Litecoin vs Bitcoin Cash: Key Differences Explained

Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash are both Bitcoin-style proof-of-work coins aimed at cheaper, everyday payments, but Litecoin is an independent network launched in 2011 with its own mining algorithm and faster blocks, while Bitcoin Cash is a 2017 fork of Bitcoin that kept its mining algorithm and history and raised the block size limit. They solve the same problem — Bitcoin can be slow and costly for small payments — in different ways.

This comparison sets out how they differ in design, supply, features and risks, so you can understand each on its own terms. It does not say which to buy; that depends on your goals and your own research.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Litecoin in Brief

Litecoin was launched by Charlie Lee, a former Google engineer, in October 2011. He took Bitcoin's code and changed several parameters: blocks every 2.5 minutes instead of 10, a supply of 84 million instead of 21 million, and the Scrypt hashing algorithm instead of SHA-256.

Litecoin has often been an early adopter of Bitcoin upgrades. It activated Segregated Witness (SegWit) in 2017, before Bitcoin, and works with the Lightning Network for off-chain payments. In 2022 it added MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB), which let users optionally make confidential transactions. Litecoin is also merge-mined with Dogecoin, meaning miners can secure both networks with the same work.

Our full explainer, what is Litecoin (LTC), covers its history and design in more depth. Live price and supply data are on the Litecoin price page.

Bitcoin Cash in Brief

Bitcoin Cash was created on August 1, 2017, through a hard fork of Bitcoin. Anyone holding BTC at that moment received the same amount of BCH. The split came from a long dispute: one side wanted to scale Bitcoin by keeping blocks small and moving payments to second layers, while the Bitcoin Cash side wanted bigger blocks so more transactions could fit on-chain cheaply.

Bitcoin Cash raised its block size limit, later raised it again, and did not adopt SegWit. It uses the same SHA-256 mining algorithm as Bitcoin, which means it competes with Bitcoin for the same mining hardware. In 2018 the community itself split, producing Bitcoin SV. In 2023 Bitcoin Cash added CashTokens, enabling tokens and NFTs directly on its chain.

Read what is Bitcoin Cash (BCH) for a detailed explainer, and check live data on the Bitcoin Cash price page.

How Their Design Choices Play Out

Speed versus capacity

Litecoin makes the first confirmation arrive sooner through faster blocks. Bitcoin Cash keeps Bitcoin's block interval but fits more transactions in each block. In practice, both are usually cheap to use, and for small payments many merchants accept transactions before multiple confirmations.

Mining security

Because Bitcoin Cash shares SHA-256 with Bitcoin, miners can switch between the two. That means BCH's hash rate is a small fraction of Bitcoin's, and a large miner could, in theory, direct significant power at it. Litecoin's Scrypt algorithm gives it its own pool of miners, strengthened by merge mining with Dogecoin.

Upgrade philosophy

Litecoin has tended to follow Bitcoin's technical path, adding features cautiously. Bitcoin Cash has been more willing to change base-layer rules, such as raising block sizes and adding new script capabilities. Our article Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash expands on this point.

Who Each Might Suit

• Litecoin may appeal to people interested in a long-running, conservative Bitcoin-like network with optional privacy features and Lightning support.
• Bitcoin Cash may appeal to people who agree with the big-block vision of on-chain payments and want native token features on a Bitcoin-derived chain.

Neither suitability is a recommendation. Your own risk tolerance, time horizon and research should decide whether either belongs in your portfolio. Our guide to Bitcoin vs Litecoin adds another useful reference point.

Shared Risks

1. 1Competition from stablecoins. Many people who want to pay with crypto now prefer dollar-pegged stablecoins, which avoid price swings.
2. 2Bitcoin's own scaling. Lightning and other tools reduce the need for alternative payment coins.
3. 3Volatility. Both coins can lose a large share of their value in bear markets.
4. 4Fake tokens and wrappers. Tokenized versions of LTC and BCH exist on other chains; make sure you know which version you are buying. See how to confirm you have the real token contract.

Bottom line

Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash both aim to be cheap, fast Bitcoin-style money, but Litecoin is a separate chain with Scrypt mining, 2.5-minute blocks and an 84 million cap, while Bitcoin Cash is a big-block fork of Bitcoin with SHA-256 mining and a 21 million cap. Compare their live data with the compare tool, read each project's documentation, and decide based on your own research rather than slogans.