whats the diff between bitcoin and litecoin

[kmksmkn]

the subject says it all can someone give me the break down

[2586]

Litecoin uses scrypt instead of SHA265 as its mining hash algorithm, and has 2.5 minute blocks instead of 10 minute blocks. Other than that, it's pretty much the same as Bitcoin.

[hellx]

This is the biggest problem I have with bitcoin, what is to stop people from jumping to the next currency each time to be early adopters?  There is nothing keeping them in bitcoin...

[Mike Christ]

This is the biggest problem I have with bitcoin, what is to stop people from jumping to the next currency each time to be early adopters?  There is nothing keeping them in bitcoin...

My peepeecoins are currently trading for ~20 cents.  They've been this way for a while now.  I wouldn't recommend jumping on a different currency.  I don't know if they're ever going to hit the dollar mark.

[hellx]

Right but there is nothing to stop all of us from jumping on the next currency like ppcoin or the next, or the next.  Why stay in something that has already had a run up?

[MouseTrap]

A ltc weighs less

[Peleus]

Because the run up gains credibility to the coin, utility and market acceptance. For example, compare the amount of retailers that accept Bitcoin as opposed to litecoin or many of the other multitude of litecoins.

To also confirm what others have said, there is pretty much no significant difference between litecoin and bitcoin. Different hashing algorithms and block rates are used, but it doesn't make a significant difference in the usability of either coin.

[kmksmkn]

i heard at some point that mtgox was gonna start using lite coin wouldnt that allow just make them jump up in value

[2586]

This is the biggest problem I have with bitcoin, what is to stop people from jumping to the next currency each time to be early adopters?  There is nothing keeping them in bitcoin...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect

[Reska]

Litecoin uses scrypt instead of SHA265 as its mining hash algorithm, and has 2.5 minute blocks instead of 10 minute blocks. Other than that, it's pretty much the same as Bitcoin.

Thanks for this simple explanation   

[Tal1m0n]

That decrease in verification time is a big increase if you consider having to wait in line for a purchase to go through.


I don't think having a bunch of competing currencies will be a big hassle. People will hedge their bets spread out over multiple currencies - and if one can develop the support to get accepted worldwide the others will be just as easily.

It's like when you walk up to a checkout line they accept Visa And Mastercard (as well as Check, Cash, etc.)

[mcs]

I don't think having a bunch of competing currencies will be a big hassle. People will hedge their bets spread out over multiple currencies - and if one can develop the support to get accepted worldwide the others will be just as easily.

It's like when you walk up to a checkout line they accept Visa And Mastercard (as well as Check, Cash, etc.)

Right, I use ltc for hedging. When btc skyrocketed and I saw that the correction was imminent, just converted most of them to ltc. Statistical arbitrage - almost guaranteed profit.

[qqq1q1q1q]

Litecoin imitate bitcoin.

[kojo23]

Litecoin cannot be mined with ASICs and FPGAs (according to their website)

[Zhuravlick]

This post is most enlightening about B/LTC differences than almost everything I've read in the wild.

So, for now LTC algos disfavor parallel computing while delivers more hashes at any given period compared to BTC. But from the economics perspective, how this technical matters affects the two currencies? Which one tends to be more reliable in the long run? I think that this isn't technical at all. Am I right?

From everything I've learned until now, BTC have already gained momentum as a currency while LTC is still slipping over, which makes the first far more useful and valuable than the second, mainly in the short/medium terms.

Of course the above statement leaves the speculative tasks out of the analysis subject.

Zhuravlick.

PS: Being that my first post at bitcointalk, I want to deeply thanks its admins/moderators for such a great and well organised source of information. Even the newbie forum have such many valuable posts!