Bitcoin (BTC) against Litecoin (LTC)
Bitcoin and Litecoin next to each other: how the prices travelled, what differs under the hood and what each coin is built for.
BTC and LTC: what is under the hood
| Bitcoin (BTC) | Litecoin (LTC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $78,068.00 | $55.15 |
| Ticker | BTC | LTC |
| Type | coin of its own network | coin of its own network |
| Launched | 2009 | 2011 |
| Built by | Satoshi Nakamoto | Charlie Lee |
| Consensus | Proof of Work (SHA-256) | Proof of Work (Scrypt) |
| Block | ~10 min | ~2.5 min |
| Supply cap | 21 M BTC | 84 M LTC |
| Privacy | transfers are public | transfers are public |
| In circulation | 20.09 M BTC | 77.62 M LTC |
| Market cap | $1.57 T | $4.28 B |
| Rank by cap | #1 | #28 |
Source: CoinGecko, Sep 18, 2026 16:24. Where these numbers come from
Who went where: BTC and LTC
Both prices start the period at 100, so the chart shows which one rose or fell harder — not the prices themselves.
| Period | BTC | LTC |
|---|---|---|
| Week | −0.31% | +4.22% |
| Month | +17.98% | +22.46% |
| Quarter | +20.2% | +23.38% |
Over the quarter their daily moves line up at 0.72 (they travel together).
What each one is built for: BTC and LTC
- Holding value long termBitcoin
- Payments and transfersLitecoin
How Bitcoin and Litecoin are built
How Bitcoin works
The network uses Proof of Work with the SHA-256 algorithm: miners compete to add a new block roughly every 10 minutes and receive newly issued coins plus fees. Every 210,000 blocks (about four years) the block reward is cut in half, which slows issuance until the 21 million cap is reached. Balances are tracked as unspent transaction outputs (UTXO).
What Bitcoin is for
Bitcoin is mostly held as a long-term store of value and used as the base asset of the crypto market: most trading pairs, indices and derivatives are priced against it. It is also used for cross-border transfers and, through the Lightning Network, for small fast payments.
How Litecoin works
Litecoin uses Proof of Work with the Scrypt algorithm and produces a block about every 2.5 minutes — four times more often than Bitcoin. The supply is capped at 84 million coins and the reward halves roughly every four years. Since 2022 the optional MWEB extension allows confidential transactions.
What Litecoin is for
LTC is used for fast, inexpensive transfers and payments, and as a way to move value between exchanges when Bitcoin fees are high.