How to Buy Litecoin (LTC) in Canada

Video Tutorial: How to Buy Litecoin (LTC) with Netcoins

Things to Consider Before Investing in LTC

Launched in 2011, Litecoin was one of the first alternative currencies (altcoins) created. Litecoin basically took the infrastructure Bitcoin built and improved it by creating lightning fast transactions while simultaneously reducing transaction fees. As a result, this caught the attention of many investors worldwide.

Like Bitcoin, Litecoin is decentralized – meaning it is not issued or managed by centralized authorities such as governments or banks. It is also limited in supply to 84 million Litecoins (vs. 21 million bitcoin). Scarcity plays a key role in protecting Litecoin’s value. 

With all that said, Litecoin is still considered a risky investment. Although Litecoin has helped make overnight millionaires, it has also made people lose all their savings. After all, volatility works in both directions. High volatility assets can work in your favour and yield great potential for return, but they can also work against you by causing you to take on big losses. This is why it’s wise to never invest more than you’re ready or willing to lose.

Related article:  Three Ways to Make Your Crypto Assets Work for You

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how much you wish to invest in Litecoin. Anyone, anywhere around the world can buy fractions of a Litecoin. If you decide to buy Litecoin, but are not sure how much to buy, you can start by practicing any one of these strategies:

• Investing a percentage of your wealth into Litecoin (like 1% or 10%)
• Dollar-cost-averaging (buying a set amount of Litecoin every day, week or month)
• Buying the dip (buying when Litecoin prices decrease)
• Starting as small as $10 to test it out yourself.

Finally, it’s important to zoom out. When zooming out, you may notice Litecoin steadily increasing despite taking small dips along the way. It can be wise to build an investment portfolio that has a mix of traditional assets (like real estate, gold, stocks) and non-traditional assets (like Litecoin) in order to protect your wealth.

How Much Litecoin Can I Buy? 

You don’t need to buy 1 entire Litecoin to get started! You can buy fractions of a Litecoin. In fact, the smallest possible unit of Litecoin is called a litoshi and is equivalent to 0.00000001 LTC (8 decimal places). Many beginners start their Litecoin journey by accumulating small amounts of litoshis. You can start as small as $10, or invest up to $10 million with Netcoins.

Why Should I Buy Litecoin? 

Litecoin stands as one of the earliest iterations of an alternative coin (altcoin) with a coding structure very similar to that of Bitcoin. Its creator, Charlie Lee, is the reason the project exists. The goal of Litecoin was to ultimately make transactions cheaper and faster than bitcoin. At the time it was invented, Litecoin transactions could be confirmed up to four times faster than bitcoin transactions.

Crypto purists still invest in Litecoin because of its brand name and its relatively early roots in the evolution of the altcoin market. In addition, here are four more reasons why people invest in Litecoin: 

Litecoin has a similar coding structure to Bitcoin. Litecoin’s blockchain still processes transactions considerably faster than most other projects. It’s also easier and less expensive to mine compared to bitcoin.

It has high liquidity. Litecoin’s market value ranges in the billions of dollars. At any given time, millions of dollars in trading volume flows throughout the Litecoin blockchain, way more than other altcoins.

It has reputable branding. The Litecoin Foundation currently has marketing deals in place with big brands like the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins and the Ultimate Fighting Championship company.

Its price is affordable. Many crypto enthusiasts new to altcoins prefer to own many coins at a lower price over owning a single bitcoin worth five figures. So Litecoin is a great way for them to own more crypto.

How Do I Store My Litecoin? 

You can buy Litecoin from crypto trading platforms, like Netcoins, and leave your Litecoin inside the platform. However, there are much safer options to storing your Litecoin. The reason being that leaving them in exchanges can expose them to certain risks like hacking and theft. 

The safest option to keeping your Litecoin secure is to transfer them into a crypto wallet. A crypto wallet is a type of digital wallet that is used to send and receive Litecoin, similar to a Google wallet or a physical wallet.

There are four different types of wallets: hardware wallets, desktop wallets, mobile wallets and web wallets.

Hardware wallets look like a USB device. They are considered to be offline wallets because they’re not connected to the internet. The fact they’re offline makes them more difficult to find and to hack. As such, they’re typically considered the safest option to store your Litecoin.

Desktop wallets on the other hand are programs that store your Litecoin on your computer’s hard drive. Mobile wallets perform the same function as a desktop wallet but on a mobile device instead. Finally, a web wallet is an online service that sends and stores your Litecoin on your behalf anywhere, anytime.  

Desktop, mobile and web wallets are all connected to the internet (and referred to as “hot wallets’’). Like mentioned earlier, they are more susceptible to potential risks like hacks. On the other hand, hardware wallets (or “cold wallets”) are considered safer options as they are not connected to the internet.

This is why it’s often advised that Canadians pull out their Litecoin from crypto trading platforms and send them directly to a hardware wallet. Only in this way, are they in full possession of their Litecoin and can keep them secure. It never hurts to be extra cautious. 

Litecoin & The Future

There is always innovation taking place within the different cryptocurrencies and Litecoin is no different. Litecoin announced they’re looking to add privacy-enhancing features to the network. This would allow them to solve the issues that have been plaguing Bitcoin (mainly around a lack of privacy). Privacy-issues is partly the reason why privacy-focused coins, like Monero, have seen much success in the last few years.

Overall, Litecoin continues to compete in the crypto world and transform itself into a more valuable cryptocurrency. This has encouraged investors to put their money into Litecoin. If you’re thinking about investing in Litecoin, make sure you know the many advantages and disadvantages of short and long-term investing.

Related article: The Pros and Cons of Day-Trading and Long-Term Investing.

In addition to that, our economic uncertainty is leading many investors to make asymmetric investments (in other words investments that aren’t correlated to the traditional markets). That’s why they’re investing in assets like Litecoin. Despite what most people believe, there can still be upside and rewards for Litecoin as they continue to innovate.

Looking to buy and sell LTC? Netcoins is Canada’s first publicly owned crypto trading platform to be fully regulated. Simply create an account with Netcoins, fund it with an e-Transfer (more funding options available) and head to the trade page to buy ETH. Sign up today!

This post is for informational purposes only. For proper financial advice, we recommend you speak to a financial advisor.