Hi, I am Zeno, this is a series of #区块链发展史 articles, and the protagonist of this issue is "#莱特币 / $LTC ".
莱特币是第一个基于比特币代码的山寨币，也是最近减半行情的“减半币”，曾经的口号“比特金，莱特银”。
Litecoin was released on November 9, 2011 by former Google employee Charlie Lee. He became interested in Bitcoin in 2011 and began studying Bitcoin's source code. He found that there are some areas where Bitcoin can be improved, such as the transaction confirmation time is too long, the total currency amount is too small, and the mining difficulty is too high. He decided to create an improved digital currency based on Bitcoin that would complement Bitcoin like silver is to gold. He said: "In October 2011, I was playing with the source code of Bitcoin and trying to create a fork of Bitcoin, I guess. It was mostly a fun side project."
Since its release, Litecoin has experienced numerous price fluctuations and technological innovations. It was once the world's second-largest digital currency, reaching an all-time high of $375 in December 2017. It is also the first digital currency to implement Lightning Network transactions and private transaction functions.
💠Litecoin has three main technical differences from Bitcoin:
- Block generation time: Litecoin’s block generation time is 2.5 minutes, which is much faster than Bitcoin’s 10 minutes, which means that Litecoin can confirm transactions faster and improve network efficiency.
- Total supply cap: Litecoin’s total supply cap is 84 million, which is much more than Bitcoin’s 21 million, which means that Litecoin can better meet market demand and reduce the risk of deflation.
- Encryption algorithm: Litecoin uses the scrypt encryption algorithm, while Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 encryption algorithm, which means that Litecoin is less difficult to mine and can be mined using an ordinary computer without the need for professional hardware. equipment.
💠Several important turning points of Litecoin:
- Creation stage: From October 7, 2011 to April 2013, Litecoin was released by Li Qiwei. It received attention and support from some Bitcoin enthusiasts and developers, but also encountered some doubts and criticisms. Some people think that Litecoin is just an insignificant fork of Bitcoin with little innovation and value. Some people believe that Litecoin is a potential digital currency that can complement Bitcoin and provide more choices and possibilities.
- Growth stage: From April 2013 to December 2017, the price and market value of Litecoin continued to rise, reaching a record high and becoming the second largest digital currency in the world.
- Innovation stage: From January 2018 to October 2020, Litecoin achieved a number of technological breakthroughs, such as lightning network, smart contracts, privacy protocols, etc., improving its performance and functionality.
- Exploration phase: From October 2020 to the present, Litecoin has sought more cooperation and expansion in applications, such as cross-border remittances, digital identities, community governance, etc., increasing its influence and value.
🔹Establishment stage
- On October 7, 2011, Li Qiwei released the first version of Litecoin, named 0.1.0. He announced the creation of Litecoin on a popular Bitcoin forum, calling it "a lightweight version of Bitcoin." He also said: "My goal is to create a digital currency that is easier to mine, faster to confirm, and has more issuance."
- On November 9, 2011, it was launched on the BTC-e exchange and became the first platform to support Litecoin trading. At the time, the price of Litecoin was around $0.03. As Litecoin’s popularity and acceptance grows, more and more exchanges and merchants are supporting Litecoin. For example, on October 16, 2012, OKCoin exchange listed Litecoin, and on January 28, 2013, the BitPay payment platform began to accept Litecoin.
- On November 28, 2012, the first halving occurred, with the reward per block reduced from 50 Litecoins to 25 Litecoins. The incident increased Litecoin’s scarcity and value, driving its price higher. In April 2013, the price of Litecoin exceeded $10 for the first time, reaching a record high at the time. Litecoin has also begun to receive more attention and support, becoming the second largest digital currency in the world.
🔹Growth stage
- In November 2013, the price of Bitcoin exceeded $1,000, triggering a digital currency frenzy. As a complement to Bitcoin, Litecoin has also been sought after by the market, with its price rising from $10 to $48, an increase of 380%. However, in January 2014, Bitcoin encountered a major crisis, the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange. Mt.Gox, the largest Bitcoin exchange at the time, announced that it had lost 850,000 Bitcoins due to a hacker attack, causing huge losses and panic. The incident caused the price of digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin to plummet, with Litecoin falling from $48 to $10, a 79% drop.
- In May 2014, the Litecoin Foundation was established to promote the development and popularization of Litecoin and is responsible for the management and maintenance of the Litecoin project. The Litecoin Foundation is a non-profit organization comprised of community members and volunteers. It provides Litecoin with a formal and professional representative body to communicate and cooperate with other digital currency organizations and institutions.
- In October 2015, Litecoin was upgraded to version 0.10.2.2, adding support for Segregated Witness. Segregated Witness is a technology that improves the capacity and security of the Bitcoin network by separating transaction signatures from blocks, thereby increasing the effective space of each block. Segregated Witness opens up more innovative possibilities for Litecoin, such as Lightning Network and Atomic Swap.
- In May 2017, Litecoin and Bitcoin completed the first atomic swap, enabling decentralized transactions between the two cryptocurrencies. Atomic swap is a technology that uses smart contracts to realize direct transfers between different blockchains. This technology improves the interoperability and liquidity of Litecoin and Bitcoin, and also demonstrates Litecoin’s innovative capabilities and leading advantages.
- In December 2017, Litecoin set a new all-time high, reaching $375.29. On this day, Litecoin’s market value reached $19.8 billion, ranking fifth. This achievement is Litecoin’s best performance during the digital currency craze of 2017 and the highest peak of Litecoin’s growth stage.
🔹Innovation stage
- In January 2018, Litecoin released version 0.18.1, adding support for the Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is a layer-2 protocol built on blockchains such as Bitcoin and Litecoin that enables instant, low-cost, and scalable transactions. The Lightning Network utilizes micropayment channels and hash-locked contracts to conduct transactions off-chain, improving transaction speed and security. Litecoin can achieve seamless cross-chain conversion with Bitcoin through the Lightning Network, and can also provide more application scenarios and business cooperation.
- In August 2019, Litecoin experienced its second halving, reducing the reward per block from 25 Litecoins to 12.5 Litecoins. The incident triggered price fluctuations in Litecoin, but it did not continue to rise. Li Qiwei, the founder of Litecoin, said that the halving is to maintain the deflation and value stability of Litecoin, not to push up the price. He also said that the future of Litecoin focuses more on technological innovation and application expansion rather than market hype.
- In October 2020, Litecoin partnered with Cardano to develop a decentralized application platform that utilizes smart contract technology to improve its scalability and security. Cardano is a blockchain project based on scientific philosophy and research, aiming to provide a sustainable, interoperable, and verifiable platform. The cooperation between Litecoin and Cardano will allow Litecoin to run more complex and advanced applications, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized identity (DID).
🔹Exploration phase
- In February 2021, Litecoin reached a cooperation with PayPal, the largest online payment platform in the United States, allowing more than 300 million PayPal users to use Litecoin to buy and sell.
- In April 2021, Litecoin reached cooperation agreements with social platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, allowing users to use Litecoin for transfers and red envelopes on social media. It will support users to use digital currencies such as Litecoin to conduct peer-to-peer or group transfers and red envelopes on its Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and other applications.
- In July 2021, Litecoin released version 0.21.1, which added support for MimbleWimble. MimbleWimble is a technology upgrade that improves Litecoin’s anonymity and scalability.
- In January 2022, Litecoin reached a cooperation with Visa, allowing Visa card holders to use Litecoin to pay at merchants in the United States.
- In November 2022, Litecoin reached a cooperation with Mastercard, allowing Mastercard card holders to use Litecoin to pay at merchants around the world.
- In January 2023, Litecoin released version 0.22.0, which added support for MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB). MWEB is an extension of MimbleWimble.
- In August 2023, Litecoin once again ushered in the "halving" market, and was ridiculed as a halving of the currency price.
Most of the content of the article comes from the Internet. There may be some errors in the content. If there are any errors, please comment or send a private message to let me know. Thank you!
