After the boom of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, a lot of people have started to look for investment opportunities outside them.
Litecoin looks like a popular choice considering the fact that the price has increased by 7291% since 2017 as compared to bitcoin which only increased by 1731%. Litecoin has a bright future ahead and many people are investing in it.
If you too are looking to buy Litecoin and invest on it but don’t know where to start, don’t worry, I will help you out in your quest.
I have researched a few ways of purchasing Litecoin which I will share with you, however before that let’s have a brief look at what is Litecoin and how it works to have a better understanding.
What is Litecoin?
Litecoin often referred to as little brother of bitcoin, is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that enables instant, less cost payments to anyone in the world. It is an open source, a global payment network that is fully decentralised meaning not managed by any central authority.
Litecoin also has improved storage efficiency and facilitates faster transaction confirmation times. The blockchain technology behind Litecoin is competent enough to handle a higher volume of transaction due to frequent blockchain generation property. Created by Charlie Lee an ex-Google employee in 2011, Litecoin is a lighter version of bitcoin.
Bitcoin is seen as gold and a store of value for long-term purposes while its counterpart Litecoin is seen as silver and a means of cheaper and everyday transaction purposes.
Here are the key points which make Litecoin different from Bitcoin
- The block time in 2.5 minutes, while it is 10 minutes for Bitcoin.
- The number of Litecoin sold and bought is 84 million while Bitcoin is only 21 million.
- Other mining hardware can be used unlike only ASIC in Bitcoin.
I hope this gives you a basic understanding of what exactly is Litecoin. Now let’s move to the main part that is how to buy Litecoin.
How to Buy Litecoin
Buying litecoin can either be really easy or difficult, it depends on where you live and how you wish to pay for litecoin.
This is because different countries and states have different rules and some countries do not allow using certain Litecoin exchanges. Worry not, you are in the right place to know how to buy litecoin.
In this guide, I will show you exactly how to buy Litecoin using several payment methods.
If you’d like to own some litecoin without mining, then you can purchase Litecoin with another cryptocurrency like Bitcoin on websites known as exchanges which allow you to purchase Litecoin with actual fiat currency.
However, when investing and trading in cryptocurrency, you should know that cryptocurrency investments are volatile. Also do your thorough research for the exchanges and be sure to watch for red flags such as:
- promised commissions for signing up others,
- promised that upsell membership will alleviate exorbitant fees required to withdraw your own money,
- you can’t use your own machinery to mine cryptocurrency and
Like for Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies, Litecoin is also stored in a digital wallet, so you would need to create one first. There are two kinds of wallets including those that are software based and reside on your computer or mobile devices as well as physical hardware wallets. Blockchain Australia can be of immense help as they have a team of expert and experienced cryptocurrency wallet developers.
Another secure yet outdated and somewhat complex method to store your litecoin is to create a paper wallet. This involves generating and printing out a private key on a computer not connected to the web as one of its steps.
Each wallet requires private keys to receive and send coins to and from your litecoin address and as these keys are stored offline in a hardware wallet, they are inherently more secure than online wallets.
Payment Methods for Litecoin
There are various payment methods available to buy litecoin including through debit card, credit card, bank transfer and PayPal and various others. Here I will explain each method in detail to help you with buying Litecoin.
How to Buy Litecoin with Credit Card
It is possible to buy Litecoin at various different cryptocurrency exchanges, however, only a few of them accept payment through a credit card. To help you, I am going to show you the best options available and guide you through the process of using a credit card to buy litecoin.
Coinbase
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange allowing people to sell and buy four different coins namely Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin.
It allows really simple and user-friendly exchange and you don’t have to have prior knowledge of trading to use this platform.
The biggest advantage you get by trading cryptocurrency through Coinbase is that they allow a range of real-world payment methods.
This means that you can buy litecoin with credit card, debit card and even a bank account.
The fee charged is 3.99% of the total transaction amount which is a bit on the higher side, but is done to protect the platform from credit card chargebacks.
- You need to open an account with Coinbase. Visit their website, enter your personal details and make sure that they are correct as you will need to verify them in the next step.
- Now enter your credit card details and the billing address must match your home address.
- You will also need to provide your Government issued ID, to do this you can hold the ID in front of the webcam or upload it as a PDF.
- Once done the account will be verified instantly and you can start buying or selling.
- Click on buy/sell and scroll down to enter the amount of Litecoin you wish to buy and then click on buy and confirm your credit card number and that’s it you have bought a Litecoin.
Coinmama
This cryptocurrency exchange allows users to buy or sell a total of eight different cryptocurrencies including Litecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, QTUM and Ethereum Classic.
This exchange is quite popular as more than 1,000,000 customers across 188 different nations use it.
Just like Coinbase, Coinmama allows users to buy Litecoin with a credit card but is slightly different to other exchanges. Here as soon as the purchase is completed, the Litecoin is sent directly to your personal wallet.
The transaction fee is quite high at 5.5% when using a credit card to buy Litecoin and a 5.9% trading fee for every purchase you make.
- Visit the website and click on register and then enter your personal details and don’t forget that you need to verify your identity so enter the details correctly.
- Once the email address is confirmed, you will need to upload the verification documents. Upload them in PDF format and also an ID along with a photo.
- The documents will be verified within a few minutes and now you are ready to buy Litecoin with a credit card.
- Select the currency you want to pay with and choose your package and then enter the credit card details along with Litecoin wallet address.
- As soon as the transaction is complete the coins will be sent to your Litecoin wallet.
So, this is how you can buy Litecoin with a credit card, I have just given two examples, there are other exchanges as well which allow payment through credit card. These cryptocurrency exchanges allow users to buy litecoin with debit card as well.
Now let’s move on to the next method which you can us to buy litecoin.
How to Buy Litecoin with PayPal
Although there are various cryptocurrency exchanges that allow users to buy, sell and trade Litecoin, but hardly any of them accept payments through PayPal. So, if you wish to buy litecoin with PayPal, you need to understand that there is no direct way to do so.
You will first need to buy Bitcoin using your PayPal account and then exchange it for Litecoin. Here I will guide you through the process.
Why don’t cryptocurrency exchanges accept PayPal?
Cryptocurrency exchanges don’t accept payment through PayPal due to the risks involved.
PayPal offers its customers buyer protection, which is a comprehensive protection where if the buyers transaction has a problem (such as if an item doesn’t arrive or is significantly not as described) the PayPal Buyer Protection will reimburse the user with full purchase price plus the original shipping charges. All in all, PayPal favours the buyer meaning that the seller has no choice left but to refund the payment.
In buying Litecoin, there is no sure way to prove by the seller that they actually sent the coins meaning that the buyer can pretend they didn’t receive the Litecoin and request a refund from PayPal. Due to this, exchanges often charge higher fees to protect themselves from a chargeback.
Where to buy Litecoin with PayPal?
As said above, to buy Litecoin with PayPal, you will first need to buy Bitcoin and then exchange it for Litecoin.
There are two cryptocurrency exchanges where you can buy bitcoin with your PayPal account. The one is called LocalBitcoins and the other is VirWoX. Sign up on these websites with your details and once your account has been verified you can start purchasing Bitcoin.
Please note that you will need to pay the trading fee which could be really high. Once you have bought the Bitcoin, the next step would be to trade it for Litecoin.
How to exchange Bitcoin for Litecoin.
Once you have Bitcoin in your wallet, the next step is to find a cryptocurrency exchange that converts Bitcoin into Litecoin.
Binance is considered one of the biggest and most trusted trading exchanges because their trading fee is quite low, have the largest trading volume and offer high security. However, there are other exchanges as well such as Changelly or Shapeshift which allow instant conversion of cryptocurrencies.
Once you have chosen the trading platform, create an account providing your personal information or you can omit this step to anonymously trade.
Once you are all set, click on the deposits and select the Bitcoin and then a unique deposit address will be displayed. Copy that and move back to your LocalBitcoins or VirWoX account and click on your wallet and paste the address here and enter the amount of Bitcoin you need to exchange and click on continue to complete the transfer.
Within 10 minutes the coins will show up in your trading account.
When the Bitcoin shows in your trading account, the next step would be to find a trading pair, in this case as you are trading for Litecoin, select Bitcoin (BTC)/ Litecoin (LTC) trading pair.
You will be redirected to the main trading page for LTC/BTC where you need to look for buy LTC and then click on the market which allows you to buy Litecoin at the current market price. Enter the amount you want to buy and click on buy LTC and voila you have just purchased your Litecoin using PayPal.
However, buying Litecoin with PayPal is quite difficult with a lot of intermediaries involved and also the fee is too high.
I would not recommend using this method to buy Litecoin.
The other methods such as buying through credit and debit cards or through direct bank transfer is a better way as the fee involved is less and the process is quite simple.
How to Buy Litecoin with (SEPA) Bank Transfer
Various cryptocurrency exchanges offer to buy Litecoin through bank transfer such as Coinbase, Coinmama, Coingate and BitPanda. The fee involved in buying Litecoin is quite less as compared to other payment methods and the payments are either processed the same day or the next day. However, you need to check if these website offer bank transfer in your area or not as many offer this payment method in the US and EU only.
The above-mentioned are few ways you can buy Litecoin and buying also depends on your location such as if you are based in the USA, UK or Eurozone, you will have access to plenty of different trading platforms and exchanges. You can also buy Litecoin with cash, but it’s not a safe way.
With the above guide, you should know by now how to buy Litecoin and also which is the best method to use. We’ve spend alot of time writing this guide, so if you feel like it worth a share, by all means… share it !
