300 Million Transactions & the Holy Grail

On January 4, 2025, Litecoin processed its 300 millionth transaction! A milestone for permissionless currency, decentralization, financial freedom and inclusion.  
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The Holy Grail.

In August 2022, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a 57-page paper titled Towards the holy grail of cross-border payments. The abstract outlines a monumental payments problem the G20 and ECB have been trying to solve for years; but are optimistic they’ll “find this holy grail within the next decade”. What’s this got to do with Litecoin? One moment, please. 

“The holy grail of cross-border payments is a solution which allows cross-border payments to be (1) immediate, (2) cheap, (3) of universal reach, and (4) settled in a secure settlement medium, such as central bank money.” - European Central Bank (ECB), ‘Towards the holy grail of cross-border payments (2022).

Get the G20 and European Central Bank on the line. Litecoin’s done it! 

1. ‘Immediate’. 2.5 mins. The average time it takes to send Litecoin to anyone, anywhere in the world. 24 hours, 7 days a week;
2. ‘Cheap’. Less than US$.01 - the average cost to send Litecoin, with no cost to receive it. To be more precise, the highest 24-hour average fee for the entire year of 2024 was US$0.0091 (April 1, 2024);
3. ‘Universal reach’. Litecoin doesn’t discriminate. Anyone with an internet connection can purchase, receive and mine(!) Litecoin. 300,000,000 Litecoin transactions have been sent to and from every corner of the planet. Not relying on any intermediary - government, central bank, institution - Litecoin was designed to be universally accessible. A decentralized, battle-tested solution to financial inclusion for the 1.4 billion unbanked (World Economic Forum 2024);
4. ‘Settled in a secure settlement medium, such as central bank money’. Since its activation on October 13, 2011, the Litecoin network has facilitated the flow of more than US$6.56 trillion - without a single interruption. 4832 consecutive days with no hacks, downtime, security breaches, closures or outages. Cross-border payments sent in Litecoin, received in Litecoin. An asset whose ‘volatility’ is comparative to ‘oil and gold futures’. What central bank can say the same?

Litecoin is not a pilot or academic paper. It is a ‘fast’, ‘cheap’ currency with an unblemished 13 year history. A secure network whose ~10m active users have made 300m Litecoin transactions across the world, without discrimination. The search for the “holy grail of cross-border payments” is finally over! Now, who’s going to tell the European Central Bank?

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^{Disclaimer: This article does not constitute financial or investment advice, and the author is certainly not implying the ECB is... ah, nevermind. Consult a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions.}

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Written by Robbie Coleman.
The G20 can follow him via X / Twitter.