Cryptocurrencies/Ethereum Tokens
The following are the cryptocurrencies and Ethereum-based tokens that use their own blockchains to facilitate the cryptologically secure transactions. These are some of the most popular, but there are currently hundreds with more tokens being created every day. After looking at the different coins, please use the wallet guide link to understand how to safely store your coins. A great collection of various resources can be found at cryptostack.xyz.
Ethereum
"Ethereum is an open-source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract (scripting) functionality, which facilitates online contractual agreements. It provides a decentralized Turing-complete virtual machine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes. Ethereum also provides a cryptocurrency token called 'ether', which can be transferred between accounts and used to compensate participant nodes for computations performed. 'Gas', an internal transaction pricing mechanism, is used to mitigate spam and allocate resources on the network." [Source]
Litecoin
"Litecoin (LTC or Ł) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open source software project released under the MIT/X11 license. Creation and transfer of coins is based on an open source cryptographic protocol and is not managed by any central authority. While inspired by, and in most regards technically nearly identical to Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin has some technical improvements over Bitcoin, and most other major cryptocurrencies, such as the adoption of Segregated Witness, and the Lightning Network. These effectively allow a greater amount of transactions to be processed by the network in a given time, reducing potential bottlenecks, as seen with Bitcoin. Litecoin also has almost zero payment cost and facilitates payments approximately four times faster than Bitcoin." [Source]
Bitcoin
"Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and a digital payment system invented by an unknown programmer, or a group of programmers, under the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It was released as open-source software in 2009. The system is peer-to-peer, and transactions take place between users directly, without an intermediary. These transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Since the system works without a central repository or single administrator, bitcoin is called the first decentralized digital currency. Besides being created as a reward for mining, bitcoin can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services in legal or black markets. As of February 2015, over 100,000 merchants and vendors accepted bitcoin as payment." [Source]