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Litecoin is a Bitcoin altcoin that was created in 2011 via a fork in the Bitcoin source code. This makes it one of the oldest cryptocurrencies in existence. Litecoin is a peer-to-peer digital currency that offers many of the same features as Bitcoin. Like Bitcoin, Litecoin is an open-source cryptocurrency that enables peer-to-peer payments without a central authority. Litecoin is also one of the biggest cryptocurrencies in terms of value, having hit a market capitalisation of $15 billion in November 2014.

Ethereum is a second generation blockchain widely considered to be the second most popular crypto after Bitcoin. The currency generated by the Ethereum blockchain is called Ether. Ethereum also functions as an operating system for the development of decentralised applications (DApps) and smart contracts. 

Blockchain technology is safe and robust and thus ideal for storing and processing sensitive information. The revolutionary aspect behind blockchain is that processes are not completed by one, but by many computers, simultaneously.

Bitcoin is a typical application. Trust in Bitcoin is secured through a decentralised, immutable ledger that is not run by a single company or government but by an independent community of computers all around the world. 

All computers are in the same network, called a peer-to-peer network. Inside the industry, this model is often called a “distributed trust model”. 

The opener on the first page of the Bitcoin Whitepaper is the abstract of the publication containing a summary that describes the content and purpose of the whitepaper. 

Fundamentally, the purpose of Bitcoin is developing computer technology for enabling multiple parties to send payments online directly to each other (“peer-to-peer cash system”) without requiring a financial institution such as a bank. First and foremost it goes without saying that the underlying system for such transactions would need to meet a number of security requirements.  

As the proposed transaction is to be cashless and be executed online, the problem of double spending would need to be addressed. Double spending is the potential weakness in a digital cash system - the possibility that the same unit of value (the token) could be spent twice if someone duplicates or falsifies a token.