Litecoin was one of the first Bitcoin alternatives to appear in the crypto ecosystem. It was launched in 2011 by Charlie Lee, who had previously worked as a software engineer for Google. Litecoin focuses on providing a decentralized means of payment, as was the initial goal of Bitcoin. But it implements a few improvements, to achieve its goal of being a lighter version of BTC.
First, transactions take less time to settle. Fees are also lower on average. Bitcoin moved to become a store of value, rather than a means of payment. Meanwhile, Litecoin keeps implementing new features and upgrades to enhance this use case.
That’s why many merchants have adopted LTC, and payment gateways enthusiastically integrate the coin as well. Maybe it’s not widely used as a store of value, like BTC. But it can compete with stablecoins on the grounds of payment methods and cross-border transactions.
Litecoin’s Growing Adoption in Everyday Transactions
Most exchanges and payment gateways integrate LTC into their platforms. From centralized exchanges, like Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, to P2P and decentralized ones, like ShapeShift and Paxful. When it comes to adoption by merchants, it’s ranked 3rd, next to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Top-up services, like Bitrefill or Cryptorefills, also include LTC among its accepted coins.
The key to Litecoin’s success stems from its ease of use. You only need a wallet to make payments. This same popularity means there are multiple options for storing and spending LTC, with varying degrees of easiness. In terms of market performance, it’s ranked #15, with over $9.64 billion in market capitalization as of February 2025.
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What Makes LTC Faster for Payments?
Litecoin’s value comes from its improved features to make payments. Not only is it more decentralized than other projects but also more secure. In terms of performance, its time to finality is 2.5 minutes, which is a quarter of Bitcoin’s. On average, fees are less than a cent.
All these performance indicators pair with the large adoption by online and offline merchants that accept the coin. Perhaps other cryptocurrencies have faster settlement times, but they’re not as decentralized or secure, and adoption rates are lower.
There are plenty of platforms to buy Litecoin, store it, and then spend it. Unlike Bitcoin, it’s not meant to be a store of value, even though it’s used like that by some investors. The purpose of Litecoin is to be used to pay for goods and services.
3 Biggest Changes Transforming Crypto Payments With Litecoin
Let’s expand on the features that make Litecoin a better option for making crypto payments. And how these could shape the future of the ecosystem, especially considering Litecoin’s history, coming from the early days of crypto.
1. Faster Transactions With Lower Fees
Litecoin represented a major leap forward with its 2.5 minutes block time, while Bitcoin took at least 10 minutes. According to blockchain analysis tools, Litecoin fees are $0.0088 on average. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has infamously had periods where fees cost over $10. Even at times when there’s little network congestion, fees are over $1 on average.
For this reason, Bitcoin delegated its role as a payment method to Litecoin. That’s why LTC is known as the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. The latter is better for long-term storage and savings, while the former is more suited for everyday spending.
2. Increased Merchant Adoption & Real-World Use Cases
We’ve already mentioned Litecoin’s adoption by exchanges and top-up platforms. But it’s worth mentioning payment gateways as well. In this regard, Litecoin can be used to pay in CoinPayments, Binance Pay, CoinGate, or Crypto.com — all reputable service providers. It’s also important to highlight its integration in CryptoWoo. This is a plugin for WooCommerce that potentially puts Litecoin in any WordPress-built e-commerce store, enabling its use worldwide.
Besides that, there are over 3,500 merchants worldwide where users can spend their LTC. From VPN to hosting services; from hotel booking to car renting; even in the gambling sector, we can find over 200 platforms accepting Litecoin.
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3. Privacy & Security Upgrades with MimbleWimble
While it’s common to say that crypto transactions are anonymous, in fact, they are pseudonymous. Addresses aren’t linked to real identities, but they can be traced to one with enough time and skills. To avoid that and add another layer of security, Litecoin implemented a version of MimbleWimble. This is a privacy protocol used to obfuscate transaction data and hide information about the sender or the receiver.
The Litecoin implementation of this protocol is called MWEB, or MimbleWimble Extension Block. The difference is that it creates a sort of Layer-2 that mixes and hides that data using MimbleWimble, mixing transactions with one another.
The introduction of MWEB and its privacy feature makes Litecoin a better option for making payments worldwide. In fact, it’s one of the top cryptocurrencies with privacy features, with a larger market value than others like Monero, ZCash, or Dash.
How Businesses Are Adopting Litecoin for Everyday Payments
There’s plenty of evidence of Litecoin’s adoption. Many merchants prefer LTC because it’s a coin where security and decentralization meet with transaction speed and low fees, as any Litecoin performance analysis would reveal. Through this article, we’ve highlighted how it has been integrated into numerous industries as a means of payment.
For instance, Travala, one of the most popular hotel booking platforms, supports Litecoin as a payment method. If we take a look at industries like gaming, we find crypto games supporting LTC, like Splinterlands. Also, among Litecoin supporters, there are platforms like Coinsbee.com or GamerAll.com, which sell items for video games like Dota2 or CSGO and gift cards for Steam, Nintendo, and PSN marketplaces.
Will Litecoin Compete With Stablecoins for Crypto Payments?
While stablecoins are valuable for cross-border payments and useful outside of crypto trading, commerces still prefer to accept Litecoin. Despite its volatility in relation to stablecoins, LTC’s security and privacy are preferred features.
