Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency running on its own Layer-1 blockchain, Litecoin mainnet, created by Charlie Lee as an open-source fork of Bitcoin Core. It uses Scrypt proof-of-work and a UTXO transaction model, with blocks targeted every 2.5 minutes. Litecoin functions primarily as a peer-to-peer payments network rather than a smart-contract platform, and LTC is the chain's native asset with no separate token contract. As of 2026-08-31, LTC trades near $48.43 with a market capitalization of approximately $3.7 billion.
Litecoin differentiates itself from Bitcoin mainly through faster settlement, with 2.5-minute blocks versus Bitcoin's 10 minutes, and its use of Scrypt proof-of-work. Unlike smart-contract chains, it relies on an emerging optional extension layer rather than native contracts.
Its MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB) feature adds an opt-in confidential-transaction mode, a privacy option most base-layer payment coins lack. A new layer, LitVM, aims to extend Litecoin into DeFi and reportedly surpassed 140 million testnet transactions as of August 2026. As a proof-of-work chain, network fees (approximately $11,409.79 over a trailing 30-day period) are paid directly to miners rather than a protocol treasury.
LTC is a utility coin, not a governance token: it carries no formal on-chain governance rights or voting power.
Holders use LTC primarily as a medium of exchange for peer-to-peer payments and as the fee-payment asset that compensates miners for securing the network. Within MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB), LTC can optionally be used for confidential transactions. As Litecoin's smart-contract layer, LitVM, matures, LTC is positioned to also serve as a settlement asset for contract execution, though that use remains in testnet as of August 2026.
Maximum supply: 84,000,000 LTC.
Litecoin launched as a fair launch, with no ICO, pre-sale, or pre-mine.
Charlie Lee published the open-source client on GitHub on October 7, 2011, forking the Bitcoin Core codebase; the network went live six days later, on October 13, 2011. All LTC entered circulation through open mining from the genesis block.
Litecoin runs on its own standalone Layer-1 blockchain, Litecoin mainnet, launched in 2011 as a source-code fork of Bitcoin Core.
The network uses Scrypt proof-of-work consensus and a UTXO transaction model, with a target block time of 2.5 minutes, four times faster than Bitcoin. LTC is not an EVM or Solana token and has no canonical smart-contract representation; wrapped instances on other chains are third-party products, not the native asset.
Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee, a former Google and Coinbase engineer, who released it in 2011.
Lee remains the project's public face and serves as Managing Director of the Litecoin Foundation. No other individually named founders or advisors are documented; broader Litecoin Core development follows an open contributor model rather than a fixed named team.
The Litecoin Foundation, a nonprofit incorporated in Singapore on April 3, 2017, stewards the project today.
It funds core software engineering and ecosystem grants through donations, grants, and merchandise sales, including crypto contributions. The Foundation supports and coordinates development but holds no formal ownership of or unilateral control over Litecoin Core; there is no separate for-profit company or DAO directing the protocol.
Litecoin has no on-chain governance and no formal token-holder voting.
Protocol changes are proposed as Litecoin Improvement Proposals (LIPs) and openly discussed by the community; Litecoin Core editors, supported by the Litecoin Foundation, accept or reject proposals after broad technical consensus is reached among maintainers, a process similar in structure to Bitcoin's BIP system. Influence is meritocratic rather than formally structured, with no privileged core-developer class by design.
Quarkslab audited Litecoin's MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB) privacy feature in a 45-day engagement and found the code clean and well-structured.
Despite that audit, a critical MWEB validation bug was exploited between March and April 2026: an attacker fabricated an 85,034.47 LTC pegout at block 3,073,882; developers recovered 84,184.47 LTC, with the attacker retaining roughly 850 LTC. A follow-on exploit attempt caused a 13-block chain reorganization, during which a third party reportedly lost 11,000 LTC. The vulnerability was fixed in Litecoin Core 0.21.5.4.