Litecoin is an early-stage altcoin created in October 2011 by a former Google engineer, Charlie Lee.
Lee wanted to create a cryptocurrency that was faster than Bitcoin and easily accessible, with the goal of processing a block every two and a half minutes, compared to Bitcoin’s ten minutes.
So let’s look at how to mine Litecoin.
What is Litecoin mining and how does it work?
Litecoin (LTC) mining keeps everything under control. Think of miners as guardians of the system, using their computers to solve puzzles that confirm and record transactions.
Your reward? Brand new Litecoin, straight from the network. To improve their chances of earning rewards, many miners join together in mining pools and share the burden and rewards.
Litecoin’s Scrypt algorithm is one of its standout features, designed to make mining easier for newbies. Beyond accessibility, it gives Litecoin a performance boost and allows transactions to be processed faster than Bitcoin’s SHA-256 approach. Initially, Litecoin mining did not require any complex equipment – just a normal computer.
But as technology evolved, ASIC miners became the hardware of choice for efficient mining. Scrypt relies on memory and stores data in RAM to solve puzzles. This setup should ensure that mining remains fair, even though modern hardware has largely tipped the scales in favor of companies with specialized machines.
Requirements to start mining Litecoin
To mine Litecoin, you need more than just a regular computer. Nowadays, you need an ASIC miner specifically designed for Litecoin’s Scrypt algorithm. It’s much more powerful than a typical PC, so…