Layer 1 blockchain
Litecoin ticker LTC
Summary
Miners search for a block header whose scrypt hash (N=1024, r=1, p=1) is below the current target. Blocks target 2.5 minutes and difficulty retargets every 3.5 days (2,016 blocks). Value is held as unspent outputs guarded by Script inherited from Bitcoin Core, plus an optional Mimblewimble extension block (MWEB, soft fork activated in May 2022) with hidden amounts that older nodes cannot validate. Dogecoin has accepted Litecoin's scrypt work through merged mining since 2014; that is implemented on the Dogecoin side and Litecoin's own rules do not depend on it. 25712131517
Design
- System
- Layer 1 blockchainPermissionless proof-of-work base chain forked from Bitcoin Core. The optional Mimblewimble extension block (MWEB) is part of the same chain's consensus for upgraded nodes, not a separate layer.
- Settlement family
- Bitcoin family
- Scarce resource
- Work (proof of work)
- State model
- UTXO
- Finality
- Probabilistic
- Who makes blocks
- Miners, mostly through pools, propose blocks by performing scrypt proof of work; many also merge-mine Dogecoin. Every full node checks each block against its own rules, including the MWEB rules if it runs MWEB-aware software.
- Fork choice
- Nodes follow the valid chain with the most accumulated work. In April 2026 unupgraded miners extended a 13-block chain that upgraded nodes rejected as invalid; it was reorganized away once upgraded miners built a heavier valid chain. Confirmations give growing, not absolute, confidence.
Qualifications
- Mweb extension block · Applies. MWEB runs inside Litecoin consensus for upgraded nodes rather than as a separate network: coins move in and out through peg-in and peg-out transactions in each block, amounts are hidden inside it, and peg-out outputs must wait 6 blocks before they can be spent. It is recorded here rather than as a scaling layer.
- Merged mining · Applies. Dogecoin has accepted auxiliary proof of work since block 371,337 (2014), so scrypt miners can submit the same work to Litecoin and Dogecoin. This adds miner revenue; it does not make Dogecoin part of Litecoin consensus.
- Throughput · Unknown. No primary-source throughput figure was classified for the Litecoin main chain or MWEB.
Tradeoffs
- Emphasizes
- Decentralization and Security
- Gives up
- Base-layer throughput and final settlement: blocks arrive every 2.5 minutes, but each block keeps the weight limit of the Bitcoin Core code Litecoin Core was forked from, and confirmations never become final. Optional privacy was added as an extension block that older nodes cannot check, which makes validation and upgrades more complex.Security rests on scrypt mining that is shared with Dogecoin through merged mining. The 2026 MWEB incidents were contained through emergency releases coordinated between core developers and major mining pools, so crisis response depended on that coordination. Pool concentration was not measured here.
- Full node at home
- Practical at home 23461023No official hardware guide was found. Blockchair's API reported about 234 GB of chain data on 2026-09-27 (provider figure). Litecoin Core supports pruning; its built-in 40 GB size hint is far below that. A block arrives every 2.5 minutes at the weight limit kept from Bitcoin Core, plus an MWEB extension block whose size bound in current code is roughly 21.8 MB; 0.21.5.5 raised the network message limit to 32 MB so valid MWEB blocks fit. Worst-case bandwidth therefore includes the extension block on top of full main blocks (inferred from parameters, not measured).
- Throughput claims
- No classified figure recorded
Scaling layers
- Lightning Network on Litecoin · Payment channels, status unknown 15181920
Two-party payment channels use timelocked and hash-locked scripts, and a party must stay online or use a watchtower to punish an old channel state. Upstream LND removed Litecoin in version 0.18.0; a Litecoin fork (lndltc) and Electrum-LTC's Lightning settings exist, but current network size, liquidity and maintenance were not verified. - LitVM · Rollup, testnet 2122
Testnet only. LitVM's docs describe an Arbitrum Orbit rollup whose first mainnet phase settles on Ethereum, with LTC entering through the BitcoinOS Grail bridge (LTC locked in Taproot addresses, zkLTC minted on the rollup). Later phases plan to anchor proofs to Litecoin and then settle there. Litecoin consensus does not verify LitVM state today, and the bridge's trust claims were not independently checked.
Capabilities
| Capability | How it is provided | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Account abstraction | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Atomic swaps | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; Litecoin Script has hash locks plus absolute and relative timelocks (active since heights 918,684 and 1,201,536 per Litecoin Core's chain parameters), building blocks with which hash-time-locked swaps can be built. MWEB coins are not script-based and cannot use this pattern directly. The Foundation lists atomic swaps as a future feature of its Nexus wallet, so no swap tool is shown live on mainnet. 2716 |
| Authenticated data publication | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
| Light clients | Built into the protocolFull scope | Protocol: consensus produces the proof-of-work header chain that light clients check. Litecoin Core 0.21.3 enabled BIP 157/158 compact block filters by default and added MWEB light-client messages (LIP-0006) so light wallets can find MWEB coins. Version 0.21.5.6 (2026) added a node-wide cap on those MWEB light-client requests; that limits how much a node serves, not what a light client can check. 68911 |
| Native staking or delegation | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| On-chain governance | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Parallel execution | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Payment or state channels | Partial (layer not stated) Earlier definition | Channel scripts work on Litecoin, and the Foundation says the first mainnet Lightning payments ran on Litecoin. Software support has thinned: upstream LND removed Litecoin in 0.18.0, leaving the lndltc fork (last tagged release a 2022 candidate) and Electrum-LTC's Lightning settings. Current channel activity was not verified. 15181920 |
| Programmable spending | Native (protocol or core-team software) Earlier definition | Main-chain outputs carry Script inherited from Bitcoin Core, with SegWit (active since height 1,201,536). Taproot rules were first published in the Litecoin Core 0.21.1 release candidate (January 2022) for activation by miner signalling, and the current code still lists Taproot as a signalled deployment; whether and when it activated on mainnet was not confirmed here. MWEB outputs are not script-based. This constrains how outputs are spent; it is not an account VM with contract storage. 2714 |
| Protocol-verified messaging | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Reversible transfers or recovery | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; timelocks are building blocks with which wallets can build delayed or revocable spend paths, but no cited source shows a sender-reclaim window or pre-arranged recovery path live, and users cannot reverse a payment. In March 2026 developers and mining pools used emergency miner-only releases to freeze three outputs created by the MWEB exploit, and later froze one MWEB output permanently in consensus code; that was a crisis response, not a feature users can invoke. 21012 |
| Rollups | Unknown | No rollup that settles to Litecoin mainnet was found. LitVM, a rollup that says it is endorsed by the Litecoin Foundation, is on testnet; its docs say it will settle on Ethereum first and move settlement to Litecoin only in a later phase, so whether a rollup settling to Litecoin arrives is still open. 2122 |
| Shielded transfers | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Signed partial offers | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
Reading these values
- How this feature is provided
- Built into the protocol, core-team software or independent software says where a feature lives and who can change it. These are implementation layers, not quality: core-team software is not closer to the protocol than independent software.
- Structured assessment pending
- The shared review has not assessed this feature for any chain yet (Account abstraction, Native staking or delegation, On-chain governance, Parallel execution, Protocol-verified messaging and Shielded transfers). That does not mean it is absent, and a chain’s profile may already describe it.
- Unknown
- The review has not established this for this chain under the current definition; the note beside it says why. Unknown is not absent and not a low score. A feature reads “Not present” only when a source shows it is absent.
- Earlier definition
- Payment or state channels, Programmable spending and Rollups keep the earlier definition until the next fact-check. There, “Native” does not separate the protocol from core-team software, “Ecosystem software” does not say who publishes it, and “Partial” does not say which layer.
- Reading across rows
- The list of capabilities is incomplete. Do not read these rows as a chain leading or lagging overall.
Ecosystem & custody
| Product type | Status | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Automated market makers | Unknown | The earlier note said absence was not verified, so the rule that absence needs a source makes this unknown. Earlier finding: no AMM runs on Litecoin's base layer, which has no contract accounts; native LTC can be swapped through THORChain's pools, which run on THORChain itself, and LitVM, where contract-based venues could run, is testnet only. 2228 |
| Issuer-native stablecoins | None found | Litecoin's consensus rules have no built-in token issuance, and neither Tether's supported-protocols page nor Circle's USDC address list includes Litecoin. Stablecoins bridged to LitVM's testnet would live on that rollup, not on Litecoin. 212930 |
| Algorithmic stablecoins | Unknown | No source was cited for absence, so the rule that absence needs a source makes this unknown. Earlier finding: no algorithmic stablecoin with material usage on Litecoin was identified; absence was not exhaustively verified. |
| Bridges | Established in the ecosystemCoinbase Wrapped LTC (cbLTC) on Base, THORChain, NEAR Intents | cbLTC is a token on Base backed one to one by LTC that Coinbase holds. THORChain lists native LTC among its assets and swaps it against other chains through vaults held by its validators. The Foundation's postmortem names NEAR Intents as another service that swaps LTC. Risk: cbLTC depends on Coinbase custody and redemption. THORChain's vaults are released only when a supermajority of bonded validators jointly sign, so users rely on that validator set. In April 2026 THORChain and NEAR Intents accepted LTC deposits from a 13-block invalid chain that was later reorganized away: per the Foundation, an attacker swapped 11,000 LTC through NEAR Intents and 10 LTC through THORChain, and those deposits no longer existed on the valid chain. Any service that counts confirmations on unupgraded or non-validating software carries that risk. 12262728 |
| Block explorers | Established in the ecosystemLitecoin Space, Blockchair | The Foundation's site links Litecoin Space, which runs open-source software that can be self-hosted; Blockchair also indexes Litecoin. A public explorer's view is provider data, not independent validation. 232425 |
| Hardware wallets | Established in the ecosystemLedger, Trezor | See the custody section: both vendors list Litecoin in their own wallet apps. Neither vendor page mentions MWEB private transfers. 3132 |
Hardware-wallet custody
| Device maker | Status | What users can and cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Ledger | Native supportSame as native: Yes | Can: Send, receive and manage LTC in the Ledger Wallet app with each transaction confirmed on the device Can: Buy or swap LTC inside Ledger Wallet through third-party providersLedger's Litecoin page does not mention MWEB; private MWEB transfers from a Ledger-secured account were not verified. 31 |
| Trezor | Native supportSame as native: Yes | Can: Use LTC on Trezor Safe 3, Safe 5 and Safe 7, as listed on Trezor's Litecoin page Can: Manage LTC in Trezor Suite or in compatible wallet apps such as ExodusTrezor's Litecoin page does not mention MWEB; private MWEB transfers from a Trezor-secured account were not verified. 32 |
Public data
iKnow Blockchain has no public-data lookups for Litecoin yet. This is a limit of the service, not a statement about the network.
| Lookup | Status | What it covers and its limits |
|---|---|---|
| Address or account | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Tokens and assets | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| NFTs | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Transactions | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
Sourced developments
Developments: Review overdue Reviewed Sep 27, 2026; next review was due Oct 7, 2026, 12:00 UTC.
Publication date · newest first
-
Litecoin Core 0.21.5.8 revalidates MWEB blocks and adds another soft-fork rule
A maintenance release that revalidates the full MWEB block just before it is connected, including blocks reloaded during reorganization or crash recovery, and includes a pool-only 0.21.5.7 security fix whose soft-fork rule from height 3,172,640 rejects MWEB kernels signalling extra data with an empty payload.
- Implementation:merged and released
- Release:Released
- Activation:rule scheduled from height 3,172,640; chain tip is past that height
Sources: litecoin-project — Litecoin Core v0.21.5.8 (external site) · Litecoin Space — Litecoin Space API: chain tip height (external site)
-
Litecoin Core 0.21.5.6 added MWEB relay limits and a soft-fork rule
An urgent maintenance release that limits expensive MWEB light-client requests, caps MWEB transaction weight and inputs in relay policy, and adds a soft-fork rule from height 3,154,440 rejecting MWEB kernels that signal a peg-out with an empty peg-out list.
- Implementation:merged and released
- Release:Released
- Activation:rule scheduled from height 3,154,440; chain tip is past that height
Sources: litecoin-project — Litecoin Core v0.21.5.6 (external site) · Litecoin Space — Litecoin Space API: chain tip height (external site)
-
Litecoin Core 0.21.5.5 hardened MWEB consensus checks
A patch release adding validation for MWEB inputs, peg-ins, kernel fees and lock heights, overflow protection in amount and fee arithmetic, consensus parameters for frozen or approved MWEB items, and a larger peer-to-peer message limit so valid MWEB blocks fit.
- Implementation:merged and released
- Release:Released
- Activation:effective for nodes that upgrade; adoption not measured
Source: litecoin-project — Litecoin Core v0.21.5.5 (external site)
-
Litecoin Foundation published a postmortem of the 2026 MWEB inflation bug and invalid-chain reorg
The postmortem describes a March 2026 MWEB validation bug that created an inflated 85,034.47 LTC peg-out, its containment by freezing outputs with miner-only builds and a negotiated recovery, and an April 25 attempt that led unupgraded miners to build a 13-block invalid chain later reorganized away.
- Implementation:fixes shipped in emergency miner-only builds and then public releases
- Release:Litecoin Core 0.21.5.4 released (GitHub timestamp 2026-04-26)
- Activation:fixes enforced by upgraded nodes; frozen outputs enforced in consensus code
Sources: Litecoin Foundation — Litecoin MWEB Security Incident Postmortem (external site) · litecoin-project — Litecoin Core v0.21.5.4 (external site)
Topics your AI can explain
Your AI can explain these topics for Litecoin through the connection, with sources.
Known gaps
What this profile's review did not establish:
- No throughput figure is listed; no primary-source rate was classified.
- Mining pool concentration and the share of hashing power that also merge-mines Dogecoin were not measured.
- Whether and when Taproot activated on Litecoin mainnet was not confirmed from a primary source; the code still lists it as a signalled deployment starting at height 2,161,152.
- Current Lightning activity on Litecoin (nodes, channels, liquidity) and the maintenance status of Litecoin Lightning software were not verified.
- LitVM's bridge security claims and mainnet timing were not independently checked; it is recorded as testnet.
- Chain size comes from one provider and was not checked against a local node; no official hardware guide was found.
- Whether Ledger or Trezor accounts can send or receive MWEB transfers was not verified.
- Bridges and wrapped forms other than cbLTC, THORChain and NEAR Intents (for example exchange-issued pegged tokens) were not reviewed.
- Final third-party losses from the April 2026 invalid chain were still being collected when the Foundation published its postmortem.
- How many miners enforce the 2026 soft-fork rules that took effect at heights 3,154,440 and 3,172,640 was not measured.
Sources
Oldest dated source check: Source checked Sep 27, 2026 Next check due Oct 27, 2026.
- Litecoin Core source repository (external site)
- Litecoin Core chainparams.cpp (master) (external site)
- Litecoin Core consensus.h (master) (external site)
- Litecoin Core libmw consensus Params.h: MWEB block weight and size bounds (external site)
- Litecoin Core primitives/block.cpp: scrypt proof-of-work hash (external site)
- Litecoin Core init.cpp: pruning and block filter options (external site)
- LIP-0003: MimbleWimble via Extension Blocks (external site)
- LIP-0006: MWEB P2P Messages (external site)
- Litecoin Core v0.21.3 release notes (external site)
- Litecoin Core v0.21.5.5 release notes (external site)
- Litecoin Core v0.21.5.6 release notes (external site)
- Litecoin MWEB Security Incident Postmortem (external site)
- MWEB Has Officially Activated (external site)
- Taproot is Now Available on Litecoin via v0.21.1rc1 Release Candidate (external site)
- Litecoin Learning Center (external site)
- Nexus Wallet for Litecoin released on Android and iOS (external site)
- Dogecoin Core 1.8 release notes (AuxPoW) (external site)
- lnd 0.18.0 release notes (external site)
- lndltc: Lightning Network Daemon for Litecoin (external site)
- Electrum-LTC network constants (Lightning settings) (external site)
- LitVM Architecture (external site)
- LitVM FAQ (external site)
- Blockchair Litecoin stats API (external site)
- Litecoin Space explorer (external site)
- Litecoin Space source repository (external site)
- cbLTC Proof of Reserves (external site)
- Network security and governance (external site)
- Shortened asset names (external site)
- Supported protocols (external site)
- USDC contract addresses (external site)
- Litecoin wallet (external site)
- Litecoin (LTC) wallet (external site)
Report an error
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Funding disclosure
Funding disclosures appear here when an upkeep arrangement exists, in the form “Upkeep funded by [name]; verdicts unaffected.” The funder ledger has not been published yet. Neutrality & funding