What is a litecoin?

So litecoin simplistically is the same idea that bitcoin is. A peer to peer crypto-digital currency that allows instant payments world wide that is faster then bitcoins transactions. Litecoin runs off the same protocols as bitcoins but can be mined with consumer grade computer hardware unlike bitcoins needing almost industrial computer hardware. Litecoin can be mined with the exact same machines that mine bitcoins with just as much efficiency.