Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency created by Charlie Lee. It was created based on the Bitcoin protocol but differs in terms of the hashing algorithm used. Litecoin uses the memory intensive Scrypt proof of work mining algorithm. Scrypt allows consumer-grade hardware such as GPU to mine those coins. Why Litecoin? Litecoin is a cryptocurrency that has evolved from Bitcoin after its own popularity in the industry, this alternative, or ‘altcoin’ has emerged to allow investors to diversify their digital currency package, according to Investopedia. Litecoin is one of the most prominent altcoins and was created by former Google employee and Director of Engineering at Coinbase, Charlie Lee. Litecoin was the first to alter Bitcoin and the most significant difference is that it takes 2.5 minutes for Litecoin to generate a block, or transaction, in comparison to Bitcoin's 10 minutes. ‘While this matters little to traders, miners who use hardware to run Bitcoin's network cannot switch over to Litecoin. This keeps bigger mining conglomerates away from Litecoin because they cannot easily optimize their profits by swapping to another coin, contributing to a more decentralized experience. Litecoin also has bigger blocks, and more coins in circulation, making it more affordable and swift when transacting,’ Investopedia explained. As explained above, Litecoin can transact a lot faster than Bitcoin, but there are also a number of other characteristics that investors need to know before trading. Litecoin can handle higher volumes of transactions because of the capability of transacting faster and if Bitcoin attempted to transact on the scale of its altcoin, a code update would be needed. However, Litecoin’s blocks would be larger, but with more ‘orphaned blocks'. The faster block time of litecoin reduces the risk of double spending attacks - this is theoretical in the case of both networks having the same hashing power. Litecoin Technical Details: The transaction confirmation time taken for Litecoin is about 2.5 minutes on average (as compared to Bitcoin's 10 minutes). The Litecoin network is scheduled to cap at 84 million currency units. Litecoin has inspired many other popular alternative currencies (eg. Dogecoin) because of its Scrypt hashing algorithm in order to prevent ASIC miners from mining those coins. However it is said that by the end of this year, Scrypt ASIC will enter the mass market.
The Gemini dollar — the world’s first regulated stablecoin — combines the creditworthiness and price stability of the U.S. dollar with blockchain technology and the oversight of U.S. regulators. Get Gemini dollars 1-to-1 for U.S. dollars on Gemini. Gemini dollars can be used on the Ethereum network. ISSUER The Gemini dollar is issued by Gemini Trust Company, LLC, a New York trust company. BANK U.S. dollars that correspond to the Gemini dollars issued and in circulation are held at a U.S. bank and eligible for FDIC “pass-through” deposit insurance, subject to applicable limitations. EXAMINATION The U.S. dollar deposit balance is examined monthly by an independent registered public accounting firm to verify the 1:1 peg. All Independent Accountants’ Reports are published and available here. SECURITY AUDIT The Gemini dollar is a cryptographic token built on the Ethereum Network according to the ERC20 standard for tokens. The code of the Gemini dollar smart contracts has been audited by Trail of Bits, Inc., an information security research & development firm, whose report is publicly available here. Gemini was founded four years ago with a mission: build a bridge to the future of money. Gemini dollar aims to combine creditworthiness and price stability of the U.S. dollar with blockchain and the oversight of U.S. regulators, the New York State Department of Financial Service. Gemini dollar is a stable value coin that is: 1. issued by Gemini, a New York trust company 2. strictly pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar 3. built on Ethereum network according to ERC20 token standards Starting 10th September 2018, you will be able to convert U.S. dollars in your Gemini account into Gemini dollars and withdraw them to an Ethereum address. You will also be able to automatically convert GUSD back as USD into your Gemini account. GUSD is expected to be listed on Bibox soon.