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.
подтверждение bitcoin boom bitcoin dao ethereum bitcoin комбайн cronox bitcoin ethereum бесплатно bitcoin banking bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin casino calculator ethereum bitcoin рбк qiwi bitcoin bitcoin история bitcoin биткоин dark bitcoin api bitcoin bitcoin добыть Second, not everyone agrees on this method of change. How do you execute a system-wide upgrade when participation is decentralized? Should everyone have to update their bitcoin software? What if some miners, nodes and merchants don’t?box bitcoin bitcoin calc
bitcoin mastercard
tether tools phoenix bitcoin удвоить bitcoin токен bitcoin bitcoin goldmine bitcoin cap майнеры ethereum
ethereum nicehash инструмент bitcoin bitcoin котировки проекта ethereum monero hardware bitcoin кранов pro100business bitcoin dark bitcoin алгоритмы bitcoin mastering bitcoin
bitcoin vpn community bitcoin bitcoin microsoft обвал ethereum bitcoin конвертер bitcoin 123 calculator bitcoin bitcoin venezuela
tether usb second bitcoin bitcoin review bitcoin network download tether комиссия bitcoin bitcoin metal bitcoin книга bitcoin cards bitcoin миллионер 2016 bitcoin
bitcoin paper
tp tether grayscale bitcoin bitcoin блог bitcoin grafik количество bitcoin prune bitcoin рост bitcoin
bitcoin chart nonce bitcoin hashrate bitcoin cryptocurrency gold sgminer monero
ethereum видеокарты
bitcoin yandex Phase 0: the Beacon Chain will be launched, and the 'finality gadget' will be introduced. This phase is expected to be completed in 2020. BETH ('Beacon ETH') will also be introduced and serve as staking rewards for validators.By taking part in a mining pool, individuals give up some of their autonomy in the mining process. They are typically bound by terms set by the pool itself, which may dictate how the mining process is approached. They are also required to divide up any potential rewards, meaning that the share of profit is lower for an individual participating in a pool.bitcoin dynamics bitcoin signals
The possibilities for blockchain implementation seem endless, as its underlying technology can be leveraged in many fields to perform these important tasks and more:go bitcoin bitcoin multiplier ethereum casino bitcoin вложить купить bitcoin buy tether bitcoin сети вывод bitcoin bitcoin youtube bitcoin цены
bitcoin математика ethereum contract обменник bitcoin bitcoin пирамида supernova ethereum monero hashrate bitcoin 1000 bitcoin бонус bitcoin casascius For solving the puzzle, a miner searches a block nonce. The one who finds it first is a winner. The efficiency of miner depends on its speed in searching the right nonce.е bitcoin trezor bitcoin mmm bitcoin monero fork bitcoin kraken сигналы bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin комиссия bitcoin
bitcoin monkey куплю bitcoin bitcoin click удвоить bitcoin
bitcoin зарегистрировать bitcoin s bitcoin miner alipay bitcoin курса ethereum
bitcoin pay bcc bitcoin takara bitcoin tether верификация покер bitcoin monero обменять bitcoin форум bitcoin lurk car bitcoin bitcoin сети полевые bitcoin bitcoin matrix
bitcoin опционы faucet cryptocurrency information bitcoin bitcoin bitrix bitcoin регистрация blogspot bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama alipay bitcoin maining bitcoin краны monero bitcoin paw bitcoin otc mercado bitcoin заработка bitcoin bitcoin hyip bitcoin установка polkadot store bitcoin cfd bitcoin vip bitcoin luxury bitcoin гарант ethereum supernova bitcoin cache cryptocurrency tech 3. Ethereum 2.0: PoS, beacon chain, side-chains, and shardingCardano vs Ethereum: The Ultimate Comparisonперспективы bitcoin bitcoin мошенники bitcoin get purchase bitcoin monero обменять cryptocurrency magazine 600 bitcoin
bitcoin ann bitcoin протокол r bitcoin kupit bitcoin avto bitcoin bitcoin 99 bitcoin antminer
майнер monero bitcoin carding вклады bitcoin криптовалюта tether
tether пополнение bitcoin convert monero free bitcoin 999
ledger bitcoin
putin bitcoin bitcoin direct
развод bitcoin bitcoin 4000 bitcoin com tradingview bitcoin dollar bitcoin перевод bitcoin ethereum википедия dark bitcoin продать ethereum bitcoin генератор bitcoin electrum mastering bitcoin bitcoin nvidia бесплатно ethereum перспектива bitcoin genesis bitcoin ethereum zcash bitcoin отзывы bitcointalk ethereum ethereum habrahabr bitcoin exchanges bitcoin account bitcoin biz monero fr panda bitcoin bitcoin сколько сеть bitcoin bitcoin favicon
korbit bitcoin antminer bitcoin обновление ethereum бумажник bitcoin bitcoin официальный bitcoin sberbank ethereum 1070 bitcoin expanse
film bitcoin redex bitcoin компания bitcoin bitcoin майнер bitcoin cran bitcoin aliens
bitcoin pizza bitcoin 20 bitcoin zona bitcoin оплата monero logo bitrix bitcoin connect bitcoin bitcoin de key bitcoin
p2pool bitcoin bitcoin rotator обновление ethereum система bitcoin
buying bitcoin auction bitcoin weekend bitcoin
spend bitcoin bitcoin mmm bitcoin s bitcoin python кошелька ethereum ethereum капитализация bitcoin ios ethereum обмен ethereum online bitcoin earnings bitcoin skrill
приложения bitcoin bitcoin 1000 blake bitcoin bitcoin boom 4 bitcoin jaxx monero bitcoin android bitcoin protocol обменник ethereum
bitcoin com символ bitcoin bitcoin drip airbit bitcoin проекта ethereum bitcoin trend
wei ethereum
bitcoin отслеживание bitcoin gold bitcoin asic faucet cryptocurrency bitcoin 2016 bitcoin fan часы bitcoin bitcoin xt joker bitcoin cold bitcoin ethereum кошелька bitcoin игры bitcoin payment flash bitcoin bitcoin стоимость
avto bitcoin ethereum покупка
spots cryptocurrency view bitcoin краны monero цена ethereum bitcoin карта 33 bitcoin change bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость tether ethereum проекты
mercado bitcoin bitcoin hype maps bitcoin bitcoin зарабатывать
ethereum node ico bitcoin
bitcoin торрент home bitcoin bitcoin счет bitcoin flapper bitcoin dance ethereum price
gadget bitcoin ubuntu bitcoin dorks bitcoin автомат bitcoin bitcoin multisig ethereum котировки monero github кран bitcoin
rx580 monero bitcoin eu
ethereum график bitcoin neteller tether верификация рынок bitcoin заработать bitcoin bitcoin crypto
ethereum рост konvert bitcoin stealer bitcoin криптовалюты bitcoin bitcoin froggy смысл bitcoin accepts bitcoin
polkadot stingray обмен bitcoin стоимость bitcoin
circle bitcoin bitcoin card обмен tether bitcoin algorithm ethereum wikipedia bitcoin blog bitcoin help bitcoin torrent bitcoin лайткоин bitcoin 9000 bitcoin раздача биржи bitcoin ethereum fork bitcoin 2000 ethereum wallet ethereum перспективы проекты bitcoin tether coin создатель ethereum difficulty ethereum strategy bitcoin будущее ethereum
bitcoin торговля bitcoin p2p foto bitcoin There is some discussion and debate about whether this a fatal flaw for some permissioned blockchain projects.bitcoin twitter bitcoin alert сложность ethereum dwarfpool monero bitcoin future ethereum сайт bitcoin carding
обновление ethereum 1 bitcoin карты bitcoin лотереи bitcoin
platinum bitcoin bitcoin оборот
To lower the costs, bitcoin miners have set up in places like Iceland where geothermal energy is cheap and cooling Arctic air is free. Bitcoin miners are known to use hydroelectric power in Tibet, Quebec, Washington (state), and Austria to reduce electricity costs. Miners are attracted to suppliers such as Hydro Quebec that have energy surpluses. According to a University of Cambridge study, much of bitcoin mining is done in China, where electricity is subsidized by the government.Many companies have created consortiums using protocols like Hyperledger Fabric, which are private permissioned blockchains.What is the great accomplishment of the idea of Bitcoin? In discussing Bitcoin’s recent rise to $10How These Components Work Together in the Blockchain Ecosystembitcoinwisdom ethereum
It is those people, technology historians, and nostalgic old-timers who are the intended readers of this site.New bitcoins are created roughly every 10 minutes in batches of 25 coins, with each coin worth around $730 at current rates. Your computer—in collaboration with those of everyone else reading this post who clicked the button above—is racing thousands of others to unlock and claim the next batch.bitcoin обучение ethereum info rise cryptocurrency конференция bitcoin
ютуб bitcoin clame bitcoin tether приложения matrix bitcoin
Late 2010: Slush launched the first mining poolbtc bitcoin monero майнер kaspersky bitcoin monero exchange cryptocurrency bitcoin депозит bitcoin bitrix bitcoin 100 sgminer monero bitcoin фирмы decred ethereum bitcoin protocol bitcoin комиссия форк bitcoin bux bitcoin mail bitcoin
bitcoin форекс
Multipools switch between different altcoins and constantly calculate which coin is at that moment the most profitable to mine. Two key factors are involved in the algorithm that calculates profitability, the block time, and the price on the exchanges. To avoid the need for many different wallets for all possible minable coins, multipools may automatically exchange the mined coin to a coin that is accepted in the mainstream (for example bitcoin). Using this method, because the most profitable coins are being mined and then sold for the intended coin, it is possible to receive more coins in the intended currency than by mining that currency alone. This method also increases demand on the intended coin, which has the side effect of increasing or stabilizing the value of the intended coin.Cryptocurrency walletNumber of Miners: 10339книга bitcoin ethereum microsoft Cold Storage in Practicereddit bitcoin reddit cryptocurrency bitcoin cz запросы bitcoin bitcoin обналичить уязвимости bitcoin bitcoin currency lamborghini bitcoin ethereum контракт bitcoin investment iso bitcoin ethereum com linux bitcoin tether usd bitcoin миллионеры фьючерсы bitcoin google bitcoin тинькофф bitcoin пример bitcoin bitcoin example bitcoin goldman store bitcoin
bitcoin it bitcoin пирамида
bitcoin play
кошелька bitcoin to bitcoin bitcoin signals bitcoin сеть bitcoin io KEY TAKEAWAYSroulette bitcoin ethereum бесплатно
bitcoin options bitcoin knots hardware bitcoin
cryptocurrency
bitcoin explorer bitcoin antminer pull bitcoin blogspot bitcoin bitcoin коллектор ethereum serpent mineable cryptocurrency bitcoin stealer ethereum addresses bitcoin статья bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin xl бесплатные bitcoin sec bitcoin bitcoin математика ethereum blockchain transactions bitcoin talk bitcoin bitcoin автосерфинг fasterclick bitcoin transactions bitcoin ethereum пулы дешевеет bitcoin mt5 bitcoin best cryptocurrency ethereum проекты валюта ethereum cryptocurrency trading tether usd bitcoin widget bitcoin rpc tether bootstrap bitcoin оборот сети bitcoin bitcoin formula ethereum сайт cpuminer monero суть bitcoin асик ethereum сайт ethereum nanopool ethereum Many people prefer precious metals to cryptocurrencies when it comes to alternative investments.monero rub автомат bitcoin tether wifi usd bitcoin ethereum com ethereum пулы bitcoin генератор bitcoin games monero кран vpn bitcoin теханализ bitcoin plus500 bitcoin bitcoin расшифровка wallet tether bitcoin anonymous monero nicehash click bitcoin bitcoin развод bitcoin download ethereum block ethereum block добыча bitcoin
bitcoin reward 1070 ethereum server bitcoin bitcoin mining исходники bitcoin биржа ethereum платформа bitcoin bitcoin магазины ethereum blockchain бесплатные bitcoin bitcoin tx добыча monero hosting bitcoin lazy bitcoin bitcoin lottery цена ethereum bitcoin passphrase bitcoin приложение dogecoin bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin official ethereum регистрация telegram bitcoin rates bitcoin bitcoin валюты bitcoin бесплатные кошельки bitcoin love bitcoin remix ethereum конвертер bitcoin monero хардфорк bitcoin xpub
bitcoin facebook