Litecoin Mining
By JAKE FRANKENFIELD
Updated Jan 24, 2021
What is Litecoin Mining
Litecoin mining is the processing of a block of transactions into the Litecoin blockchain. Litecoin mining requires solving for algorithms, and being the first to reach a solution is rewarded with tokens as payment.
Understanding Litecoin Mining
Litecoin is a well-known cryptocurrency bought and sold on prominent exchanges such as Kraken and Coinbase. It is similar to Bitcoin, though the number of Litecoin ultimately to be released—84 million1—is substantially larger than the limit of 21 million set by Bitcoin.
Processing Litecoin requires adding transaction information to blocks, which are ultimately added to the blockchain. The blockchain serves as a record of all owners of a particular Litecoin. Making adjustments to the blockchain is done by miners, who use computer hardware and software to solve math problems.
Until August 2023, Litecoin miners are awarded with 12.5 new Litecoin for each block they process. The amount that miners earn is designed to be reduced by one-half every four years. As of January 2021, 66.8 million of the total 84 million Litecoin had been mined.1 Ultimately, compensation for mining activities is expected to shift to transaction fees.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Litecoin mining is the processing of a block of transactions into the Litecoin blockchain.
Litecoin mining requires use of specialized hardware, such as ASIC machines, and the download of mining software.
Miners are rewarded with Litecoin to mine a transaction block. The current reward of 12.5 coins per block is in place until August 2023.1
Litecoin mining rewards are expected to transition to transaction fees once all Litecoin in existence have been mined.
What is Cryptocurrency Mining?
Cryptocurrencies compensate miners based on a proof-of-work hashing algorithm. Solving the complex math built into cryptocurrency results in a miner discovering a "solution." Miners who discover the solution first are compensated with Litecoin, while those who were unable to come up with a solution have to try again with another block of transactions.
Mining was initially relegated to the world of technology hobbyists, as the hardware costs and set-up time was more resource-intensive than most people were willing to devote to the obscure world of cryptocurrencies. As cryptocurrencies gained in popularity—and rapidly appreciated in value—interest in mining ballooned.
The cost of the hardware used to mine cryptocurrencies dwindled in supply and became very expensive, pushing mining activities toward individuals and businesses living in areas with cheap access to electricity. Mining has thus shifted from something that could be done on a home computer to more of an industrial operation.
How Can You Mine Litecoin?
Setting up a Litecoin mining operation requires interested parties to make significant investments in hardware. In the early days of Litecoin, miners could purchase a graphics processing unit (GPU) or Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) machines to run the calculations required to reach a solution.
An arms race resulted in miners having to scale up the number of GPUs they purchased, which could result in significant electricity bills. As a result, mining operations tended to migrate to Asia, where miners had access to cheaper electricity. The cost of GPUs continued to rise due to the high demand for the hardware, and ultimately led to more specialized and efficient hardware called application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
Miners that have purchased the necessary hardware have to then to set up an e-wallet where Litecoins can be deposited. At this point, miners can download a software program that will handle the mining operation. The software runs a script that activates the Litecoin mining program. Once running, the program will attempt to process blocks, but typically does not show the hashing speed.
While mining a cryptocurrency such as Litecoin may sound profitable based on how popular cryptocurrencies are right now, there are real costs associated with mining activities. Hardware costs can reach hundreds of dollars, and miners with only a single GPU will be competing against companies with a much larger supply of hardware. Powering the hardware at the level required to run scripts successfully can also be expensive, as will a fast and reliable network connection.
Much like Bitcoin, Litecoin mining has also coalesced around mining pools, in which large groups of miners collaborate to increase the probability of finding a block. Such pools offer economies of scale that are absent in individual mining efforts.
The rise of quantum computers could eventually pose an actual security threat to Bitcoin’s encryption, where private keys could be determined from public keys, but there are already known methods that the Bitcoin protocol can adopt when necessary in order to become more quantum resilient, since the blockchain can be updated when there is broad consensus among participants.