Litecoin has shown resilience and growth, with its network security bolstered by a hashrate that has roughly tripled since early 2024. Starting from around 1.0 to 1.1 petahashes per second at the beginning of that year, the hashrate climbed to peaks of 3.79 petahashes per second in March 2025 before stabilizing near 2.7 petahashes per second as of early September 2025. This expansion, driven by factors such as the 2024 market recovery, merge-mining synergies with Dogecoin, and protocol upgrades, has made the blockchain more resistant to threats, including 51 percent attacks that require overwhelming computational control. This surge also reflects Litecoin's rising appeal, as evidenced by increased miner participation and user adoption metrics. While Bitcoin's hashrate has scaled to over 900 exahashes per second by September 2025, focusing on its role as a store of value with large security barriers, Litecoin's Scrypt-based system offers block times of 2.5 minutes and lower fees, positioning it as a practical option for everyday transactions. Both networks have benefited from halving events and institutional interest, with Litecoin's growth indicating its maturity as an altcoin that balances security enhancements with real-world utility, including merchant acceptance by over 4,000 outlets globally. Litecoin's Hashrate Expansion Litecoin's hashrate, a measure of the computational power securing the network, has seen substantial increases over the past 18 months. In January 2024, the hashrate stood at around 1.0 to 1.1 petahashes per second. By December 2024, it climbed to a new all-time high of 1.8 petahashes per second, and it reached 3.79 petahashes per second in March 2025 before settling at approximately 2.7 petahashes per second. Data from platforms such as CoinWarz and BitInfoCharts show consistent upward trends, with occasional dips linked to market fluctuations and adjustments in mining difficulty. Several elements contributed to this rise. The 2024 cryptocurrency market recovery played a role, with miner earnings per unit of hashrate increasing by 48 percent. Merge-mining with Dogecoin has been significant, as Dogecoin rewards have made up more than 90 percent of the incentives for Litecoin miners in certain periods. Network upgrades, such as the MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB) for privacy features and the LitVM Layer-2 solution for smart contracts, have drawn more mining activity by improving functionality. Key events included the Litecoin halving in August 2023, which cut block rewards and encouraged more efficient mining, as well as cryptocurrency price rallies in early 2025. Overall, the hashrate surged 120 percent during 2024, despite temporary declines in mid-2024 tied to broader market conditions. Enhanced Network Security Through Higher Hashrate The elevated hashrate has directly improved Litecoin's security profile. In proof-of-work systems like Litecoin's, a higher hashrate raises the barrier for potential 51 percent attacks, where an attacker would need to control more than half of the network's power to alter transaction records. At 2.7 petahashes per second, the resources required for such an attack have increased significantly. Litecoin has maintained uninterrupted operation for over a decade, with no recorded downtime, positioning it among the most secure proof-of-work alternative cryptocurrencies. Recent protocol updates have supported this security. In May 2025, a patch addressed a privacy bug in the MimbleWimble Extension Blocks, and the November 2024 core release, version 0.21.4, fixed denial-of-service vulnerabilities. The mining difficulty has reached levels of around 99 to 100 million, ensuring that blocks are produced every 2.5 minutes on average. No security incidents related to hashrate vulnerabilities occurred in 2024 or 2025. Moreover, the network's inflation rate dropped from 1.81 percent in 2024 to 1.76 percent in 2025, enhancing scarcity and reducing incentives for attacks. Over 164,000 Litecoin units, valued at approximately $18 million, are now secured in MimbleWimble Extension Blocks' private transactions, providing quantum-resistant privacy without compromising decentralization. Rising Popularity and Adoption Metrics As the hashrate grew, Litecoin's usage has expanded, indicating greater adoption. Transaction volume increased by 71 percent in 2023, and the network processed over 300 million transactions by 2025, accounting for 12 percent of all Litecoin transactions to date. Active addresses peaked at 9.3 million in 2023 and stood at 8.11 million by mid-2025, rising by over 200,000 in three months. Payment processing activity reflects this trend. Usage through processors increased significantly, and by July 2025, Litecoin accounted for 14.5 percent of payments on CoinGate, ranking second behind Bitcoin. As stated earlier, more than 4,000 merchants worldwide accept Litecoin. Institutional interest includes MEI Pharma's purchase of $100 million in Litecoin in August 2025. On-chain data shows a circulating supply of about 76.26 million out of a maximum 84 million, with miners accumulating reserves instead of selling. Litecoin holds the 21st position by market capitalization, at roughly $8.48 billion, and accounts for 13.6 percent of global blockchain activity, trailing only Bitcoin and Tron. Other integrations, such as with Telegram for payments, and potential spot exchange-traded funds with 90 percent approval odds by the end of 2025, may influence adoption. Comparing Litecoin to Bitcoin Litecoin shares similarities with Bitcoin, often likened to silver alongside Bitcoin's gold due to its focus on faster payments rather than primarily as a store of value. Both rely on proof-of-work, but Litecoin uses the Scrypt algorithm, which enables block times of 2.5 minutes compared to Bitcoin's 10 minutes, along with lower transaction fees that are more suitable for smaller payments. Bitcoin's hashrate has grown from about 100 exahashes per second in 2020 to 914 exahashes per second by September 2025, with a peak of 1.279 zettahashes per second. This scale dwarfs Litecoin's, where Bitcoin's mid-2024 hashrate was 581 exahashes per second, compared to Litecoin's 2.7 petahashes per second. Litecoin's hashrate growth has similarly bolstered its defenses, mirroring Bitcoin's post-halving improvements. Litecoin gains efficiency through merge-mining with Dogecoin, similar to how Bitcoin miners support related networks, albeit with reduced energy consumption. Both have experienced adoption boosts from halvings and exchange-traded funds; Litecoin could see similar effects if spot funds are approved, potentially leading to value increases of five to 12 times, as observed with Bitcoin. To conclude, Litecoin's hashrate tripling has reinforced its security against threats, supported consistent block production, and coincided with higher transaction volumes, active addresses, and merchant acceptance. The network handles payments efficiently with low fees and privacy options via MimbleWimble Extension Blocks, while maintaining a capped supply and low inflation. Overall, these developments affirm Litecoin's role in efficient payments and secure, decentralized operations. Sources: CoinWarz: https://www.coinwarz.com/mining/litecoin/hashrate-chart BitInfoCharts: https://bitinfocharts.com/litecoin/ Litecoin and MWEB: https://litecoin.com/learning-center/litecoin-and-mweb-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it LitVM Use cases: https://www.litvm.com/blog/litvm-5-use-cases-litecoin Spot ETFs approval odds increase to 95%: https://cointelegraph.com/news/analysts-tip-95-chance-solana-xrp-litecoin-etf Explainer on Hashrate: https://koinly.io/blog/what-is-hashrate/