If you’re looking to dabble in cryptocurrency trading and aren’t to sure if the larger, more costly and more volatile coins are for you, then Litecoin or a few other altcoins might be a good choice.
These coins are generally a little slower moving, a lot more affordable when paired with AUD and USD and good for beginners looking to beef up their crypto asset portfolios.
However, if you’re new to cryptocurrency investment, the whole process can be a little confusing if you’ve not done your research. Unlike the stock market and forex, crypto is a little more secure anonymous and sometimes even allows you to invest in real, physical ‘coins.’
To start, we’ll take a look at choosing a crypto exchange to use to buy Litecoin in Australia, and then a little about what Litecoin (LTC) is and why you should invest.
Cryptocurrency Crash Course
Before we get into the thick of the article, to buy LTC in Australia you’ll need to follow a similar process as you would with buying any other digital asset.
That said, your first step will be to find a cryptocurrency exchange that suits your trading style, is secure and ideally has some low fees — we have a suggestion for you below.
When you find an exchange, sign up and provide your identification details and verify your account. Once this is done, you can fund your account with AUD, USD, NZD or even Euros and start trading these fiat currencies for cryptocurrency.
Below we’ll take a look at our favourite crypto exchange, how to sign up and how to get started investing in Litecoin in Australia.
All that in mind, continue reading to learn how to buy Litecoin (LTC) in Australia.
Getting Started with Swyftx
This will be a somewhat obvious choice if you’ve taken a look online for an Australian cryptocurrency exchange because Swyftx is fast becoming a global standout for crypto.
All beginners and advanced traders will feel right at home on Swyftx thanks to the platform’s focus on simplicity and ease of use. There’s little that comes close to the buy/sell experience here, and if you’re looking for real-time pricing, trading tools and plenty of technicals, the you’re in the right place.
There are all major payment providers here, and an easy verification and setup process for them too, so buying Litecoin in Australia is as easy as ever.
Let’s take a look below at getting started with Swyftx.
Setting up an Account
As you’d expect, the Swyftx account set up experience is seamless. Signup takes only a few minutes, as does verification and there’s also two-factor authentication here as well, making sure you’re not at risk of any sort of cyber attack as a result of weak passwords or login issues.
All you’ll need to do to invest in Litecoin is make an account, verify it and deposit funds and you’re good to go. Keep in mind that when it comes to funds though, this will depend on your bank’s transfer speeds – more on this below.
Head over to https://swyftx.com.au to create your account by hitting SignUp
Once you’ve set up an account on Swyftx, you’ll then need to find your way to the SETUP MFA section where we suggest that you enable two-factor authentication. This will make sure you’re kept secure and no one is able to sneak into your Litecoin wallet on the Swyftx service – at least not with too much ease.
You’ll find the setup process under the “Security” tab in your Profile Page.
Going Through Verification
We highly suggest that you run through the 2FA or two-factor authentication steps to make sure your account is as secure as possible.
When this is done, you’ll be able to verify your account with Swyftx. Much like generic investment or exchange platforms, this step is required to make sure that your account is owned by you, and that there are no regulatory issues when it comes to taxation, etc.
All this process needs is a few documents and pieces of identification, and unlike a lot of other Litecoin exchanges, it’s ultra-fast to verify.
Head over to the navigation pane, choose the Profile tab and you’ll see a Verification button.
Be sure to have your email, identification documents and a mobile number handy to verify your account.
Then your final step, following that, is filling in your documents on the website itself.
It’s good to note that you will need to have some rather sensitive documents handy here, the same ones you may have used to set up a stock trading account with ANZ or Westpac for example. Again, don’t be too worried about security here as regulation requires all exchanges to keep these documents safe.
Add Your AUD Funds
Once you’ve been given the green light for your Swyftx’s account verification, you can then move on to deposit AUD into your account.
Thankfully being an Aussie-based exchange takes local currency and makes sure things run smoothly, so you’re not going to be stuck with conversion or cross-border payment issues or even USD while you trade Litecoin.
There is also the option of PayID, BPAY and other payment methods like OSKO too, however, there isn’t yet credit card or debit card support. This is good news for those who don’t want too much downtime when transfers are being made; you might miss out on an ideal price point for your coins if your bank’s transfer process takes too long.
Work on moving some AUD funds from your bank account to Swyftx and you’ll have your account ready to trade in no time.
Start To Trade Litecoin (LTC)
Now that your Swyftx account is set up and has funds available, you can start buying, swapping and selling Litecoin. As the Swyftx platform’s focus on simplicity is pretty major, there’s a tonne of glanceable information right off the bat and the LTC price will be right within view.
Head to the Trade Page
On this page, you’ll find a long list of all the cryptocurrency you’re able to invest in such as BTC, XMR and ETH, and of course, Litecoin is included here too.
To buy LTC, all you’ll need to do is click on that specific cryptocurrency in the drop down list, and if it isn’t there make a quick search for it in the search bar. Once you see Litecoin or the LTC ticker symbol click this option and make a selection of how much of your deposited AUD balance you’d like to invest in LTC.
And that’s all.
You’re set up and have already started investing in Litecoin through the Swyftx platform. For beginner investors in crypto, we’re happy to say it really is as simple as that.
Once you do start buying Litecoin, we recommend that you open a hardware wallet on your device if you’re looking to invest and hold your Litecoin balance for a long while. This will help you reduce the chance of losing these coins should there be an issue on the Swyftx end or in another wallet type.
For our day trader readers, we would stand but leaving your coins in the Swyftx wallet on the platform itself for easy access. Security is top notch and there isn’t too much to worry about when it comes to liquidity and other issues.
What is Litecoin
Unlike a number of crypto coins that have redeveloped their entire underlying code to create a new technology, Litecoin took another route by modelling after the Bitcoin technology.
Although this could be a red flag if done incorrectly, LTC have done a fantastic job at refining and improving the Bitcoin code.
The coin works on a P2P or peer to peer system, which means the Litecoin experience is essentially instant when it comes to transfer and transactions — and these transfers are basically free too. To add, being a globally focused currency, this coin is a winner for anyone who’s looking to send large sums of money across the world as fast as possible and with as few fees as possible.
Coming in at number 5 on the cryptocurrency popular ladder, Litecoin is certainly a fan favourite and a safe bet for investors.
When it comes to the benefits of investing and using Litecoin itself, it has to be the transfer speeds and storage capability. Not too many coins come close to the speed of transfers offered by Litecoin, and as a result, the coin has good growth opportunities for businesses and even banks looking to transfer funds on the service.
Keep in mind that although the coin is arguably better than Bitcoin in some aspects, it isn’t looking to take over or replace the coin. However, it is looking at being an essential ‘right hand man’ so to speak in that it’s a coin that is going to make cryptocurrency trading a lot faster. Investors can withdraw their earnings to LTC and make movements across the globe almost instantly.
The Plan for Litecoin
For investors looking to hold long term, read below.
Litecoin is looking to be the gold standard for atomic swaps, meaning that the service is wanting to become the backbone of the world’s currency swaps, transactions, trades and movements.
The service’s developers are also in the process of developing a MAST technology which is designed with the sole purpose of enabling ‘lump transfers’ using the technology.
To end, the Litecoin team are also working to combat one of the downsides to all cryptocurrencies in that they’re developing coin ‘covenants’ which are essentially clusters of all your own personal coins. Keeping these coins together has a lot of benefits that extend beyond safety — and Litecoin are looking to make this their selling point.
The Ideal Litecoin User or Investor
To keep things refreshingly simple, Litecoin’s creator, Charlie Lee, had outlined that the ideal user for Litecoin is anyone who makes an everyday payment or purchase — essentially all of us.
Unlike the bigger coins like Bitcoin, which is used similarly to gold bars to hold and store wealth, Litecoin is coming for the fiat currencies. This coin is woking toward allowing high-speed transactions, affordable transfers and a lot more secure security.
In all, the service is looking at becoming the fundamental currency for the general populace over the coming years, and with mobile payments and all-digital finance on the rise, there is absolutely an avenue for Litecoin to become more mainstream.
For us, we would say that Litecoin is the ideal currency for investors and users looking for an open source payment system that works across the globe. It’s fast, secure and affordable and because of this it enables rapid transactions of all sizes. Because of this, Litecoin or LTC is already the fourth most popular cryptocurrency in the world when market cap is concerned.
To end, LTC can be purchased basically everywhere around the world and can also be used to purchase goods and services from across the globe.
Litecoin compared to Bitcoin
As we mentioned above, Litecoin is wildly efficient in that it can handle a tonne of transactions without any signs of a slowdown. Bitcoin is a little slower and can’t compete with LTC in that there are far fewer ‘block’ generations in the code, so Bitcoin is inherently slower than Litecoin.
For companies or businesses, Litecoin is the answer to ultra-fast payment confirmations and fast transfers into accounts that costs a whole lot less than fiat currency. There’s a reduced chance of ‘pending’ payments for example, and even with large transactions there’s a much faster transfer speed.
As for the generation of the Litecoins, miners are currently provided 50 LTC per block, which is due to be halved in four years. Litecoin is projected to add another 84 million coins over the next few years, however, to compare, Bitcoin has only 21 million in circulation as of writing.
Back to the differences we talked about above, the LTC platform uses a proprietary security system to secure the coins and the platform. Bitcoin relies on the tried and true SHA-256 protocol.
On Bitcoin, as a result of this security, there’s a 10 minute wait whereas there’s only a 2.5 minute wait on Litecoin, which is a rather profound reduction in time per block.
The Summary
To simplify all the differences between the two, Litecoin runs on a proprietary security protocol which allows it to handle a tonne of volume and a lot of transactions in a short period of time, whereas Bitcoin is a whole lot slower. In fact, Bitcoin would need to rework almost all of the code to come close to the speeds offered by Litecoin.
Bitcoin is also a slower coin, and is rarer and harder to mine which also means it’s seen as the ‘gold’ of the cryptocurrency world and LTC being the silver which is a good transactional medium.
When it comes to room for growth for investors, both coins are ideal, though Bitcoin could become a slower mover and more of a value-holder, whereas Litecoin is the day-to-day winner for us.
Payment Methods for Litecoin
Back to buying Litecoin in Australia, there are a few common and simple ways to invest in the coin that are offered by Swyftx and these are outlined below.
Keep in mind that if you’re going out on your own to choose an exchange, you’ll need to make sure you select a platform that accepts the payment methods you like the most.
Bank Transfers
The most popular means of buying LTC in Australia, or any other coin for that matter is the bank transfer. All the Aussie platforms like Swyftx, CoinSpot and Independent Reserve accept bank transfers and do so quite quickly.
It’s good to note that these transfers can take from anywhere between 3 hours and 3 days so be sure to check with your bank if fast transfers are important to you when trading LTC.
The Popular Osko, BPAY, POLi, and PayID
A little faster and more secure than bank transfers, the payment services like PayID and POLi are here for when you need those funds, and fast.
Almost all of these platforms offer instant transfers so you’re not left waiting when it comes to investing. This is perfect for those times when you have to catch a coin price at the last second and don’t want to miss a prime investment value.
It’s good to keep in mind that banks will dictate the speeds of these transfers and you’re also going to be charged a little more per transaction. CoinSpot, for example, charges 0.9 per cent for BPAY transactions.
For large volume investors on Swyftx, there is a 0 per cent fee for deposits over $100,000 so you’re not going to be slugged thousands when you transfer.
Paying With Credit Card and Debit Card
Unfortunately there are still no Australian-based ways to buy crypto with a credit card or debit card — but you can make use of the global platforms.
This isn’t too much of an issue, however there are limits on trades up to $7,500 on some platforms and you’re going to see fees hit 5 per cent or more in some cases. Keeping that in mind, losing 5 per cent from your deposits may cancel out any earnings you’ve made with an LTC.
Take a look at Coinbase or Coinmama for credit card and debit card investment in cryptocurrency.
OTC
When it comes to larger investors who want to invest in coins without majorly disrupting the market, there are the OTC options that come with Binance and Kraken.
It’s highly advised that if you’re a corporate business’s investment manager or someone with a lot to move into a crypto asset that you head to an over the counter desk with good liquidity and the ability to make these investments without majorly altering the coin’s value and causing a sell off.
For Aussies, the local exchange with an OTC desk is Independent Reserve.
Investing and Storing Litecoin
With all of the above said, it’s easy to see that investing in LTC in Australia is relatively straightforward, so long as you have a great exchange to work with.
Use your trading tools available on the platforms to get some great insights and once you’ve made an AUD to LTC investment, move those coins to an online or offline wallet that suits your needs most ideally.
Again, our long-term investors should consider a hardware offline wallet to store LTC tokens in a way that won’t leave you open to a hack.
For the day traders, or anyone who trades somewhat frequently, storing your coins in the Swyftx wallet, or CoinSpot wallet for example, should do you just fine — just be sure you’ve secured and verified your account to prevent hacks.