Litecoin (LTC) is probably the cryptocurrency that is most frequently compared to Bitcoin (BTC) among the blockchain networks and mineable cryptocurrencies. An immediate ancestor of Litecoin is Bitcoin., a fork of There are many similarities between Bitcoin and the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, including the mining process, supply restrictions, and halving of the mining reward.
Litecoin, one of the earliest cryptos on the market, was launched in 2011 and is often referred to as the “silver” of the crypto world, with the designation of “gold” being reserved for Among the simplest cryptos to mine is Bitcoin and Litecoin. Compared to Bitcoin and some of its offshoots, such as other Bitcoins, it has a lower profile and popularity., Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin’s mining difficulty has typically been quite low. LTC may therefore rank among the most lucrative coins to mine. Everything you need to know about mining Litecoin is covered in this article.
What is Litecoin (LTC) Mining?
As a fork of Bitcoin in 2011, Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency. It utilizes the Scrypt hashing algorithm, which necessitates specialized mining software and hardware. It is still among the top cryptocurrencies in terms of value and trading volume, and it is mineable.
Validating transactions on the blockchain, then closing and opening a new block, is the process of litecoin mining. By using computing power to solve the nonce, a component of the hash that secures the block, Litecoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism secures blocks. The hashing algorithm encrypts a series of alphanumeric numbers into a unique value known as the hash. Litecoin is given as payment for solving the nonce.
When Charlie Lee, a Google software engineer, revealed that Litecoin was a fork of Bitcoin with modifications to make it scale better, Litecoin mining gained popularity in 2011.
It can be mined using central processing units and graphics processing units on computers, just like Bitcoin. In contrast, investing in an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and joining a mining pool are more lucrative and competitive.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Litecoin mining is similar to Bitcoin mining in that it requires specialized hardware and software for operations.
- While it can be mined on computers, to be competitive Litecoin requires several ASIC miners.
- Since the cryptocurrency’s mining network is very centralized, solo Litecoin mining profitability is extremely low.
- Your hardware and software purchases, pool fees, electricity costs, and the price of Litecoin all affect your mining earnings.
How to Mine Litecoin?
There are three main ways to mine Litecoin:
- Solo mining
- Via a mining pool
- Via a cloud mining provider
Each of these choices has advantages of its own. The increased competition among miners has made it difficult for solo mining without a very powerful mining machine to make a profit by this point. This is not a feature that is exclusive to Litecoin. On virtually every well-liked mineable blockchain network by early 2023, solo mining without a massive rig has turned out to be pointless.
Solo Mining
With solo mining, you join the Try to mine transaction blocks using your mining device on the Litecoin network as a single miner node. You won’t have to share your 12.5 LTC mining reward with any other network users if you are successful in adding a new block to the chain; instead, you will receive it all for yourself. The primary and most likely the only benefit of Litecoin solo mining is this.
The lack of rewards and their irregularity are the main drawbacks of Litecoin solo mining. Mining pools, large cooperatives that pool the computing power of numerous miners to solve new blocks on the network, compete with lone miners. Profitable solo mining is extremely challenging due to the mining pools’ access to a large amount of hash power.
If you are a solo miner and your machine is not very powerful, you might not ever receive a block reward. You might have to wait a long time for your next block reward even if you have a powerful mining rig. If you are successful in clearing any blocks, of course.
Litecoin Mining Pools
Litecoin mining pools are another, and probably the most popular, way of mining LTC. These pools pool resources from various miners to improve the likelihood of solving a block of transactions. When a member of the pool manages to mine a block, the 12.5 LTC reward is split between all the pool participants.
Each member receives a share of the reward proportional to the hash power contributed. Therefore, it pays to have the most powerful rig when joining a pool, just as it does with solo mining. The top 10 Litecoin mining pools as of January 31, 2023 are displayed in the image below.
For their services, many mining pools typically keep a small portion of the payout—generally between 0.1% and 3-4%. The good news is that there are at least a few sizable pools in the Litecoin mining industry that have no fees at all. For instance, mining with litecoinpool.org, one of the top Litecoin pools, has never cost anything.
Solo Mining Vs. Litecoin Mining Pool
Pool mining might be the only practical way to make money for miners without very powerful rigs. Naturally, rigs with insufficient hash power are most likely to make a pitiful profit in any mining pool. But at least you will receive some money regularly. In contrast, solo mining without a powerful rig will probably result in absolutely no rewards.
Pool mining might offer you a more reliable way to earn rewards, even if you have a very powerful mining rig like the Bitmain Antminer L7 that enables you to mine alone. Joining a pool is a way to earn rewards much more frequently, even if in smaller bits, even if your powerful rig can still help you make a profit.
Let’s assume that a miner using a powerful rig is able to collect the entire block reward about once per month on average. They could obtain that sum by joining a pool over the same one-month period in regular, incremental daily payments. In other words, joining a pool won’t necessarily increase the long-term profitability of your mining activity, but it will definitely give you the opportunity to earn more consistently.
The pool size you choose will determine how frequently you receive rewards.
Cloud Mining
Besides solo and pool mining options for Litecoin, there is also a third, and less conventional way to participate in the mining process – using a cloud mining provider. Under the cloud mining model, you simply pay a monthly or yearly fee to a service provider that “rents” you some computing hash power. In return for a fee, the cloud service provider mines cryptocurrency on your behalf and splits the profits with you in proportion to the hash power you rented.
In contrast to solo mining or pool mining, cloud mining does not require you to own any hardware, which is a significant advantage. In essence, you simply pay a fee in the expectation of positive returns from the cloud provider. Naturally, the Litecoin network’s mining difficulty and network activity will have an impact on your earnings. Your returns are typically variable, even though the cost you pay to the cloud mining provider is typically fixed.
But keep in mind that there aren’t many trustworthy cloud mining companies available, especially for Litecoin and other cryptos that can be mined but are less popular than Bitcoin.
Things You Need to Mine Litecoin
Litecoin Mining Hardware
Theoretically, mining Litecoin can be done with the help of CPUs, GPUs, or ASIC rigs—all of which are potent devices made especially for mining cryptocurrencies. Realistically, however, it is no longer profitable to mine Litecoin using a CPU or GPU. The mining competition on the chain has grown over the past few years, despite the fact that Litecoin has much lower mining difficulty than the majority of other top PoW cryptos. Mining on a CPU or GPU won’t be profitable because of the heightened competition.
The only realistic way to make money mining Litecoin is with an ASIC machine. ASICs have long been a favorite for mining bitcoin.
Unfortunately, Litecoin mining cannot be done with a Bitcoin ASIC. This is because the hashing algorithms used by Bitcoin and Litecoin are different. Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 algorithm, while Litecoin is based on Scrypt hashing.
The good news is that ASIC machines used for Litecoin mining can also be used to mine Dogecoin, another extremely popular cryptocurrency. Dogecoin is one of Litecoin’s forked offspring and uses the same Scrypt hashing algorithm. The two cryptos are frequently mined together using merged mining because of their high levels of compatibility.
In merged mining, two cryptos—in this case, Litecoin and Dogecoin—are simply mined simultaneously using the same hardware and resources.
Litecoin Mining Software
You must download and use particular software to mine Litecoin after configuring your mining hardware. For mining Litecoin, many software programs are effective. The use of some, like MultiMiner and CGMiner, is totally free. Kryptex and Cudo Miner are two well-known commercial Litecoin mining software programs.
Litecoin Wallet
Your mined money must be kept in a Litecoin wallet. Not every reputable software wallet provider offers Litecoin support. Atomic Wallet, Trust Wallet, and Guarda Wallet are a few of the well-known wallet providers that offer the Litecoin wallet option.
How Long Does It Take to Mine One Litecoin?
One Litecoin can be mined in 2.5 minutes, which is the block time of the cryptocurrency. Compared to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin SV, Litecoin is mined four times as frequently. Two widely used mineable cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin (1 minute) and Ethereum Classic (15 seconds), have block generation times that are even faster than Litecoin.
What is the Best Way to Mine Litecoin?
The best way to mine Litecoin in early 2023 is to use an ASIC machine that is sufficiently powerful and join a big enough pool. Although using a pool is strongly advised even if you have the most powerful rig available, solo mining is still possible with a very powerful ASIC setup. The consistency of your mining income will be much better if you join a pool.
Litecoin is also one of the coins with a few respectable free mining pools available on the market. So, mining for LTC is best done using a pool.
Make sure to mine Dogecoin along with Litecoin when you set up your mining operations. By doing this, you use no additional resources and only stand to gain by earning DOGE in addition to LTC.
Is Litecoin Mining Profitable?
The only coin with a lower difficulty score than Litecoin is Dogecoin, as was previously mentioned in our article. However, this does not imply that mining Litecoin is always profitable. On virtually every well-known mineable cryptocurrency network in 2023, mining competition is very intense.
Litecoin also has a limited supply, just like Bitcoin. Only 84 million Litecoins will ever be produced, and as of January 2023, roughly 72 million of those have already been produced. By 2142, the rewards will be zero when combined with the reward halving mechanism. Therefore, even though Litecoin is still currently profitable, keep in mind that it will eventually become less profitable.
You would be well advised to make use of some of the well-liked profitability calculators available online to accurately estimate the profitability of mining Litecoin. Unquestionably, among these calculators, WhatToMine.com receives the most usage. To estimate, go to the website’s calculator section, select Litecoin, and enter the necessary information, including the hash rate and power consumption of the mining rig you currently own or are considering purchasing, your electricity costs, and the fees you would incur if you mined through a pool.
The calculator will quickly let you know how much, if any, profit you will make. But keep in mind that estimates of mining profitability can change quickly, depending on things like network competition between miners and, most importantly, the price of LTC at the moment.
How to Select Mining Hardware
There are several factors that you should consider while looking into mining hardware or software for Litecoin:
- Your goals and expectations
- Price
- Energy use and cost
- Hashrate
- Whether to join a pool
Your Goals and Expectations
You must first and foremost decide what you want to achieve with your Litecoin mining. To earn some extra spending money, for instance, or to keep the Litecoin you earn as a reward, you might want to mine. Whatever your motivations, you must be certain that you can obtain the desired returns before purchasing pricey equipment.
Price
The mining pool, F2Pool, provides an up-to-date cost and revenue breakdown for ASIC mining. Although one of the most profitable Litecoin miners, the L7 costs $18,500, so it might take you a while to recoup your investment. The amount you spend will dictate how productive and profitable you are as a miner.45
ASICs that have been used extensively may be available for purchase at much lower prices, but you should exercise caution.
Energy Use and Cost
You ought to take an ASIC miner’s energy consumption into account. The Antminer L7 Litecoin ASIC miner consumes about $10 in energy each day. Your energy bill would increase by more than $3,500 per year, further reducing your yearly profits.6
Only the energy used to power the miner is included in this cost. ASICs generate a lot of heat while operating, so they must operate continuously in order to be most profitable. Unless you can find a way to vent the heat outside your home, an ASIC will increase your cooling costs.
Hashrate
Another important factor is hashrate. You’ll be more competitive whether you’re working alone or in a pool the faster your ASIC can hash. Although many mining pools divide the cryptocurrency they receive, the majority base individual rewards on the quantity of work each miner contributes.
Your profits will probably be significantly lower than those of a miner who uses a quicker mining rig or setup if you have a slow ASIC.
Whether to Join a Pool
Once you’ve decided what equipment you’ll use to mine, you need to decide how to mine: solo or in a pool. When you mine alone, you run the risk of going for extended stretches without discovering a block. However, you will keep the entire 12.5 LTC plus fees if you’re fortunate enough to mine a block alone.
Pool mining, in which numerous miners pool their resources and divide the rewards in accordance with the hashing power contributed, is still subject to the whims of chance. For example, your pool might open three out of ten blocks before having to wait 200 blocks to open the next one. With a pool, your earnings are almost certainly going to be more consistent; however, you only get a small portion of each block the pool finds.
Recommended Litecoin ASIC Miners
There are many powerful Litecoin ASIC miners on the market, we have selected the following for you to choose.
Bitmain Antminer L7
It must be the Antminer L7, which debuted in November, if we are to identify the most popular miner. According to the official website, the Antminer L7 has a powerful hash rate of 9.5Gh/s and power consumption of 3425W. Bitmain’s Antminer L7 aims to surpass all other miners in terms of power for Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) mining. An Antminer L7 9500MH/s hash rate is equivalent to 20 Antminer L3+ hash rates. ASIC will also support all digital currencies that use the Scrypt algorithm. As a result, a large number of projects can be added, including WorldCoin (WDC), Verge (XVG), DigiByte (DGB), Netcoin (NET), Novacoin (NVC), BitConnect (BCC), etc.
Bitmain Antminer L3++
The final model in this series, the L3 ++, was released in May 2018. The equipment, like earlier models, uses a 16nm BM 1485 chip, which, based on user reviews, performs similarly to the L3+ when using firmware. This is indicated by the characteristics of Antminer L3++:
- Working Algorithm: Scrypt
- Hash rate: 596 MH/s
- Power Consumption: 1050W
- Energy Efficiency: 1.6 J/MH
- Overall dimensions: 325x130x188
- Weight of the equipment: 4.5 kg
- Noise level: 75 Db
- Cooling system: Air
It is important to keep in mind when purchasing Antminer L3+ that this ashik only reaches its full potential after the installation of custom firmware.
Goldshell LT6
Another brilliant ASIC crypto miner with excellent performance is the Goldshell LT6. It is simple to set up and can be placed almost anywhere, whether it’s in your office or your house. Although this machine generates a lot of noise—up to 80 DB—you should take that into consideration.
This crypto miner can generate a hash rate of almost 3.35 GH/s. If you want to choose lower-power crypto miners, you may want to take into account its 3200W power consumption. However, overall, it is a fantastic edition, especially if you want functionality and mining for multiple coins.
It is capable of Litecoin and Dogecoin mining. That does not imply that it only mines those two coins, though. More than 14 different coins, including Digibyte and Auroracoin, can be mined using it. Scrypt, a sophisticated algorithm used by Goldshell LT6, adds a potent functionality.
Goldshell LT5
The Goldshell LT5 is one of the most anticipated Litecoin miners of 2021. Mar 2021 is when it will be released. The standard for mining equipment’s capabilities has been raised by the manufacturer Goldshell. Once again, the Goldshell LT5 does not disappoint. The miner consumes 2080W of power and can hash at a maximum rate of 2.05 Gh/s.