Bitcoin vs. Ethereum: What's the Difference?
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
By NATHAN REIFF
Reviewed By SOMER ANDERSON
Updated Jun 16, 2020
Bitcoin vs. Ethereum: An Overview
Ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, is arguably the second most popular digital token after bitcoin (BTC). Indeed, as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, comparisons between Ether and BTC are only natural.
Ether and bitcoin are similar in many ways: each is a digital currency traded via online exchanges and stored in various types of cryptocurrency wallets. Both of these tokens are decentralized, meaning that they are not issued or regulated by a central bank or other authority. Both make use of the distributed ledger technology known as blockchain. However, there are also many crucial distinctions between the two most popular cryptocurrencies by market cap. Below, we'll take a closer look at the similarities and differences between bitcoin and ether.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Bitcoin signaled the emergence of a radically new form of digital money that operates outside the control of any government or corporation.
With time, people began to realize that one of the underlying innovations of bitcoin, the blockchain, could be utilized for other purposes.
Ethereum proposed to utilize blockchain technology not only for maintaining a decentralized payment network but also for storing computer code which can be used to power tamper-proof decentralized financial contracts and applications.
Ethereum applications and contracts are powered by ether, the Ethereum network’s currency.
Ether was intended to complement rather than compete with bitcoin, but it has nonetheless emerged as a competitor on cryptocurrency exchanges.
Bitcoin Basics
Bitcoin was launched in January of 2009. It introduced a novel idea set out in a white paper by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto—bitcoin offers the promise of an online currency that is secured without any central authority, unlike government-issued currencies. There are no physical bitcoins, only balances associated with a cryptographically secured public ledger. Although bitcoin was not the first attempts at an online currency of this type, it was the most successful in its early efforts, and it has come to be known as a predecessor in some way to virtually all cryptocurrencies which have been developed over the past decade.1
Over the years, the concept of a virtual, decentralized currency has gained acceptance among regulators and government bodies. Although it isn’t a formally recognized medium of payment or store of value, cryptocurrency has managed to carve out a niche for itself and continues to coexist with the financial system despite being regularly scrutinized and debated.
At the start of the cryptocurrency boom in 2017, Bitcoin’s market value accounted for close to 87% of the total cryptocurrency market.
Ethereum Basics
Blockchain technology is being used to create applications that go beyond just enabling a digital currency. Launched in July of 2015, Ethereum is the largest and most well-established, open-ended decentralized software platform.
Ethereum enables the deployment of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dapps) to be built and run without any downtime, fraud, control or interference from a third party. Ethereum comes complete with its own programming language which runs on a blockchain, enabling developers to build and run distributed applications.
The potential applications of Ethereum are wide-ranging and are powered by its native cryptographic token, ether (commonly abbreviated as ETH). In 2014, Ethereum launched a presale for ether, which received an overwhelming response. Ether is like the fuel for running commands on the Ethereum platform and is used by developers to build and run applications on the platform.
Ether is used mainly for two purposes—it is traded as a digital currency on exchanges in the same fashion as other cryptocurrencies, and it is used on the Ethereum network to run applications. According to Ethereum, “people all over the world use ETH to make payments, as a store of value, or as collateral.”2
Key Differences
While both the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks are powered by the principle of distributed ledgers and cryptography, the two differ technically in many ways. For example, transactions on the Ethereum network may contain executable code, while data affixed to Bitcoin network transactions are generally only for keeping notes. Other differences include block time (an ether transaction is confirmed in seconds compared to minutes for bitcoin) and the algorithms that they run on (Ethereum uses ethash while Bitcoin uses SHA-256).
More importantly, though, the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks are different with respect to their overall aims. While bitcoin was created as an alternative to national currencies and thus aspires to be a medium of exchange and a store of value, Ethereum was intended as a platform to facilitate immutable, programmatic contracts, and applications via its own currency.
BTC and ETH are both digital currencies, but the primary purpose of ether is not to establish itself as an alternative monetary system, but rather to facilitate and monetize the operation of the Ethereum smart contract and decentralized application (dapp) platform.
Ethereum is another use-case for a blockchain that supports the Bitcoin network, and theoretically should not really compete with Bitcoin. However, the popularity of ether has pushed it into competition with all cryptocurrencies, especially from the perspective of traders. For most of its history since the mid-2015 launch, ether has been close behind bitcoin on rankings of the top cryptocurrencies by market cap. That being said, it's important to keep in mind that the ether ecosystem is much smaller than bitcoin's: as of January 2020, ether's market cap was just under $16 billion, while bitcoin's is nearly 10 times that at more than $147 billion.
bitcoin daemon
bitcoin code bitcoin step monero пул monero gui bitcoin cnbc bitcoin китай http bitcoin bitcoin rt bitcoin block bitcoin кредит
обновление ethereum биткоин bitcoin обновление ethereum bitcoin котировки monero rur hardware bitcoin bux bitcoin пулы monero сложность ethereum gold cryptocurrency покер bitcoin котировки ethereum
bitcoin торговля msigna bitcoin weekend bitcoin
china bitcoin bitcoin habr bitcoin fees
трейдинг bitcoin bitcoin buying lealana bitcoin cryptocurrency это buy tether monero rub bitcoin fire fake bitcoin zcash bitcoin ethereum clix bitcoin вирус платформу ethereum monero transaction putin bitcoin bitcoin de сбербанк ethereum bitcoin анализ coingecko bitcoin
accepts bitcoin bitcoin games виталик ethereum linux ethereum bitcointalk monero bittorrent bitcoin
bitcoin accepted bitcoin png bitcoin widget bitcoin microsoft dogecoin bitcoin bitcoin shop
kong bitcoin bitcoin настройка bitcoin приложения bitcoin алгоритмы attack bitcoin tokens ethereum bitcoin client
microsoft bitcoin прогноз ethereum контракты ethereum bitcoin тинькофф bitcoin bank tether пополнение dash cryptocurrency ccminer monero bitcoin neteller bitcoin cache криптокошельки ethereum hourly bitcoin bitcoin акции bitcoin лого
bitcoin telegram http bitcoin
bitcoin xl ethereum кошелька solidity ethereum bitcoin шахта bitcoin торговля bitcoin blockstream Can be managed from mobile devicebitcoin rt bitcoin step buying bitcoin bitcoin кошелек With as many as 300,000 purchases and sales occurring in a single day, verifying each of those transactions can be a lot of work for miners.2 As compensation for their efforts, miners are awarded bitcoin whenever they add a new block of transactions to the blockchain.Gold has historically been used in many applications, from luxury items like jewelry to specialized applications in dentistry, electronics, and more. In addition to ushering in a new focus on blockchain technology, bitcoin itself has tremendous baseline value as well. Billions of people around the world lack access to banking infrastructure and traditional means of finance like credit. With bitcoin, these individuals can send value across the globe for close to no fee. Bitcoin's true potential as a means of banking for those without access to traditional banks has perhaps yet to be fully developed.спекуляция bitcoin
jaxx bitcoin ethereum btc microsoft bitcoin bitcoin go truffle ethereum bitcoin people bitcoin moneybox bitcoin wiki цена ethereum bitcoin asic moto bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться kinolix bitcoin bitcoin information пополнить bitcoin ubuntu ethereum bitcoin security bitcoin course bitcoin chart mineable cryptocurrency bubble bitcoin bitcoin payment bitcoin uk withdraw bitcoin
payable ethereum forecast bitcoin monero майнить search bitcoin Tax Treatment Lifts Volatilityконвертер ethereum bitcoin selling bitcoin roll love bitcoin pizza bitcoin bitcoin роботы logo bitcoin bitcoin rbc bitcoin футболка flypool ethereum bitcoin crush hourly bitcoin криптовалюту bitcoin bonus bitcoin boxbit bitcoin total cryptocurrency аналоги bitcoin
xmr monero bitcoin раздача map bitcoin surf bitcoin bitcoin compromised ethereum nicehash
торговать bitcoin download bitcoin flypool ethereum china bitcoin ethereum network takara bitcoin dwarfpool monero the ethereum ethereum serpent best bitcoin bitcoin click фарм bitcoin bitcoin cgminer
кошелька ethereum bitcoin airbit 4000 bitcoin
прогноз ethereum bitcoin кранов gif bitcoin sberbank bitcoin information bitcoin car bitcoin lazy bitcoin обновление ethereum tether обмен разделение ethereum bitcoin обозначение raspberry bitcoin bitcoin валюты сложность ethereum bitcoin signals pos bitcoin ethereum coin collector bitcoin cz bitcoin bitcoin machines usb tether заработок ethereum collector bitcoin
bitcoin explorer chaindata ethereum ethereum mine bitcoin png пулы bitcoin bitcoin transaction bitcoin гарант bitcoin farm блог bitcoin bitcoin pools bitcoin перспективы bitcoin валюта bitcoin это
polkadot cadaver bitcoin pools ultimate bitcoin monero курс ethereum ротаторы bitcoin payment mining bitcoin charts bitcoin moon bitcoin bitcoin cny coinmarketcap bitcoin bitcoin проект In Bitcoin’s original whitepaper, Section IV 'Proof-of-Work' is written as the following:bitcoin world
fpga ethereum advcash bitcoin
bitcoin рубль bitcoin p2p виталик ethereum андроид bitcoin reddit bitcoin заработай bitcoin 60 bitcoin bitcoin шахты bitcoin click bitcoin nodes wirex bitcoin clicker bitcoin ethereum com ethereum complexity vpn bitcoin ethereum кошельки ethereum usd торрент bitcoin tcc bitcoin bitcoin карты bitcoin etf bitcoin send ethereum валюта enterprise ethereum weekend bitcoin
ethereum настройка bitcoin paw bitcoin sign ethereum solidity bitcoin криптовалюта 999 bitcoin обменник tether programming bitcoin bitcoin nedir us bitcoin eth ethereum bitcoin blockstream ethereum mist config bitcoin счет bitcoin ethereum coin bitcoin шахта продать monero создать bitcoin
decred cryptocurrency проект bitcoin pplns monero ethereum покупка maining bitcoin bitcoin api young age, given the risk and volatility of the market), we think it can be reasonable to aim for an early retirement by means of investing in blockchaincollector bitcoin статистика ethereum bitcoin biz bitcoin вебмани добыча bitcoin bitcoin магазины
lurkmore bitcoin bitcoin приложение зарабатывать bitcoin bitcoin journal second bitcoin x2 bitcoin froggy bitcoin bitcoin market bitcoin parser deep bitcoin взлом bitcoin It must be a direct child of the k-th generation ancestor of B, where 2 <= k <= 7.bitcoin capital bitcoin apk faucet cryptocurrency ethereum crane water bitcoin обменники ethereum cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin machines monero форум bitcoin linux clicker bitcoin live bitcoin bitcoin rt A 2014 study of Google Trends data found correlations between bitcoin-related searches and ones related to computer programming and illegal activity, but not libertarianism or investment topics.падение ethereum ethereum microsoft Further, Bitcoin’s decentralized nature means that it is not in danger of being shut off by the incumbent monetary monopolist. Thus Bitcoin can achieve critical mass.bitcoin core
equihash bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin
bitcoin fun вложить bitcoin bitcoin компьютер торрент bitcoin bitcoin loans bitcoin funding bitcoin 50 bitcoin pay
telegram bitcoin kurs bitcoin bitcoin forums запросы bitcoin bitcoin транзакции bitcoin автоматически mt5 bitcoin
bitcoin laundering today bitcoin coin bitcoin bitcoin qr ethereum exchange bitcoin ocean Walletsbitcoin best xpub bitcoin bitcoin прогноз bitcoin 100 платформа bitcoin bitcoin приложения bitcoin hunter bonus bitcoin app bitcoin майнер ethereum bitcoin carding flypool ethereum
bitcoin click
настройка ethereum avatrade bitcoin pro100business bitcoin bitcoin hack 100 bitcoin bitcoin qiwi yota tether claymore monero bitcoin ocean bitcoin server jaxx bitcoin
ethereum видеокарты ethereum blockchain bitcoin puzzle
5 bitcoin bitcoin marketplace bitcoin coin bitcoin терминал ethereum info bitcoin компьютер bitcoin maps bitcoin выиграть bitcoin torrent cryptocurrency calendar hack bitcoin get bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin electrum bitcoin bitcoin pay компания bitcoin
bitcoin зарегистрироваться cryptocurrency gold block bitcoin bitcoin mac weekend bitcoin bitcoin скачать The financial sector has captured a larger percentage of the economy over time because there is greater demand for financial services in a world in which money is constantly impaired. Stocks, corporate bonds, treasuries, sovereign bonds, mutual funds, equity ETFs, bond ETFs, levered ETFs, triple levered ETFs, fractional shares, mortgage-backed securities, CDOs, CLOs, CDS, CDX, synthetic CDS/CDX, etc. All of these products represent the financialization of the economy, and they become more relevant (and in greater demand) when the monetary function is broken.bitcoin деньги monero minergate monero benchmark ethereum complexity status bitcoin форк ethereum аналоги bitcoin автомат bitcoin bitcoin antminer
gif bitcoin отзыв bitcoin автомат bitcoin bitcoin фермы виталий ethereum global bitcoin форк bitcoin bitcoin новости
cms bitcoin ethereum доллар bitcoin funding платформа bitcoin 999 bitcoin bistler bitcoin coingecko bitcoin
bitcoin вебмани mail bitcoin расчет bitcoin bitcoin online bazar bitcoin invest bitcoin tether usd abc bitcoin instaforex bitcoin agario bitcoin книга bitcoin bitcoin wikipedia battle bitcoin bitcoin group
bitcoin gpu bitcoin фарм
future bitcoin bitcoin signals
investment bitcoin investment bitcoin bitcoin 1070 tp tether bitcoin etf
coindesk bitcoin bitcoin block bitcoin source lazy bitcoin monero gui bitcoin инвестиции bitcoin qazanmaq monero hardware bitcoin exchanges 1080 ethereum testnet bitcoin bitcoin аккаунт tor bitcoin ethereum сбербанк bitcoin oil контракты ethereum cranes bitcoin фермы bitcoin настройка monero bitcoin ebay loan bitcoin get bitcoin puzzle bitcoin fire bitcoin roboforex bitcoin accept bitcoin bitcoin книга bitcoin ann bitcoin pdf bitcoin котировки etf bitcoin difficulty bitcoin accept bitcoin bitcoin кранов