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If you’ve been dabbling with cryptos even for a little while then it’s likely that the question of DASH vs Litecoin will have piqued your curiosity, especially since speculative trading has taken some of the profit potential out of the Bitcoin and Ethereum pair. Both are considered to be fairly mature now and their popularity is no doubt a reflection of the fact that they are still around even after stiff competition from many newcomers with attractive features.

Litecoin vs DASH is an interesting question because these altcoins have distinguished themselves from the rest of the herd to the extent that leading investors are consistently interested in their potential. So, which one offers the best investment opportunity? We hope to answer that question by taking you on a short introductory journey into this debate, considering the features that these coins have in common and those that are unique to each of them. Hopefully, this comparison helps you make an informed decision about the DASH vs Litecoin question.

The Pros and Cons of Litecoin

Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that’s used to facilitate payments with almost no transaction fees. It’s a digital asset which works on a decentralized open-source network and it was created in 2011 by Charlie Lee, an ex-Google employee. 

After a modest start, Litecoin has found favor with developers, investors, and users. At the time of its creation, its founders likened it to silver and Bitcoin to gold, but in 2013 it took off to such an extent that it briefly became the superior investment. At one point it shot up by a hundred per cent in just 24 hours and later went on to reach the iconic $1 billion market capitalization mark before the end of that year. It’s maintained a solid top-ten place in the rankings ever since.

In 2017 Litecoin passed another milestone. It became the first high-level cryptocurrency to use the SegWit system, which separates transaction signatures to allow a greater block size limit on the blockchain. During that year Litecoin also adopted the Lighting Network, marking the occasion with the transfer of 0.000000001 LTC from Zurich, Switzerland to San Francisco, the USA in under one second.

Litecoin vs DASH: Litecoin Advantages

1. Litecoin is an open-source altcoin

Litecoin is an open-source coin, which means that its original code has been made available by its developers for anyone to redistribute and modify. This gives it the flexibility to receive updates and modifications that enhance it, like adding SegWit and Lightning Network support.

2. Litecoin is fast

Litecoin was built to be faster than the sluggish Bitcoin. Transactions are validated in 2.5 minutes against Bitcoin’s snail-like 10 minutes.

3. Litecoin has lower transaction fees

Litecoin’s costs next to nothing to send.

4. A high upper limit of total coins

Bitcoin may be the most popular crypto but is hampered by its limit of 21 million total coins. Litecoin’s is 84 million coins, leaving a lot more time to mine the remainder.

5. Superior security in Litecoin

Litecoin’s speed means the system is better at repelling hacks, particularly double-spending attacks which are easier to execute with slower systems.

DASH vs Litecoin: Disadvantages of Litecoin (LTC)

1. Its shine has faded

Litecoin was initially celebrated as a successor to Bitcoin that offered improvements over the original design, like increased speed and efficiency, but since Bitcoin eventually adopted SegWit there is less to separate them.

2. Credibility has been rocky

Litecoin’s founder, Charlie Lee, gave the currency a lot of credibility through association with his respected name, but when he sold his interests in LTC (claiming it was due to a conflict-of-interest) it was seen as a vote of no confidence. The abandonment of Litepay only served to further detract from Litecoin.

Litecoin vs DASH: Litecoin’s Outlook in 2020

Specialists think that Litecoin could potentially see a significant rise in value because of these factors:

Bitcoin has room to grow and futures trading will raise its price. It’s been shown previously that this has a knock-on effect to Litecoin, simply because more popularity means extra traffic that slows down the Bitcoin system, raises transaction fees and makes people move to Litecoin as a faster alternative.

Coinbase has been adding 100,000 users a day, and since Litecoin is one of the currencies that it supports, the increase in potential customers is bound to mean more of them adopting Litecoin.

These days, people don’t like to wait for transactions to go through, making Litecoin attractive to new users.

Litecoin has gained publicity for being a bitcoin alternative, and its profile among businesspeople, artists and entrepreneurs is rising.

These considerations put Litecoin in a positive light for investment during 2020 and beyond. Let’s compare it to DASH.

The DASH Story

DASH is an abbreviation of ‘Digital Cash’. It was developed by Evan Duffield who used Bitcoin’s code as the basis for what he originally called XCoin, and then Darkcoin. After further development, he changed the name to DASH in 2015. 

DASH’s rise was meteoric, from $0.60 at the start of 2014 two $964 by January 2018. DASH’s developers wanted it to make up for some of the weaknesses seen in Bitcoin, and they launched the first self-funded, self-governed blockchain protocol on earth. While contributions to Bitcoin are offered voluntarily and there’s no incentive to make them, DASH’s developers get paid when they contribute to security or add extra functionality.

Litecoin vs DASH: advantages of DASH

There are a few good reasons to buy DASH: 

1. Privacy

DASH cryptocurrency users can take advantage of extremely secure payments using the PrivateSend option.

2. Speed

Likewise, with speed, the InstantSend option transmits money in just 4 seconds or less. Its competitors take a lot longer.

3. Safety

The Masternode technology is a trustless protocol that guarantees secure transactions every time.

4. Reach

DASH lets you send money anywhere in the world very cheaply. 

5. Reward system

DASH shares rewards gained from developing blocks amongst miners, Masternodes, and a fund for future development. The reward system encourages Masternodes as well as ensuring that DASH is constantly being improved.

6. Low transaction fees

It’s cheaper to send DASH than it is to use banks or credit cards, and it’s also very cheap to send and receive micro-payments worldwide and to send and receive personal money. The usual cross border services like PayPal, MoneyGram, and Western Union are much more expensive than DASH, which costs pennies each time you send money.

DASH vs Litecoin: Disadvantages of DASH

1. Doubts about decentralization

Since some of the development team mined 2 million out of DASH’s 18 million total coins during the first two days of its existence for their own use, there has been some discontent within the community. With a few individuals controlling so many Masternodes, there is some suspicion about how truly decentralized the network can be.

2. Privacy in doubt

Some developers continue to question how private DASH really is.

DASH vs Litecoin: Which One is Best?

Litecoin had its heyday in December 2017 when it surged 60 per cent in value compared to the first half of the year, but it may only have been popular then because it was only a quarter of the price of Bitcoin. 

In the Litecoin vs DASH contest, DASH gains ground because of its very speedy transaction time. Litecoin still struggles with scaling issues that DASH appears to have left behind.

Researchers are confident that DASH’s InstantSend feature beats Litecoin, as it lets users send and receive crypto coins at the same time.

Some Litecoin users occasionally find that a transaction is shown as pending even though the currency has left their account, so they must wait for the funds to be cleared before they can make the next payment. Some people think that Litecoin transfers are cheaper than DASH but it isn’t clear cut when you factor in these sorts of inconveniences.

In conclusion, we have to declare a tie since DASH vs Litecoin is a tale of two evenly matched competitors and no clear winner. At the end of the day, you’ll need to consider the relative merits of both and select the one with the shortcomings that annoy you the least!