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This video claims that Litecoin is more secure than Bitcoin.

If the only differentiator between LTC and BTC is SCrypt, then I don't see how a merkle chain of 6 blocks would be more secure than the other.

Can someone explain the details of why he thinks this the case?

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  • Could you please provide a quote of the relevant part of the video and/or the time where it occurs in the video (so one could skip to the relevant part)?
    – Murch ♦
    Sep 3, 2013 at 21:33
  • @Murch The video is sparse on meat and full of fluff. I'm trying to find out where their source is. From what I can tell, these are LTC investors promoting a tulip market
    – makerofthings7
    Sep 3, 2013 at 22:28
  • In Bitcoin you have on average 1 block per 10 minutes. In Litecoin you have on average 1 block per 2.5 minutes. So if the merchant waits the same amount of time for confirmations, he will have in Litecoin more confirmations and hence more security. See also bitcoil.co.il/Doublespend.pdf.
    – Meni Rosenfeld
    Feb 17, 2014 at 17:33
  • @MeniRosenfeld is the security of each the same of BTC and LTC in intervals of 10 minutes? I would think this would be the case...
    – makerofthings7
    Feb 17, 2014 at 21:31
  • @makerofthings7: Your sentence is difficult to parse, but - all else being equal (only difference is mean block interval), waiting 10 minutes in LTC is more secure than waiting 10 minutes in BTC; at least in any scenario we should be concerned with. More details are in the linked paper.
    – Meni Rosenfeld
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:21

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TL;DR: He compares one hour worth of transaction blocks, not six blocks. I.e. he compares the security of 6 blocks in the bitcoin network opposed to 24 blocks in the litecoin network.

In the video the host reads from a sheet with calculations that is supposed to prove that Litecoin is more secure than bitcoin. The calculation is based on the assumption that a 51% attacker wants to mine one hour worth of blocks with 35% of the mining power. Finally, he concludes that 8 transaction blocks in the litecoin network offer a similar security as 6 blocks in the bitcoin network. I.e. block to block litecoin isn't securer than bitcoin, however it reaches the same level of security in less time.

I can't comment in how far the presented numbers are factual (I didn't repeat the calculation), however I am not convinced of the conclusion "litecoin is magnitudes more secure than bitcoin". A 51% attack does not require an hour worth of blocks, but rather a specific number of blocks, in which even the host tells us that Bitcoin is more secure.

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  • I agree, the ratio is compute power over time, not blocks. A shorter block interval doesn't mean higher security, it just means more frequent confirms.
    – makerofthings7
    Sep 3, 2013 at 22:27

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