The Litecoin Fork (Litecoin Cash) Explained

Everything You Need to Know About the Litecoin Cash Fork

Litecoin is being forked, and Litecoin Cash (LCC) is being created. The Litecoin Cash fork will occur at block 1371111 on Sunday, Feb. 2018.^[1][2]

More specifically, based on what I know about forks and what I can glean from the Litecoin Cash project:

• The snapshot block will occur at block 1371111 on Sunday 18, 2018.
• The network will go live shortly after the snapshot. After the network is live, you can claim your Litecoin Cash using the Litecoin Cash wallet provided on the official Litecoin Cash site (see details on how to claim Litecoin Cash below; be very careful about claiming the coins, there are still a lot of unknowns here… see the advice below).
• Those in before the block will get 10 Litecoin Cash (LCC) for every Litecoin (LTC) they hold on a platform that supports the fork or in a wallet where they control their private keys (like the full Litecoin Core wallet).

Anyone holding Litecoin at block 1371111 will have 10X as much Litecoin Cash. If your LTC is stored by a third party such as an exchange, then you must inquire with them about claiming your Litecoin Cash.

– Litecoinca.sh (the official site of Litecoin Cash)

TIP: For updates see Litecoin Cash’s official Twitter.

NOTE: The Litecoin Cash snapshot has been taken, the wallet will be live and functioning within 24 hours of the snapshot. Meanwhile, Litecoin Cash is currently trading on YoBit (at about $2.40 as of Feb 18th). From what I can tell, those who had Litecoin on YoBit immediately got LCC (I assume in the form of LCC futures) and thus saw about $24 of value in LCC for every Litecoin they had (because you get 10 LCC for every 1 LTC). Getting $24 worth of LCC for every $210 LTC you have for doing next to nothing is not something to scoff at. Things are always uncertain with forks, but this so-far-so-good launch is yet more proof that being dismissive of forks is not the best strategy. As exciting is that all is, we strongly suggest waiting to claim you LCC until it is clear that the wallet is functioning properly. If you can’t wait, at least wait for the official wallet to be released. $24 is great but it’s not worth losing your Litecoin are downloading malware over! Follow LCC Twitter and check the official site for the wallet (see links above). We will keep you updated as to what happens with the Litecoin Cash fork.

TIP: To be clear, you can’t claim your Litecoin Cash until after the snapshot block has occurred and the main network is live; further, one shouldn’t claim the forked coin until the coin and wallet are confirmed to be real and stable. Watch out for fake instructions and malware. Rushing to claim forked coins early is never a good idea.

FACT: The developers estimated the snapshot block for the fork would occur around 2:00 UTC on Monday 19th February 2018. However, it looks like the block will occur mid-day Sunday as the blocks are occurring faster than the LCC devs estimated. See the current Litecoin block at blockcypher.com.

Doubts and Proofs; Charlie Lee Calls Litecoin Cash a “Scam” (and that Should be Noted)

With the basics covered, it is important to note that there is some doubt about the legitimacy of the fork.

Some doubt that the fork is real, others (like Litecoin’s creator Charlie Lee) are just generally skeptical of the project. IN fact, he even implied the project was a scam (he didn’t say “fake” he said “scam”).

Since on the topic of scams, any fork of Litecoin, calling itself Litecoin something or other, is a scam IMO. Litecoin Cash, Litecoin Plus, Litecoin etc. are all scams trying to confuse users into thinking they are Litecoin.

This also applies to all Bitcoin forks trying to confuse.

— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) January 30, 2018

Doubts aside, the developers of Litecoin Cash have stood behind their choices and currently have a working GitHub (a rather barren, but existing GitHub to be fair) and official site (the site is more impressive than the GitHub).

So, let’s consider the controversy noted, except that the Litecoin Cash fork may or may not be fake, and focus on what we need to know about the Litecoin Cash fork if it is real.

TIP: Every fork of every coin has its critics. People thought Bitcoin Cash was a scam; they thought Bitcoin Gold was a scam, etc. They were wrong. It is generally better to assume a fork is real, and thus to be in for the fork if you want the forked coin than it is to assume the fork is a scam. However, one should note that coins often see their prices increase in anticipation of the fork (buy the rumor) and decrease after the fork (sell the news). If your goal is to get forked coins, you should try to be in for the snapshot. If your goal is to get more dollars or Bitcoin, then be cautious of staying in after the fork. If you don’t care and are just long in Litecoin, you may as well assume the fork is real and be in a wallet for the snapshot.

What is Litecoin Cash Fork, How to Qualify For the Litecoin Cash Fork, and How to Claim Litecoin Cash Coins

Below are the key details you need to know about Litecoin Cash, including how to get it.

The purpose: To make a faster Litecoin that can be mined with legacy Bitcoin mining hardware.

Why call it Litecoin Cash?: Modern convention is to use the brand name and stick a qualifier on it like “Cash” or “Gold” (almost every Bitcoin fork does this, so the developers did this with Litecoin Cash; simple logic).

The ratio: The ratio is 1:10. You get 10 Litecoin Cash for every Litecoin you hold in a qualifying wallet.

How to ensure you get the forked coins: You must be in a Litecoin wallet where you control your private keys to ensure you can claim Litecoin Cash. Try the official Litecoin site’s wallet, Litecoin Core. You can also be in Litecoin on a platform that supports the fork to qualify for the fork, but options are limited and this requires the platform to issue directions or credit you with the forked coin. In practice, choices seemed to be limited to options like Litecoin Core, Jaxx, and YoBit. Coinomi is generally good about forks. Sometimes other exchanges and wallets are good about announcing their intentions. However, being in control of your private keys is the best move due to the historic lack of communication from most third party platforms on forks.

How to claim your forked coins: To claim Litecoin Cash you have first to wait until the Main Network and wallet go live after the snapshot. Once that happens you can configure the new Litecoin Cash wallet using the public address and private key of the wallet you had Litecoin in before the snapshot. Since this is the case, you’ll want to move your Litecoin balance to another address before you claim Litecoin Cash. Also, since anything you download from the internet can be malware, you’ll almost certainly want to wait for others to do a full review of the code before you begin downloading, opening file, or sticking your keys in them. That is not only general common sense but best practices for any fork.

Firstly, NEVER paste private keys that hold any currency into ANY website or wallet to claim forked coins (including ours). Practice responsible forking:

1. Wait for the fork.
2. Move your Litecoin to a new address.
3. Use the private key for the “old” address to claim your Litecoin Cash.

We’ve made it super easy to claim. No need to mess around in the debug console! Download a wallet for your platform, and you’ll find a menu item to help you import your Litecoin private keys and claim your Litecoin Cash.

– Litecoin Cash

TIP: Since you need to import your private key into a Litecoin Cash wallet, you want to follow best practices and move all your funds off of the address associated with that private key first. Don’t be in a rush to claim your coins, wait until some trusted sources have confirmed that everything is up and running. Not much you can do with your Litecoin Cash until it starts trading on some exchanges anyways.

1. Litecoinca.sh. The official site of Litecoin Cash.
2. Litecoin Cash – the First Litecoin Fork. Press Release.