
Yes, Litecoin (LTC) can be mined and is one of the oldest, continuously and actively mined cryptocurrencies of all. It is mined using the Scrypt algorithm with specialized ASIC miners such as the Bitmain Antminer L series, which provide computing power around the clock and in return receive new Litecoin as a block reward.
Litecoin's special feature is merged mining: anyone mining Litecoin also mines Dogecoin (DOGE) at the same time with the same Scrypt device - without additional hardware and without using more power, with the Dogecoin share often making up the larger part of the yield. How this works in detail, which devices are needed and what matters with pool and wallet is covered by the following questions as well as our Litecoin miner overview.
Litecoin (LTC) was released in 2011 by Charlie Lee as a fork of Bitcoin and is regarded as the "silver to Bitcoin's gold" - designed for faster and cheaper payments. The block time is around 2.5 minutes and thus about four times faster than Bitcoin, the total supply is capped at 84 million LTC, and it is mined in the classic way using computing power with the Scrypt algorithm.
For miners, Litecoin is particularly interesting because it runs together with Dogecoin on the same Scrypt algorithm, and both coins are mined jointly via merged mining - one device, two yields. A detailed overview is provided in our blog article What is Litecoin and how does Litecoin mining work?.
Litecoin mining brings in two coins at once: through merged mining, the same computing work generates Litecoin and Dogecoin in parallel. Scrypt ASICs such as the Antminer L9 continuously solve cryptographic tasks for this, and whoever finds a valid block receives the block reward of currently 6.25 Litecoin - plus the Dogecoin share on top.
The underlying procedure is proof of work as with Bitcoin, except that Litecoin uses a different algorithm with Scrypt and produces blocks much faster, at around 2.5 minutes. In practice, almost every miner pools their power in a pool, because a single device on its own only very rarely finds a block. This is how new Litecoin and Dogecoin enter circulation, and both networks remain secured against manipulation.
Yes - this is the decisive advantage of Litecoin mining: with a single Scrypt device you mine Litecoin and Dogecoin simultaneously via merged mining, without additional hardware and without using more power. Both networks use the same algorithm, Scrypt, which is why the same computing work can solve blocks in both chains.
In practice, you connect your miner to a pool that supports merged mining and then receive both LTC and DOGE rewards from the same effort. In many setups the Dogecoin share even makes up the larger part of the yield; the exact distribution depends on price, difficulty and pool.
The special feature of Litecoin mining: via merged mining you mine Litecoin and Dogecoin simultaneously, with no extra effort - both run on the Scrypt algorithm. Accordingly, you set up two wallets, one each for LTC and DOGE.
As hardware you need a Scrypt ASIC such as the Antminer L9 (16 GH/s); suitable models are listed in our Litecoin miner category. Then connect the device to a pool that supports merged mining - such as ViaBTC - so that both coins are paid out together.
That leaves the location question: self-operation at home or hosting with cheaper power. Calculate the combined LTC and DOGE yield against your electricity price in advance using a mining calculator.
Litecoin mining is based on the Scrypt algorithm - the cryptographic computing task that every Litecoin ASIC is hardwired for. Scrypt is at the same time the algorithm that Dogecoin also uses, which is what makes joint mining of both coins via merged mining possible in the first place.
Scrypt was originally intended to keep mining more broadly accessible, but today it is completely dominated by specialized ASIC devices such as the Antminer L series; graphics cards or PCs stand no chance. Other coins partly use entirely different algorithms (Bitcoin, for example, SHA-256), which is why their hardware is unsuitable for Litecoin and vice versa.
For Litecoin mining you need Scrypt ASIC miners - devices whose chips are built exclusively for the Litecoin algorithm Scrypt and therefore deliver many times the computing power per watt compared to graphics cards; at the same time they mine Litecoin and Dogecoin in parallel via merged mining. Reference devices are the Antminer L series from Bitmain (L9 with around 16 GH/s at approx. 3.4 kW up to L11 Hydro with approx. 33 GH/s) as well as devices from ElphaPex.
ASIC stands for application-specific integrated circuit: such a device only handles Scrypt, but does so particularly efficiently. That is exactly what it takes today to stay competitive in the Litecoin network. You will find the currently available models in our Litecoin miner category.
Litecoin (LTC) was originally designed precisely to be mineable on ordinary hardware - today that no longer applies: Scrypt ASICs such as the Antminer L9 dominate the network, and against them a PC and graphics card stand no chance.
A modern Scrypt ASIC delivers double-digit GH/s and thus many times the performance of even the fastest graphics card, at significantly lower consumption per hash. A special feature of LTC: via merged mining, Dogecoin is mined at the same time, which increases the yield - yet that is still not enough to cover GPU electricity costs. Anyone who wants to mine Litecoin today uses a Litecoin ASIC; its profitability depends on electricity price, LTC and DOGE price as well as difficulty.
Litecoin mining works without separate software: the Scrypt ASIC, such as the Antminer L9, controls itself via its built-in firmware. The trick lies in the configuration via the web interface - here you enter, alongside the pool, both a Litecoin and a Dogecoin wallet address, because the L9 runs merged mining and mines both coins simultaneously on the same Scrypt algorithm.
No further programs are needed to get started. With several L9 units, management software for central monitoring can additionally be used; a single device runs autonomously.
Various Scrypt ASICs can be bought, above all the Antminer L series from Bitmain as well as devices from ElphaPex - from the air-cooled model to the Hydro variant for continuous operation. All of them mine Litecoin and Dogecoin jointly via merged mining, with the Dogecoin share often making up the larger part of the yield. Popular models are the Antminer L9 (16 GH/s) as a balanced entry point, the more powerful Antminer L11 (20 GH/s), the Antminer L11 Hydro (33 GH/s) for data center operation, as well as the ElphaPex DG1+ (14.4 GH/s).
A detailed comparison of the common devices is provided in our blog articles on the Antminer L9 and on the Antminer L11 Hydro series. At Cryptohall24 you order these miners directly - new or as a tested used device; which model fits depends on electricity price, installation location and budget.
With Litecoin mining the price scale starts somewhat higher than with smaller coins, because even older Scrypt devices rarely fall below the low four-figure range; current top models such as the Antminer L11 Hydro (33 GH/s) are well above that. The key factors are hashrate in GH/s and efficiency.
One detail makes Litecoin special: via merged mining, Dogecoin is generated in parallel without additional power consumption - this double yield belongs in every profitability calculation alongside purchase price and electricity costs. You can see the daily updated model prices at the top of this page.
Performance loss is not an argument against used equipment with Litecoin: a tested Antminer L9 delivers its roughly 16 GH/s on Scrypt and continues to mine Litecoin and Dogecoin simultaneously via merged mining - often at a significantly lower price than the new device. Cryptohall24 has tested used devices for Scrypt in stock.
The predecessor L7 keeps running technically flawlessly, but needs more power per GH/s than the L9 and therefore reacts more sensitively to the electricity price. The used choice is worthwhile when the price advantage outweighs the higher consumption over the runtime. These three factors - purchase price, efficiency, electricity price - we are happy to calculate together with you; here are our Litecoin miners.
The decisive difference with Litecoin lies in the mining procedure: a Scrypt ASIC mines two coins simultaneously via merged mining - Litecoin and Dogecoin - without doubling power consumption or hashrate. When buying, by contrast, you only receive finished LTC at the current price, instantly and without hardware, via a crypto exchange such as Bitget or Binance.
It is precisely this double reward that makes Litecoin mining economically interesting: your yield feeds on two prices, the LTC and the DOGE price, measured against electricity price and the combined difficulty of both networks. Cryptohall24 sells the Scrypt hardware and offers hosting; the coin trading is handled by the exchanges - which ones are suitable for that is compared in our crypto exchange comparison.
Dogecoin (DOGE) is a cryptocurrency launched in 2013 that uses the same algorithm, Scrypt, as Litecoin. Since 2014, Dogecoin has been technically connected to Litecoin via merged mining: the same Scrypt miners secure both networks simultaneously and are rewarded for both.
For miners this means in concrete terms that Litecoin and Dogecoin do not exclude each other but belong together - one Scrypt device mines both coins in parallel from the same computing work. Unlike Litecoin, Dogecoin has no fixed maximum supply, but a constant reward of 10,000 DOGE per block, which keeps the Dogecoin share of the mining yield stable and often makes it the larger part of the yield.
Litecoin miners come air-cooled and Hydro, and especially with the Scrypt algorithm the Hydro variant is particularly prominent - both mine Litecoin and Dogecoin identically in merged mining. Air-cooled devices such as the Antminer L9 expel their waste heat via powerful built-in fans and are the standard for smaller setups.
The Antminer L11 Hydro, by contrast, dissipates the heat via a closed water circuit. This noticeably lowers the noise level and allows higher performance in the same form factor, but requires existing Hydro infrastructure with pumps and recooling - which is why the L11 Hydro is found primarily in data centers. More on the devices on the Litecoin miner overview.
A Litecoin miner is loud - an air-cooled industrial ASIC such as the Antminer L9 reaches around 75 dB in operation, roughly the level of a running vacuum cleaner, because its fans have to dissipate the waste heat of around 3.4 kW in continuous operation. An ordinary living space is usually not suitable for this.
Quieter are Hydro models such as the Antminer L11 Hydro, which dissipate the heat via a water circuit instead of via loud fans. Anyone who wants to avoid the noise entirely places the device in a quiet spot such as a basement or garage - or has it hosted in a data center, where the noise level does not matter.
For Litecoin mining you strictly speaking need two wallets, because via merged mining Litecoin and Dogecoin are paid out in parallel: an LTC address and a DOGE address. You enter both in the mining pool so that every reward finds its correct destination.
Each of these wallets is your personal account with a private key that only you should know. Conveniently, a hardware wallet such as Ledger supports both coins at once and stores the keys for LTC and DOGE offline particularly securely.
A mining pool is a combination of many miners who pool their Scrypt computing power and share found block rewards proportionally among themselves. This way, participants receive small payouts regularly instead of waiting a long time in vain for a block of their own with a single Antminer.
With Litecoin mining the pool is central for a further reason: only a pool that supports merged mining pays out Litecoin and Dogecoin jointly from the same effort - this is done, for example, by ViaBTC or NiceHash. For nearly all Litecoin miners a pool is therefore the sensible way, because it makes the yield in both coins plannable.
Litecoin pools almost always mine Dogecoin alongside via merged mining, so that two coins arise from the same Scrypt effort - the best known are ViaBTC, NiceHash, F2Pool, AntPool and the specialized litecoinpool.org. They differ in fee, payout model and minimum payout.
With ViaBTC and NiceHash there are direct cooperations with reduced pool fees when signing up via our links. Since shares and conditions change continuously, a current comparison directly with the respective provider is worthwhile before choosing.
The best Litecoin pool is, for most people, the one that supports merged mining for Dogecoin - this way you collect both coins from the same Scrypt effort. With LTC, this merge criterion comes before fee, payout model, minimum payout and pool size; with a small hashrate, a large pool additionally smooths the payouts.
For getting started, ViaBTC and NiceHash are suitable, with whom we cooperate and via whose links you receive reduced fees. Make sure that the pool brings the LTC-DOGE merge, and check the fees on a daily basis with the provider.
Solo mining is technically feasible with Litecoin, but with a single Antminer L9 it usually fails on probability: if you find a block you would indeed get the full reward of currently 6.25 Litecoin, but against the network's high Scrypt hashrate, hits remain extremely rare with small hardware.
With Litecoin, merged mining with Dogecoin is additionally decisive: only a pool bundles the rewards of both coins and makes this double yield practical. That is exactly what falls away in solo operation. For plannable, even payouts - LTC plus DOGE - a pool is therefore the more sensible way for nearly all Litecoin miners.
A Scrypt industrial ASIC draws several kilowatts continuously when mining Litecoin: the air-cooled Antminer L9 is roughly at 3.4 kW, a large L11 Hydro at around 7 kW. Because the device runs around the clock, electricity is by far the largest ongoing cost factor.
The special feature: the same power drawn mines Litecoin and Dogecoin simultaneously via merged mining - the second coin costs no additional power, and the Dogecoin share often makes up the larger part of the yield. The exact consumption depends on device and efficiency; the electricity price remains the most important profitability lever, which is why mining is often done at locations with cheap energy.
The next Litecoin halving is expected around mid-2027; with it, the reward per block halves from currently 6.25 to 3.125 Litecoin. Litecoin halves every 840,000 blocks, that is roughly every four years - the previous halvings were in 2015, 2019 and 2023.
For miners, the halving means that fewer new Litecoin are paid out per block. The Dogecoin share gained via merged mining is not affected by this, since Dogecoin has no fixed maximum supply and, at 10,000 DOGE, a constant block reward - this can partly cushion the decline in the Litecoin yield.
The total supply of Litecoin is capped at 84 million LTC - four times the 21 million Bitcoin. A large part of it has already been mined; the remaining amount is added gradually over the coming decades through Scrypt mining, with each halving cutting the pace in half.
The fixed upper limit makes Litecoin, like Bitcoin, a scarce currency. It is different with Dogecoin, mined alongside in parallel: it has no maximum supply, but a constant block reward - yet both coins arise exclusively through mining.
Whether Litecoin mining is worth it in 2026 depends above all on the electricity price, the prices of Litecoin and Dogecoin, and the network difficulty. Litecoin is technically fully mineable, but it is not automatically profitable, only under the right conditions.
An important point is that with Scrypt mining the yield comes together from Litecoin and Dogecoin - the Dogecoin share often contributes noticeably to the result and improves the calculation. Anyone who has cheap electricity and an efficient device such as the Antminer L9 can mine profitably; with expensive household electricity the calculation quickly tips into the red. You calculate your scenario most reliably in advance using a current mining calculator such as AsicMinerValue.
Litecoin mining with the Antminer L9 has a double yield: via merged mining (Scrypt) you mine LTC and, in parallel, Dogecoin in the same work step, without additional power consumption. The DOGE share often makes up the larger part of the earnings, which is why both the LTC and the DOGE price flow into the calculation.
Net, what remains of LTC plus DOGE is the value minus electricity costs and pool fee. There is no fixed sum, because both prices and the difficulty fluctuate daily - with cheap electricity the L9 carries profit, with expensive electricity a loss. Estimate your concrete yield with a mining calculator for the L9.
With Litecoin mining on the Scrypt algorithm, Dogecoin is also generated in parallel via merged mining, without additional computing power - an Antminer L9 with around 16 GH/s thus produces LTC and DOGE simultaneously. How much comes together per day depends on the ratio of this hashrate to the network difficulty and your pool share; there is no fixed daily amount.
Because both networks grow and the prices of LTC and DOGE fluctuate, the daily yield shifts continuously. Estimate the combined LTC and DOGE gross yield for your hardware with a current mining calculator - minus electricity costs, this gives your net yield.
One special feature of Litecoin you have to reflect in the calculator: via merged mining, Dogecoin arises alongside LTC, and only if the calculator adds both yields together is the result correct. You enter the hashrate and consumption of the Scrypt device, for the Antminer L9 around 16 GH/s and roughly 3.4 kW, plus your electricity price; from this the tool forms the estimated yield using the current prices and the difficulty.
The common Scrypt models are listed by AsicMinerValue with daily updated profitability. Since prices and difficulty fluctuate continuously, every figure remains a snapshot - recalculate your scenario shortly before purchase.
Litecoin mining at home has a practical advantage: thanks to merged mining, the Scrypt ASIC Antminer L9 mines Litecoin and Dogecoin simultaneously, without higher electricity costs arising - so you earn on two coins at one consumption. But it is precisely this consumption that is the catch: at around 3.4 kW and household electricity of about 30 ct/kWh, continuous operation in Germany is usually too expensive.
With a cheap tariff or your own solar power from a photovoltaic system, the calculation turns around, and the waste heat can additionally be used for heating. The L9 is, however, loud and belongs in a basement or garage. Anyone aiming for high quantities is usually better off with hosting in a data center.
Yes - and with the Litecoin miner there is a bonus on top: an Antminer L9 draws around 3.4 kW, releases this power almost entirely as heat, and mines Litecoin and Dogecoin simultaneously in merged mining via the Scrypt algorithm. The combined LTC and DOGE yields recover part of the electricity costs, which improves the heating calculation compared to single-coin devices.
This is most worthwhile with cheap electricity or your own solar power - how this works with your own photovoltaic system is shown in our blog article Crypto mining with solar power. Because of the roughly 75 dB of the air-cooled Scrypt devices, the L9 belongs in a quieter location such as a basement, garage or workshop.
Merged mining works via the Auxiliary Proof of Work (AuxPoW) procedure: if a Litecoin miner solves a valid Scrypt block, the same computing work can simultaneously be submitted as proof for a Dogecoin block. This way, the same Litecoin computing power secures both networks.
Dogecoin switched to this procedure in 2014 because its own, smaller network was vulnerable; since then the largest part of the Dogecoin computing power comes from the large Litecoin pools. For you as a miner this means: a single Scrypt miner contributes to the security of both networks and receives rewards from both - without additional power and without second hardware.
Cryptohall24 hosts Litecoin and Dogecoin hardware of the Antminer L series (Scrypt) in its own data centers - thanks to merged mining, a single device mines both coins in parallel, and you remain the owner of your miner throughout.
We take over installation, power supply and ongoing operation, so that the typical home hurdles fall away: around 75 dB of noise, strong waste heat and expensive household electricity. At an industrial location with a reliable kWh price, the Litecoin calculation becomes plannable by contrast. How to recognize a reputable hoster is described in our mining hosting guide.
The L series from Bitmain is the hostable class here: Scrypt industrial ASICs such as L9, L11 and L11 Hydro mine Litecoin and Dogecoin simultaneously via merged mining and are built as continuous-load machines for data center operation - exactly such devices are taken into hosting by Cryptohall24.
Very low-power niche or home devices, for example in the range around 1.5 kW, generally remain excluded; they aim at self-operation, and those we are happy to sell and explain rather than host. Whether your specific Scrypt device fits into hosting we are happy to clarify on a case-by-case basis.
A Litecoin peculiarity also shapes the tax side: via merged mining, Dogecoin arises simultaneously in parallel with Litecoin, and both coin yields must generally be accounted for. In Germany, mining is permitted and counts as commercial in the case of continuous operation intended for profit.
The yields are offset by deductible items - electricity costs, hosting and the L-series devices reduce the taxable profit; an overview is given in our blog article Reduce your taxes through crypto mining. Whether mining is legally permissible is regulated by each state for itself; for the assessment of your case, a tax advisor is the right address. This is not tax advice.
With a Litecoin miner you automatically mine Litecoin and Dogecoin simultaneously - both run via Scrypt and are mined together via merged mining, without thereby losing hashrate or power. Beyond that, only further Scrypt coins are possible.
Everything outside of Scrypt is ruled out: Bitcoin (SHA-256) or Kaspa (kHeavyHash) do not run on an Antminer L9, because its chip executes exclusively Scrypt calculations. Other algorithms require other devices, which you will find in the ASIC miner category.