• Litecoin is a modified version of Bitcoin with faster transactions with lower fees and faster mining difficulty retargeting
• Because of huge similarities, Litecoin is commonly referred to as Silver to Bitcoins Gold.
• Good liquidity and a huge presence on most early exchanges are what helped Litecoin to propel itself into the mainstream market.

Litecoin operates on its own blockchain called the Litecoin Blockchain. It was created in 2011 by Charlie Lee as a fork of the Bitcoin network. During that time Bitcoin mining became more resource intensive and miners needed better GPU performance than CPU, which caused big concern from people, as they believed entry to Bitcoin mining has become hard and few people had the resources to do it Because of this, in November 2011, Lee released the first version of Litecoin which had decreased block generation time, modified hashing algorithm, the increased maximum number of tokens, and faster retargeting of difficulty.

"Litecoin has been running nonstop for almost 10 years. It's one of the few coins that can claim that. Even Bitcoin has had issues where there's been like a fork and a certain amount of downtime. Litecoin has not had any downtime since I launched it in October of 2011." - Charlie Lee

This release then was followed by mass adoption and the introduction of Litecoin into most early crypto exchanges, which busted its popularity and mass market adoption. Ever since then, Litecoin has been on the rise and introduced many different upgrades to the network. In May 2017, the first Lightning Network transaction was completed using Litecoin, and earlier that year Litecoin also became the first cryptocurrency inside the top 5 tokens by market cap to adopt Segregated Witness. Currently, Litecoin trades for $57 with 71.6 million tokens in circulation, giving it a $4.2 billion market capitalization. When it comes to max supply, Litecoin has a limit of 84 million tokens, meaning that once 12.4 million more Litecoin tokens go into circulation, there will be no more new Litecoin tokens entering the market, unless Litecoin increases its max supply, which is really doubtful.

Despite having fallen down in rankings, Litecoin is still one of the most popular tokens in the market and moves around in the top 20 rankings. Being one of the oldest and massively adopted cryptocurrencies by exchanges, it should not be surprising when we mention that you can purchase Litecoin on most cryptocurrency exchanges. But just blindly selecting an exchange to purchase Litecoin might not be the best choice. Each crypto exchange has its own characteristics and each of them is fitted for different traders, and because of this, traders need to take few important steps before making a decision on where to purchase Litecoin. Below we will take a look at the steps traders need to take to acquire Litecoin.

Choose the exchange

The first step you need to take when purchasing Litecoin is to select which crypto exchange you will use. Not every crypto exchange is offering the same services and fees, meaning that if one crypto exchange is good for someone, it might not be good for another person. Some exchanges might have lower fees, some might have better trading tools and platforms, some might have better staking options, and other similar characteristics. Because of this, we first need to understand what we are going to use Litecoin for. Are we going to trade with it, are we going to hold it for long-term investments, or are we going to use it to purchase different goods and services? These are all important questions when selecting the exchange we will be using. Once we find the right exchange we can move to the next step.

Opening an account and passing verification

Once we know which exchange we will be using, our next step is to open our personal account on that exchange. This process will be pretty much similar on most exchanges, and all you need to have for this is an email address and phone number. Also, most of the top exchanges are centralized and regulated exchanges that require traders to pass KYC verification before giving them access to all exchange features. For this verification, you would need government-issued documents, and you will also be asked to provide some personal information.

Deposit funds and buy Litecoin

When we finish this verification process, we will then be able to deposit funds on our account and purchase Litecoin. Different exchanges will offer different deposit options with different fees, and traders need to take this into consideration when choosing an exchange. This process can be done in two different ways. We can either deposit Fiat currency and purchase Litecoin, or we can purchase Litecoin directly using methods such as credit/debit cards and bank transfers. 

Acquire a crypto wallet

This is not a mandatory step, and if you plan on trading with Litecoin you most probably don’t need it, but having a personal crypto wallet is always a good thing. Having a personal crypto wallet will protect traders in case the exchange they are using goes down, and considering that the crypto space is really volatile and most exchanges are spending big money on sponsorships, it should not be shocking to see big exchanges shutting down, with FTX being a good example of it.

As we mentioned above, different exchanges have different services and fees, meaning that not everyone will be satisfied with one exchange. Because of this, below we will list some of the exchanges that are good for purchasing Litecoin for specific reasons, and how can we purchase Litecoin on these exchanges.

Binance - Best exchange for trading with Litecoin

Binance is probably the best exchange overall for purchasing Litecoin if we are not looking for specific characteristics, but one place that they are probably the best is trading. On Binance traders have access to a wide selection of trading tools and instruments. Traders can purchase Litecoin on the Spot market, trade with Litecoin futures, use Binance OTC, and Strategy Trading. There is also Binance Convert where traders can convert one cryptocurrency into another with absolute zero fees. All of this makes Binance one of the best exchanges to trade Litecoin, and being the largest crypto exchange on the market will give traders confidence that their funds will be secured on Binance. But how do we purchase Litecoin on Binance exactly?

Register an account

The first step we need to take when joining Binance is to open our personal account. For that, Binance will simply ask us to provide either our email address or phone number and to come up with a strong password. Then we will be sent a confirmation code using which we need to confirm our registration and we will be ready for the next step.

KYC Verification

Binance is a regulated exchange, which means that we will need to pass an identity verification process in order to access their services. For this, we need to upload a picture of either our ID, Passport, or Driving License, and also provide basic information such as our name, residence address, and other similar information. After this Binance will review our information and if everything is correct we will be granted a verified status. This is usually done withing 1-2 hours and most it can take is up to 24 hours.

Purchase Litecoin

Once we are verified we can finally get our hands on some Litecoins. For this, there are multiple options available. The most simple way is to directly purchase Litecoin using Bank Transfer or Credit/Debit cards. We can also add funds to our cash balance and purchase Litecoin that way. Binance also has a P2P trading option, where you can purchase crypto from other traders, but it does not support Litecoin, meaning that traders will first need to purchase crypto such as USDT and then convert it to Litecoin using Binance Convert. Once this is done, Litecoin will appear on your spot wallet, and you can simply start trading with it.

KuCoin - Best exchange without mandatory verification

One of the main strengths behind cryptocurrencies is that it has some level of anonymity associated with it, but centralized and regulated exchanges remove this anonymity by requiring traders to pass KYC verification. If you wish to avoid this verification process, but don’t wish to trust some shady exchanges, KuCoin is the best option for you. When purchasing Litecoin on KuCoin you are not required to pass any KYC verification, but without verification, there will be some limitations placed on your account such as, available deposit options and low deposit and withdrawal limits. But if you don’t plan on making any significant purchases and simply want to acquire some amount of Litecoin, you can easily do it on KuCoin without verification. Below we will tell you how you can do it.

Open an account

The first and only step we need to take before being able to purchase Litecoin on KuCoin is to simply register our account. When doing so, you simply need to provide KuCoin with your email address and come up with a password that follows the password requirements set by KuCoin. After that, you will be sent a verification code, and using that code you can complete the registration process and move to the next step.

Purchase Litecoin

Since you are not required to pass KYC verification, once you create your KuCoin account, you can purchase Litecoin straightaway. But since KuCoin is not regulated, different traders will be given different purchase options, and you simply need to select the one you see most fit for you and purchase Litecoin. But you need to know that there will be a max amount of Litecoin you can purchase, and if you wish to remove that limitation you will then need to pass KYC verification.

eToro - Best exchange for low fees when purchasing LTC

When we are purchasing cryptocurrencies we might end up paying big fees, but nothing much will happen on eToro. This is a social trading platform that along with crypto offers other trading instruments such as stocks and Forex. When purchasing Litecoin on eToro, traders don’t have to pay any deposit fees and the only fees that they might end up paying are those that are charged by payment providers, so if your payment provider does not have any fees, you can purchase Litecoin on eToro with absolute zero fees, making it a great choice for those who wish to avoid unnecessary fees. But how can we do it.

Create your eToro account

You can open an eToro account in multiple ways. You can use your Gmail, Facebook, or Apple accounts and connect them to eToro for a fast registration process. Alternatively, you can use your email address and register your account that way. When doing so, you will also be asked to come up with a username and password, and once finished you will need to confirm your account by the link sent to your email address.

Pass KYC verification

eToro is a regulated exchange, meaning that traders need to pass the identity verification process before gaining access to the market on eToro. During this process, you will be asked to provide information such as your name, surname, country of residence, and residential address. After this eToro will try to gain your background information and will ask for information such as occupation, trading experience, trading budget, and more. Then you will need to upload the photo of your government-issued document and wait for verification to finish.

Buy Litecoin

Once our account is verified we can go to the market section of eToro and look for Litecoin. When we find it, it will have a Trade option next to it where we can purchase Litecoin using different payment methods. These methods will depend on your country of residence, and you can choose the one most suitable for you. Once the payment goes through, Litecoin should appear on our account shortly after

When purchasing cryptocurrencies, traders will either actively trade with it, or hold onto it for long-term investment. If you are one of these traders that wants to hold onto their Litecoin tokens, then keeping them on the exchange where you purchased them might not be the best decision. Because of this, it might be best to consider moving Litecoins into a personal wallet, or a different exchange. Below we will give you the best options available. 

OKX - Best exchange to stake your Litecoins

OKX is one of the best exchanges for staking Litecoins. If you are purchasing this token for long-term holding and wish to earn some interest rate on top, OKX staking platform will be one of the best options for you. Here traders can stake their Litecoin with 5% APY, and considering that Litecoin is an old cryptocurrency, 5% APY is relatively high compared to other exchange offers. Here is how you can do it.

Create OKX account

First this, you need to do is to register on OKC. this is a simple process and all you have to do is provide the email address and password you wish to use. OKX is an unregulated exchange, meaning that KYC verification is not mandatory on this exchange.

Transfer Litecoin and Stake

OKX might not be the best option for purchasing Litecoin, so it's best to purchase it somewhere else, and transfer it to OKX. For this, you simply need to go to your wallet, select Deposit and send LTC to the LTC wallet provided by OKC. Once LTC is on your OKX wallet, you simply need to go to the staking section of the exchange and stake your LTC.

Nano X - Best hardware wallet to store Litecoin

If you are purchasing large amounts of Litecoins and making a big investment for long-term holding, the safest way to store these tokens is to use a hardware wallet. Nano X is probably the best choice when it comes to these hardware wallets, and it comes in the form of a USB stick that can store more than 5,000 cryptos. You can order it from the Ledger website or Amazon.

When it comes to the question of whether we should or should not invest in Litecoin, the answer comes down to personal preferences. Litecoin is not nearly as valuable as it used to be, and we can see it by comparing its current price of $57 to its all-time high of $384. But considering the fact that the cryptocurrency market has become more competitive, and we currently have an awful year for cryptos, this low price is not surprising. But Litecoin has proven itself and is considered one of the leading cryptocurrencies. It is one of the oldest tokens on the market and is adopted by many exchanges and blockchain projects, meaning that there are people who are interested in this token, so considering investing in Litecoin should not be a bad idea for any investor.