LTC-20: Litecoin's token standard
GUIDE
LTC-20: Litecoin's token standard
LTC-20 lets tokens live directly on Litecoin. Think ERC-20, but secured by scrypt proof-of-work and settled with Litecoin's sub-cent fees.
LTC-20 is a fungible token standard on the Litecoin blockchain. It allows anyone to create and trade tokens that are not LTC itself but that live on Litecoin — similar in concept to ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum or BRC-20 tokens on Bitcoin. LTC-20 uses Litecoin's transaction structure to inscribe token operations (deploy, mint, transfer) onto the chain, making Litecoin itself the settlement layer. Lite Wallet displays LTC-20 balances alongside LTC and supports sending and receiving LTC-20 tokens.
How LTC-20 works
An LTC-20 token is defined by three operations inscribed in Litecoin transactions. Deploy: creates the token, defining its ticker, max supply, and mint rules. Mint: creates new token units according to deploy rules (often first-come-first-served up to the max supply). Transfer: sends tokens from one Litecoin address to another by inscribing a transfer operation. Each operation is a standard Litecoin transaction with specific metadata attached. Indexers — third-party services and wallet software — read the chain, parse these operations, and maintain the LTC-20 token state as a derived view of Litecoin's raw ledger. There is no 'LTC-20 smart contract' in the Ethereum sense; the standard is protocol-level convention over raw Litecoin transactions.
LTC-20 vs ERC-20 vs BRC-20
| Feature | Property | LTC-20 | ERC-20 | BRC-20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base chain | Litecoin | Ethereum | Bitcoin | |
| Standard type | Inscription-based | Smart contract | Inscription-based | |
| Typical mint/transfer cost | Sub-cent to cents | Often $1-$30 (gas) | Often $5-$50 (gas) | |
| Block time | 2.5 min | ~12 sec | 10 min | |
| Programmability | Limited (inscription protocol) | Full smart contracts | Limited (inscription protocol) | |
| Ecosystem maturity | Emerging (2024+) | Highly mature | Emerging (2023+) | |
| Privacy option | Base chain is public; no per-token privacy | Limited | Base chain is public; no per-token privacy |
Base chain
Standard type
Typical mint/transfer cost
Block time
Programmability
Ecosystem maturity
Privacy option
Sending and receiving LTC-20 in Lite Wallet
Receiving LTC-20
Your Litecoin addresses receive LTC-20 tokens automatically. If someone sends you a token that Lite Wallet's indexer knows, it appears in your token list. No separate address needed — the same Litecoin address that receives LTC also receives LTC-20.
Sending LTC-20
Tap the token in your balance list, tap Send, enter the recipient's Litecoin address and amount, confirm. Lite Wallet constructs the LTC-20 transfer transaction, which is a standard Litecoin transaction with transfer metadata — the recipient's wallet (or any LTC-20-aware indexer) will recognize the transfer and update balances.
Fees
You pay a normal Litecoin network fee — a few cents — plus a small inscription premium depending on metadata size. Vastly cheaper than ERC-20 or BRC-20 transfers in most market conditions.
Risks and considerations
Inscription-based tokens have a different risk profile than smart-contract tokens. No code to audit for bugs (good) but no contract-enforced rules either (risky). Deploy rules are honored by convention — well-behaved indexers reject invalid mints — but a malicious indexer could misreport. Always use reputable indexers or a wallet with a trusted indexer (Lite Wallet's indexer follows standard specs). The token market itself carries risk: most LTC-20 tokens are speculative or meme tokens with no inherent utility; do your own research and don't invest money you can't afford to lose. This is general guidance for any token category, not LTC-20-specific.