Mm.
Litecoin is a digital currency created to be a faster and cheaper alternative to Bitcoin.
The coin also includes optional privacy features and has been around for over a decade.
Now.
Critics argue that faster speeds can mean lower security and that newer crypto has surpassed Litecoin in both efficiency as well as real world useability.
So other questions whether proof of work coins are practical for everyday use.
Pointing to slow processing times and transaction costs that may be too high for simple purchases.
So what role does it actually play in today's market?
Well, joining me to weigh in is Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin.
So good morning, Charlie.
Thank you so much for joining me.
First and foremost, tell me about the first principles of Litecoin, and I know that you likened money to a battery.
So give us a little bit of insight here.
Hey Remy, thanks for having me.
So Litecoin was created as a complimentary Bitcoin.
Um, the, the purpose of it is for, for payments mainly for something that is faster and cheaper to transact.
So like one, sending transactions on Lin network costs less than a penny per transaction.
And it's the goal is to actually be good sound money, hard money for the people.
So something that is akin to gold and silver.
Yeah, and Charlie Litecoin is about to mark its 14th anniversary, so so much has changed in those 14 years, and crypto has evolved.
Spot crypto products have been issued through exchanges, including here at the New York Stock Exchange.
So tell us about plans for Litecoin funds.
Yeah, so we, we launched, uh, what used to be called MEI Pharma as a light coin treasury play.
Right now it's been rebranded to Light Strategy with ticker symbol LITs.
Um, the idea is that the company would hold over $100 million worth of Litecoin and have strategy to accumulate more litecoin and have a play on accumulation of Litecoin and, uh, potentially doing mining and other ways to earn money.
And Charlie, if Litecoin is digital silver and legacy crypto, what do you say to the naysayers out there regarding innovation as well as competition?
Um, so Litecoin, the, the, the point of Litecoin is to be, um, kind of good money.
So one thing we've recently added, uh, to the network is a privacy layer called MWeb, which makes it possible for people to send money that is more fungible and more private.
Um, the idea is that if people should have control of their own money and when you send, uh, Litecoin over the network, you shouldn't expose, um, your wealth, for example, um, because Bitcoin and Litecoin are Have a public blockchain.
It's easy for people to see where your money is coming from, how much you're making.
For example, if you, if you get paid on the Bitcoin network, uh, from your first salary, people can see how much you make and also potentially figure out how much money you have in your account.
So that is not very good for, for money.
So that's why we've added and web to Litecoin to add more privacy and fungibility.
And finally, Charlie, I do want to ask you about Litecoin strategy.
So you talk about Litecoin being the people's currency.
Litecoin strategy does join a growing number of public companies that are adopting crypto treasury strategies.
So why Litecoin?
Well, Litecoin, has a, has a track record of being very fair, uh, launched very fairly.
It's being used as money.
There's a battle tested, really demonstrated use case of payments.
Uh, for example, on BitPay, one of the largest crypto payment processors, Litecoin has consistently been the number one used crypto.
Uh, currency over even over Bitcoin and Ethereum for for payments because of the cheap transaction and fast payments, it's really useful as as money, and that's kind of the whole purpose of, of Litecoin.
And finally, we have less than 60 seconds here, so what do you make of the regulatory landscape in the US right now, and what do you expect to see in the near future?
Well, recently, SEC has approved generic listing for, uh, for crypto ETFs.
So Litecoin is one of the, I think about 10 assets that meet the expedited criteria of being a commodity and also with an established futures market.
So I expect to see Litecoin ETFs, um, launching very soon actually, and which will give people, uh, a good, a good way to have passive exposure of Litecoin.
So in, in addition with the ETF and also Uh, life strategy, it's very good, um, for people to have exposure, uh, easily have exposure without having to, um, store cryptos themselves.
OK, Charlie, we will have to leave it there but thank you so much for joining us on this Tuesday morning and thank you so much for sharing your insights as well as perspective on Litecoin.
Thank you, Remy.
