What is Litecoin?

Litecoin (LTC) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency created in 2011 by Charlie Lee, a former Google engineer. It is designed as a faster, lower-cost alternative to Bitcoin, primarily for everyday digital payments. Litecoin uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm, allowing for quicker transaction confirmations every 2.5 minutes, compared to Bitcoin's 10-minute block time. It has a maximum supply of 84 million LTC, which is four times that of Bitcoin, and follows a halving schedule every 840,000 blocks. Litecoin is often referred to as the "silver to Bitcoin's gold" due to its focus on efficient, reliable transactions for smaller payments.