Coinbase makes it easy to convert your local currency into and out of Litecoin.On this page, you'll learn how to buy Litecoin and store it securely in a wallet.1 Sign up for Coinbase The first step is to sign up for a Coinbase account.This will give you a secure place to store your Litecoin, and easy payment methods to convert your local currency into or out of digital currencies.Sign up here › 2 Connect Your Bank Account, Credit Card or Debit Card After you sign up, connect your bank account, credit card or debit card.Add A Bank Account › 3 Buy and Sell Litecoin After starting your first purchase, we'll complete your buy and deliver your Litecoin.(Sells work the same way but in reverse).The price of ether changes over time, so we'll show you the current exchange rate before you buy.CoinbaseCoinbase Adds Litecoin and Prices JumpJeff John RobertsYou've probably heard about the digital currency called bitcoin.But you may not realize there are literally dozens of other so-called alt-currencies out there that work in a very similar way and that, like bitcoin, their value has been soaring in the last year.While bitcoin is far and away the biggest—its market cap is more than twice all the other alt-currencies combined—some of its rivals are gaining traction.

These include Litecoin, a currency introduced in 2013 by former Google employee Charlie Lee, and that is currently the fourth most valuable alt-currency.Litecoin, as its name suggests, is a "lighter" version than bitcoin.It can process transactions four times faster and has not run into the sort of controversies related to scaling for growth that are currently consuming the bitcoin community.Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.But despite its history and positive reputation, it hasn't experienced the same recent dramatic increase in value as bitcoin or ethereum, which is the No.bitcoin 100 72 million2 alt-currency on the list.One reason for this could be that Litecoin is harder to obtain than those other two currencies.bitcoin exchange boss deadThat changed, however, on Wednesday as the popular digital currency exchange service Coinbase made it possible for people to buy and sell Litecoin.bitcoin calculator indonesia

And, indeed, prices jumped over 25 percent on the Coinbase news according to the site Coin Market Cap.The Coinbase tie-in is significant because is by far the most popular way for ordinary people—as opposed to dedicated crypto-heads—to buy and sell digital currency.Litecoin's appearance on the platform means it is suddenly a lot more liquid as an asset.Lee, the Litecoin creator who is now head engineer at Coinbase, is (unsurprisingly) bullish about the currency's potential.bitcoin kurs heuteBut his optimism is not just due to the fact it's now easier to buy and sell Litecoin.As Lee points out, Litecoin is in the middle of adopting a number of new technologies (such as Segregated Witness or SegWit) that increase its transaction speed—bitcoin backers have been trying to implement similar improvements for months, but the process has been caught up in internecine fighting."Weethereum price in euro

have all the cool scaling technology.But the reason we adopted SegWit was not for the scaling features, but because it allows for instant payments off-chain," said Lee, referring to a method for clearing transactions using a variation of the digital currency's core computer protocol.This week's development is likely to give a boost to Litecoin, though it's unlikely the currency will ever emerge as real challenger to bitcoin—a mantle increasingly being adopted by relative newcomer ethereum.bitcoin wallet trackerThe Securities and Exchange Commission just handed digital currency exchange provider Coinbase a great deal of authority.bitcoin peso valueCoinbase has recently received approval by the SEC to offer its customers the option of trading both Litecoin and Ether, two digital currencies that have quickly been gaining prominence among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.ethereum gtx 1080

This makes Coinbase the first New York-based exchange to offer Litecoin trades and the second to offer Ether trades.Particularly in light of the recent concerns over the long-term health of Bitcoin, this could provide Coinbase with an exceptionally powerful place in the growing digital currency trading industry.Second to the Winklevoss Brothers Coinbase is not the first exchange to offer trading of the Ethereum token in the state of New York.earn bitcoins mathAbout a year ago, the Gemini Trust Company, a digital currency exchange run by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss of Facebook fame, became the first exchange to receive clearance to trade Ether, according to a report by CoinDesk.Coinbase's application for the new trading options was approved in an announcement by Maria Vullo, the superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services.Vullo used the announcement as an opportunity to reiterate the DFS belief that state regulation of digital currency is essential, saying that "DFS has proven that the state regulatory system is the best way to supervise and cultivate a thriving fintech industry, like virtual currency.

New York will remain steadfast in pushing back against federal encroachment efforts like the OCC's proposal to impose a one-size-fits-all national bank charter that increases risk and seeks to usurp state sovereignty."Coinbase Pledges Security and Compliance In response to the news, CEO and co-founder of Coinbase Brian Armstrong indicated that the exchange maintained a commitment to "ensure that we operate the most secure and compliant digital currency exchange in the world."He added that "New York is an important market and we look forward to expanding our services for New York customers as swiftly as possible."Coinbase has continued to gain traction among digital currency users even in spite of (or perhaps because of) its tense exchanges with the IRS in recent months.The IRS has filed requests for customer data and transaction histories on belief that some Coinbase users are dodging tax payments, and Coinbase has firmly refused to comply with those requests, indicating that such an exchange of information would constitute a broad violation of user privacy.