, how this process works, and how it affects the general crypto industry, youโve come to the right place!
When is the Next Litecoin Halving?
The next Litecoin halving date is expected to beย August 4th, 2023. This date can differ, however, depending on a few different factors. To see the exact point in time when the next LTC halving will occur,ย take a look at the countdown above.
When Will the Last Litecoin Halving Happen?
At this point in time, itโs not yet clear when the last Litecoin halving will occur. However, judging by the numbers, itโs going to happen many years in the future -ย the current estimation is the year 2142.
What is the Litecoin Halving History?
Litecoin has hadย two halving eventsย already - one inย 2015ย and another inย 2019. In turn, while the block mining rewards wereย 50 LTC in 2011ย when Litecoin was created, they are currentlyย 12.5 LTC per block, and after the 2023 LTC halving, theyโll beย 6.25 LTC.
What is Litecoin Halving?
Now, letโs get the definitions out of the way first.
Litecoin halvingย is an event when the LTC mining rewards get cut in half. Simple, right?
On a more serious note - while it may sound pretty simple at first, thereโs actually a lot of background and weight that follows that definition. And, in order to fully understand the significance of LTC halving dates, we need to take a step back and look at the technology side of Litecoin first.
Litecoinโs History & Proof-of-Work
As Iโve mentioned earlier,ย Litecoin was created in 2011. The purpose of this crypto project is actually very straightforward -ย to improve on the technology of Bitcoinย in every way possible.
The (arguably) biggest improvement, and the one thatโs most relevant to our Litecoin halving discussion, isย the transaction speed. Specifically,ย Litecoin offers transaction speeds up to 4 times faster than those of the Bitcoin blockchain.
This also means thatย while a BTC block takes 10 minutes to mine, Litecoin blocks get mined around every 2.5 minutes. This metric is significant when calculating the specific LTC halving date.
All of that might make little-to-no sense if youโre not familiar with cryptocurrency mining,ย Proof-of-Work, and the fact that, from a general perspective, Litecoinโs blockchain is very similar to that of Bitcoin. Now, while I wonโt get into the details of the processes that Iโve just mentioned, letโs still have a quick rundown so that weโre both on the same page.
Cryptocurrency mining is a process whereย minersย (people like you and me, or even large companies)ย employ their devicesย (either personal computers or special mining machines)ย to confirm transactions that are happening on a crypto network.ย By approving these transactions, miners โmine blocksโ (since transactions are stored in these data blocks) and add them to the blockchain.
If youโre the one who successfully mines the block, you receive a reward for your work.ย This reward is exactly what gets halved every time a Litecoin halving takes place.
The process of mining crypto is part of โProof-of-Workโ, a broader methodology of how certain networks (blockchains) confirm transactions and keep themselves secure. Both Bitcoin and Litecoin use Proof-of-Work and thus act very similarly halving-wise.
How Does Litecoin Halving Work?
Now that youโre familiar with the core general concepts surrounding Litecoin halving, we can get a bit more specific and explore the phenomenon in question.
LTC halving dates back toย 2015ย when the first halving of this crypto asset occurred. Since its creation,ย halvings have been occurring on the Litecoin network every 4 years or soย - check the table below for more details: