What is Litecoin?
Litecoin is another type of cryptocurrency that launched in 2011 as an alternative to Bitcoin.
August 28, 2025
What is Litecoin and when was it launched?
Litecoin is another type of digital currency, like Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. It was launched in 2011, shortly after Bitcoin as an alternative (now known as an “altcoin”).
Just like other cryptocurrencies, it’s not owned by one person, company, or government. It’s enabled and supported by all its users, on networks of computers running certain software.
Who created it?
Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee, a former Google engineer who had a goal of making a faster, cheaper version of Bitcoin - or the “lite version of Bitcoin.”
He built it using the same software as Bitcoin, but he tweaked the code to produce a different cryptocurrency.
The "lite" in Litecoin
So, what makes Litecoin "lite?" Litecoin can handle a maximum of 56 transactions per second, whereas Bitcoin can only handle a maximum of 7. Litecoin also has 4 times the maximum supply as Bitcoin: 84 million in total.1
Market volatility: It's up and it's down
Like with many cryptocurrencies, there’s volatility in the price of Litecoin—meaning prices can go up and down quickly in a short amount of time.
In May 2021, the price of Litecoin hit an all-time high of nearly $400. Within the next 6 months, its price dropped to close to $100 then climbed back to over $275.2
What that means for you: Trading cryptocurrency can be risky so it’s important to decide for yourself if you’re comfortable buying it.
If you do decide it might be the right move for you, think about how much you want to invest in crypto. Make sure it’s not money from your emergency savings or that you may need to pay your bills.
Essentially, if you can’t afford to lose it, don’t use it.
What can I do with it?
In the Plynk app, you can only buy, hold, and sell Litecoin.
But more broadly, people around the world use Litecoin in all sorts of ways. They buy, hold, sell, transfer, and exchange it.