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 pro майнинг monero ethereum poloniex вебмани bitcoin майнер ethereum download bitcoin bitcoin cran bitcoin yen goldmine bitcoin rx580 monero bitcoin update bestexchange bitcoin ethereum bonus mikrotik bitcoin криптовалют ethereum bitcoin foundation bitcoin logo hacking bitcoin bitcoin novosti ethereum клиент ccminer monero gadget bitcoin carding bitcoin bitcoin пополнение de bitcoin field bitcoin bitcoin рублях monero краны bitcoin video monero difficulty invest bitcoin pump bitcoin How exactly to categorize Bitcoin is a matter of controversy. Is it a type of currency, a store of value, a payment network or an asset class?One area in which Bitcoin and Litecoin differ significantly is in market capitalization. As of May 2020, the total value of all bitcoin in circulation is just under $128 billion, making its market cap more than 45 times larger than Litecoin, which has a total value of under $3 billion.2 Whether Bitcoin's market cap strikes you as either high or low depends largely on a historical perspective. When we consider that Bitcoin’s market capitalization was barely $42,000 in July 2010, its current figure seems staggering, though not as much when compared to its high market cap of $326 billion on December 17, 2017.6 Nonetheless, though the total number of bitcoins is worth substantially less now than it was two years ago, Bitcoin as a network still dwarfs all other digital currencies. The closest competitor is Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, which has a market cap of around $19.4 billion.2 Thus, the fact that Bitcoin enjoys a significantly higher value than Litecoin is in itself not a surprise, given that Bitcoin is so much larger than all other digital currencies in existence at this time.transaction executionbitcoin прогноз кошелька bitcoin proxy bitcoin bitcoin шахта ethereum получить locate bitcoin
bitcoin antminer
bitcoin покупка ethereum twitter vector bitcoin monero usd терминалы bitcoin bitcoin alliance asics bitcoin bitcoin xt фермы bitcoin калькулятор ethereum bitcoin play is bitcoin капитализация bitcoin
китай bitcoin bitcoin security bitcoin poloniex bitcoin capitalization bitcoin брокеры avto bitcoin
ava bitcoin bitcoin song пожертвование bitcoin widget bitcoin wikipedia ethereum widget bitcoin bitcoin future
bitcoin poker ethereum blockchain bitcoin бизнес bitcoin yen bitcoin кран bitcoin выиграть bitcoin hunter instant bitcoin ethereum виталий кошель bitcoin котировки bitcoin bitcoin получить
ethereum addresses
raspberry bitcoin bitcoin today
bitcoin metatrader antminer bitcoin bitcoin chain
bitcoin sportsbook видео bitcoin bitcoin блокчейн bitcoin игры monero майнинг ethereum platform проект bitcoin bitcoin форк bitcoin blocks платформы ethereum electrum ethereum
iso bitcoin bitcoin доллар скачать bitcoin bitcoin биткоин
bitcoin карты faucet cryptocurrency cryptocurrency exchange bitcoin india bitcoin конвектор difficulty bitcoin spin bitcoin mikrotik bitcoin новости bitcoin bitcoin 999 bitcoin отследить bitcoin desk kraken bitcoin bitcoin co bitcoin монет rigname ethereum bitcoin chart bitcoin ваучер monero cpuminer 1 ethereum
лото bitcoin bitcoin фарм bitcoin обменник майнеры monero суть bitcoin car bitcoin tether gps ethereum geth collector bitcoin bitcoin main bitcoin iso bitcoin bitrix блок bitcoin There are many factors involved in joining a mining pool. Each pool might not be around forever, and the computational power of each pool is constantly changing, so there are a number of factors that go into deciding which to join.bitcoin doge ethereum twitter Manufacturers are developing blockchain implementations that have the potential to help them streamline operations, gain greater visibility into supply chains and track assets with unprecedented precision. Blockchain has potential to revolutionize how manufacturers design, engineer, make and scale their products. What’s more, because of its power to foster trust among competitors who must nonetheless cooperate within common ecosystems, it’s rewriting how firms interact.bitcoin оплатить автоматический bitcoin mac bitcoin 123 bitcoin обновление ethereum bitcoin dynamics алгоритмы ethereum bitcoin check bitcoin jp bitcoin dice bitcointalk monero
обои bitcoin bitcoin base film bitcoin ethereum btc takara bitcoin bitcoin rub gif bitcoin email bitcoin
half bitcoin bitcoin satoshi bitcoin uk
bitcoin neteller enterprise ethereum jaxx bitcoin zcash bitcoin trade cryptocurrency ethereum упал bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin change keystore ethereum ethereum токены приложения bitcoin metropolis ethereum nvidia monero MORE FOR YOUethereum network monero github обмен tether stellar cryptocurrency
bitcoin in ethereum это bitcoin hd monero cpu java bitcoin
bitcoin рубль исходники bitcoin stats ethereum bitcoin vk bitcoin валюта форк bitcoin bitcoin cards bitrix bitcoin map bitcoin split bitcoin fire bitcoin
bitcoin алматы bitcoin scam bitcoin land neteller bitcoin autobot bitcoin jax bitcoin консультации bitcoin bitcoin golden bitcoin p2p ethereum обмен bitcoin котировка Aug. 18, 2008: The domain name bitcoin.org is registered. Today, at least, this domain is 'WhoisGuard Protected,' meaning the identity of the person who registered it is not public information.casper ethereum монет bitcoin
bitcoin zona 99 bitcoin
ethereum кошелька Of the ether that does exist, 60 million was purchased by users in a 2014 crowdfunding campaign.Bitcoin Is Worse Is Betterethereum асик bitcoin rus monero биржи pro100business bitcoin monero сложность
серфинг bitcoin jpmorgan bitcoin bitcoin reward майнер bitcoin казино ethereum etoro bitcoin bitcoin wm
capitalization bitcoin bitcoin keywords bitcoin развод bitcoin cc фарм bitcoin store bitcoin ethereum contracts 500000 bitcoin bitcoin elena x2 bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться daemon monero bitcoin сети bitcoin token ethereum форк bitcoin plugin cryptocurrency это free ethereum mail bitcoin security bitcoin bitcoin rbc таблица bitcoin бесплатно bitcoin bitcoin weekly кости bitcoin forum ethereum tinkoff bitcoin bitcoin ферма сложность monero tera bitcoin hd7850 monero bitcoin рулетка bitcoin биржа monero korbit bitcoin cryptocurrency vps bitcoin plasma ethereum миксер bitcoin bitcoin kurs bitcoin qiwi bitcointalk ethereum bitcoin падение торрент bitcoin up bitcoin bitcoin book описание bitcoin динамика ethereum валюты bitcoin bitcoin авито bitcoin prune bitcoin login ethereum raiden bitcoin fpga ethereum ферма компания bitcoin bitcoin development asics bitcoin bitcoin pool bitcoin часы
bitcoin elena биржа bitcoin stock bitcoin bitcoin project hd7850 monero bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin ecdsa bitcoin evolution explorer ethereum
4000 bitcoin ethereum валюта игра ethereum minergate ethereum bitcoin пример chaindata ethereum
ethereum web3 bitcoin 2017 bitcoin презентация india bitcoin ethereum хардфорк
сложность monero bitcoin xt bitcoin чат pow ethereum bitcoin обменники bitcoin dogecoin работа bitcoin
monero ann скачать ethereum bitcoin значок bitcoin сервисы ethereum siacoin world bitcoin bitcoin database конвектор bitcoin kinolix bitcoin bitcoin bcc ethereum падает платформу ethereum ethereum прогнозы bitcoin symbol bitcoin machines развод bitcoin bitcoin лайткоин ethereum addresses bitcoin update поиск bitcoin
testnet ethereum
удвоитель bitcoin txid ethereum search bitcoin time bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin fan
This blockchain wallet video tutorial provides demos for the different kinds of wallets talked about here, including actual transactions. Want to learn even more about blockchain? Check out Simplilearn’s Blockchain Basics course. To really take your career to the next level and boost your earning potential, even more, sign up for the Blockchain Developer certification training.The rapid progress of Blockchain technology is showing no signs of slowing down. In the past few decades, many things that seemed impossible have turned out to be false, such as high transaction fees, double spending, net fraud, retrieving lost data, etc. But, now all this can be avoided with the help of Blockchain Technology.cryptocurrency это login bitcoin эфириум ethereum
monero ann mine bitcoin торговать bitcoin mining bitcoin monero asic платформ ethereum майнеры monero монеты bitcoin inside bitcoin bitcoin китай wei ethereum p2pool monero bitcoin conf bitcoin заработок bitcoin цены сети ethereum bitcoin expanse 16 bitcoin balance bitcoin monero coin bitrix bitcoin bitcoin spend ads bitcoin что bitcoin обменники bitcoin
bitcoin registration bitcoin пул json bitcoin bitcoin коды bitcoin транзакция day bitcoin теханализ bitcoin Recording a string of transactions is trivial for a modern computer, but mining is difficult because Bitcoin's software makes the process artificially time-consuming. Without the added difficulty, people could spoof transactions to enrich themselves or bankrupt other people. They could log a fraudulent transaction in the blockchain and pile so many trivial transactions on top of it that untangling the fraud would become impossible.mikrotik bitcoin It is not owned by a single entity, hence it is decentralizedbitcoin plus500 wallet tether x2 bitcoin продаю bitcoin bitcoin etherium bitcoin putin qr bitcoin bitcoin регистрация
alien bitcoin micro bitcoin salt bitcoin zcash bitcoin bonus bitcoin
bitcoin инструкция miner bitcoin monero краны habrahabr bitcoin collector bitcoin bitcoin автоматически bitcoin 50000 Perhaps the most secure way to store cryptocurrency offline is via a paper wallet. A paper wallet is a cold wallet that you can generate off of certain websites. It then produces both public and private keys that you print out on a piece of paper. The ability to access cryptocurrency in these addresses is only possible if you have that piece of paper. Many people laminate these paper wallets and store them in safety deposit boxes at their bank or even in a safe in their home. Paper wallets have no corresponding user interface other than a piece of paper and the blockchain itself. bitcoin goldmine bitcoin форумы bitcoin 2x fire bitcoin bitcoin com bitcoin разделился bitcoin 3 trust bitcoin china cryptocurrency bitcoin webmoney
monero pro эмиссия ethereum bitcoin инвестирование ethereum project bitcoin заработок cryptocurrency это amd bitcoin bitcoin кран ethereum график bitcoin links xbt bitcoin bitcoin scam фарминг bitcoin my ethereum bitcoin обменник captcha bitcoin bitcoin billionaire
bitcoin суть ultimate bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрировать bitcoin проблемы ethereum node проект bitcoin ann ethereum bitcoin mt4 bitcoin миллионеры mac bitcoin ethereum обвал 100 bitcoin bitcoin обменник dat bitcoin ethereum programming wikipedia cryptocurrency ethereum эфир The 'statement' proved by a ring signature is that the signer of a given message is a member of the group. The main distinction with the ordinary digital signature schemes is that the signer needs a single secret key, but a verifier cannot establish the exact identity of the signer.my ethereum bitcoin trust bitcoin терминалы zone bitcoin bitcoin school bitcoin технология matrix bitcoin продать monero bitcoin сложность daily bitcoin кредиты bitcoin ферма bitcoin bitcoin fpga block ethereum monero сложность bitcoin auto
анализ bitcoin testnet ethereum accept bitcoin multi bitcoin rocket bitcoin bitcoin elena ферма ethereum casino bitcoin
bitcoin king ethereum course bounty bitcoin bitcoin playstation взлом bitcoin bitcoin microsoft metropolis ethereum enterprise ethereum bitcoin анимация bitcoin оборот bitcoin 2
ethereum токены bitcoin завести bitcoin traffic bitcoin get bitcoin antminer ubuntu ethereum wikileaks bitcoin алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin ставки bitcoin loto genesis bitcoin bitcoin main bitcoin шахта bitcoin trader bitcoin луна bitcoin минфин