Litecoin API

Litecoin was created in 2011 with the intention of being the next best cryptocurrency and blockchain after Bitcoin. Its aim was to improve Bitcoin’s model and neutralize its defects.

Networks Mainnet, Testnet
Released 2011
Consensus Proof of Work (PoW)
Smart contracts No
Block time 2.5 minutes
Smart contract language(s) supported No
Try Litecoin APIs for free

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The Litecoin API — build without running a node

Access Litecoin blockchain data through one unified REST API: transaction and address data, balances, block data, and real-time webhooks for on-chain events — with no Litecoin node to run and maintain. Start free and scale as you grow.

Blockchain data

Read Litecoin transactions, addresses, balances, UTXOs, and block data through one REST API.

Real-time webhooks

Subscribe to on-chain events — incoming and outgoing transactions, confirmations, and mined blocks.

No node to run

Skip the infrastructure — managed, always-synced access with no node to operate or maintain.

View the API docs Start building free

Building a full wallet? Explore HD Wallets.

Need prices too? See the crypto price API, or run your own Litecoin RPC nodes.

Litecoin vs. Bitcoin

Litecoin includes considerable improvements over Bitcoin’s model. It produces significantly more coins, has faster transaction and processing speed, and uses a newer and better cryptographic algorithm - Scrypt. Litecoin also generates a new block 4 times faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which blockchain does Litecoin run on?

Litecoin settles on Litecoin. Because there is no account balance to read, spending means selecting unspent outputs and handling change. Crypto APIs does that selection for you in prepare-transactions, so you sign one prepared transaction rather than assembling inputs yourself.

What kind of chain is Litecoin?

It is a UTXO chain — balances are the sum of unspent outputs, not a single account figure.

Can I test Litecoin without spending real funds?

Yes — the same endpoints serve Litecoin's testnet testnet, so you can build and verify an integration end to end before you touch mainnet.

How do I read Litecoin balances and transfers?

Use Address Latest for current state and recent activity — it needs no setup and answers for roughly the last 14 days. For a full history, Address History requires the address to be synced first, which then bills per address per day for as long as it stays synced.

What does reading Litecoin data cost?

It depends on the endpoint family rather than on Litecoin itself: single-record calls are charged per request, while list endpoints are charged per page returned, and a synced address adds a daily monitoring charge. The pricing calculator has the current per-chain figures.