<p>Litecoin is neither a hard or a soft fork. The codebase is a fork from Bitcoin codebase but it by no means share any history with the Bitcoin blockchain and thus considered as a separate alternative cryptocurrency to Bitcoin.</p>

<p>It is now trading at $179 <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/price_charts/litecoin/usd" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.coingecko.com/en/price_charts/litecoin/usd</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-29T15:46:22.170Z
2018-01-29T15:46:22.170Z
sendoh
<p>It's considered a source code fork, or an altcoin, neither a hard fork nor soft fork of bitcoin. To be classified as a soft/hard fork, it should share some of the same chain from the genesis block. LN has a completely different chain right from the start so it's not a fork of the bitcoin chain.</p>

<p>Note that even coins sharing the same chain as bitcoin from the genesis block, e.g. BCH, are not considered hard forks by most people because they are not "bitcoin". They are generally termed "forkcoins"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-23T10:05:01.113Z
Appreciate the explanation--just to check on the last point--does that essentially mean 'forkcoin' potentially synonymous with something being a soft or hard fork depending on who you ask?
vw88
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-23T13:35:09.497Z
@jlw yes I'm sure some hardcore BCH supporters would call it a hardfork rather than an altcoin, but to most people it's clear it's an altcoin
meshcollider
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-23T09:54:29.823Z
2018-01-23T09:54:29.823Z
meshcollider
<p>Is Litecoin classified as either a hard fork or soft fork? If neither, what is considered as?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-23T11:47:17.803Z
It's an altcoin. A fork implies that a _split_ occurs, they thus have a shared transaction _history_. Litecoin, afaik, started with a completely new genenesis block.
Penquin
<litecoin><blockchain-fork><soft-fork>
What type of fork is Litecoin?
vw88
# What type of fork is Litecoin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-23)

Is Litecoin classified as either a hard fork or soft fork? If neither, what is considered as?

**Tags:** litecoin, blockchain-fork, soft-fork

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's an altcoin. A fork implies that a _split_ occurs, they thus have a shared transaction _history_. Litecoin, afaik, started with a completely new genenesis block.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-01-23. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

It's considered a source code fork, or an altcoin, neither a hard fork nor soft fork of bitcoin. To be classified as a soft/hard fork, it should share some of the same chain from the genesis block. LN has a completely different chain right from the start so it's not a fork of the bitcoin chain.

Note that even coins sharing the same chain as bitcoin from the genesis block, e.g. BCH, are not considered hard forks by most people because they are not "bitcoin". They are generally termed "forkcoins"

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Appreciate the explanation--just to check on the last point--does that essentially mean 'forkcoin' potentially synonymous with something being a soft or hard fork depending on who you ask?  
> **username_3**: @jlw yes I'm sure some hardcore BCH supporters would call it a hardfork rather than an altcoin, but to most people it's clear it's an altcoin  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-01-29. Score: 0

Litecoin is neither a hard or a soft fork. The codebase is a fork from Bitcoin codebase but it by no means share any history with the Bitcoin blockchain and thus considered as a separate alternative cryptocurrency to Bitcoin.

It is now trading at $179 <https://www.coingecko.com/en/price_charts/litecoin/usd>


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