Bitcoin was the original cryptocurrency blockchain, which created the entire industry we are talking about. Litecoin was created to improve on Bitcoin. These improvements were rather minor and did not deviate too much from what Bitcoin already offered. Ethereum includes the Ethereum Virtual Machine, which processes complex smart contracts. In a lot of ways, it does everything Bitcoin does and more.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency where you can transact on a peer-to-peer network without the need of a middleman. The main innovation behind Bitcoin relies on the fact that it is a decentralized money system with the Bitcoin being the currency. But Bitcoin is also the software and protocol that allows users to issue a digital currency and operate transactions in a secure and anonymous way.
Ethereum
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts. It is a public blockchain platform with its own cryptocurrency called, Ether, and featuring smart contract functionality. The Ethereum Virtual Machine allows people to execute peer-to-peer contracts using Ether.
Ethereum is like a global and shared computer on which anyone can build decentralized cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. However, Ethereum is much more than a platform hosting new cryptocurrencies, it is a Turing-complete platform, which simply means that each full node on the network runs a Virtual Machine called the ”Ethereum VM” that enables the nodes to execute programs written in a Turing- complete language.
Litecoin
Litecoin and Bitcoin are based on the same technology. Litecoin value is pegged to that of Bitcoin. However, Litecoin’s protocol is different from Bitcoin’s protocol, Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 algorithm while Litecoin uses Scrypt. Bitcoin has a total supply of 21,000,000 coins while Litecoin has a total supply of 84,000,000 coins. Litecoin confirm transactions faster than Bitcoin as it aims at processing a block every 2.5 minutes rather than Bitcoin’s 10 minutes.