Mining LTC: What is the uniqueness of the Scrypt algorithm? ⛏️💻
Litecoin uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm for Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining, which distinguishes it from SHA-256 used by Bitcoin.
Features of Scrypt: Scrypt was developed to make mining less dependent on specialized hardware (ASIC miners) and more accessible to ordinary users with CPU/GPU in the early stages.
Energy Efficiency: Although ASIC miners for Scrypt exist, this algorithm requires more RAM, making it more resilient to mass centralization of mining on super-powerful devices.
Accessibility: At the start, Scrypt allowed LTC to be mined even on a regular computer, which contributed to a broader distribution of coins.
Understanding the Scrypt algorithm provides insight into how Litecoin maintains its security and decentralization through the mining process.