Litecoin

Released in 2011, Litecoin was one of the earliest altcoins to enter into circulation. While Litecoin is technically a Bitcoin fork (it was derived from Bitcoin codebase), it utilizes different proof-of-work algorithm known as Scrypt, which was designed to be memory intensive, decreasing the advantage that miners with powerful computers have over others.

Litecoin has some other technical differences compared to Bitcoin, such as having four times as many coins in circulation (maximum limit of 84 million Litecoin versus Bitcoin's 21 million).

Additionally, while Bitcoin typically requires 10 minutes for a transaction to process, Litecoin requires only 2.5 minutes. This is due to Litecoin blockchain registering new blocks every 2.5 minutes, instead of every 10. The fees associated with using Litecoin are also smaller, partly due to lesser amount of total transactions and smaller user base.

Litecoin still stands among the most popular and biggest crypto coins today, even if its limelight has been stolen by more flashy smart contract projects like Ethereum or Cardano.

Litecoin may not become de facto medium exchange or platform for decentralized finance, and its Scrypt proof of work algorithm has long been exploited by specialized ASIC chips, but it will still continue hold significant collectability value, due to its age and history of shaping the early days of cryptocurrencies.