Litecoin
Bitcoin fork from 2011 — faster and cheaper transfers, Scrypt algorithm.
Litecoin (LTC) was created by Charlie Lee in 2011 as a "lighter" version of Bitcoin — faster transactions, lower fees, same security.
Differences from Bitcoin:
•2.5 min block time (BTC: 10 min)
•84 million LTC total (BTC: 21M)
•Scrypt algorithm (instead of SHA-256) — originally GPU mining
•Halving every ~4 years (like BTC)
First innovations:
•SegWit — implemented in LTC before BTC
•Lightning Network — tested on LTC
•MimbleWimble — optional transaction privacy
Status today: LTC is one of the oldest and most liquid altcoins. Used mainly as a payment method due to lower fees than Bitcoin.