Litecoin (LTC) is a digital currency designed for fast, low-cost payments over the internet. Created by Charlie Lee in 2011 as an alternative to Bitcoin, it offers improved transaction times and a higher maximum supply, using a different algorithm (scrypt) for mining. Litecoin facilitates peer-to-peer transactions without a central authority, making it suitable for a wide range of financial activities, from everyday purchases to trading and investment. Its creation by a former Google engineer aimed to address and improve upon some of Bitcoin's limitations, establishing Litecoin as a practical complement to Bitcoin in the digital currency ecosystem.