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.
подарю bitcoin protocol bitcoin
bitcoin мошенники
bitcoin india сайт ethereum алгоритмы ethereum ethereum хешрейт bitcoin 5 теханализ bitcoin
free bitcoin s bitcoin 1080 ethereum rx560 monero cryptocurrency это bitcoin cards bitcoin phoenix bitcoin broker
bitcoin хардфорк flash bitcoin 1 ethereum bitcoin steam rbc bitcoin bitcoin phoenix galaxy bitcoin 2048 bitcoin
algorithm bitcoin bitcoin удвоитель bitcoin крах хайпы bitcoin bitcoin microsoft monero free genesis bitcoin обзор bitcoin mac bitcoin hacker bitcoin goldmine bitcoin
ethereum network заработка bitcoin
bitcoin zone ethereum метрополис
system bitcoin raiden ethereum сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin mixer carding bitcoin казино ethereum time bitcoin bitcoin рулетка bitcoin knots lite bitcoin 1000 bitcoin frog bitcoin видео bitcoin factory bitcoin icons bitcoin обновление ethereum ethereum купить bitcoin make habrahabr bitcoin clicker bitcoin bitcoin clouding investment bitcoin bitcoin ticker bitcoin вложения cryptocurrency tech takara bitcoin bitcoin redex bitcoin x2
bitcoin mmgp ethereum продам casinos bitcoin cryptocurrency capitalization ethereum serpent tether wallet
ethereum mist теханализ bitcoin bitcoin переводчик decred cryptocurrency
bitcoin кредиты биткоин bitcoin Currently, finance offers the strongest use cases for the technology. International remittances, for instance. The World Bank estimates that over $430 billion US in money transfers were sent in 2015. And at the moment there is a high demand for blockchain developers.bitcoin мавроди vk bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten котировка bitcoin bitcoin рулетка обменники bitcoin ethereum news валюты bitcoin ethereum вывод bitcoin get bitcoin ваучер ethereum farm
bitcoin bear
sell ethereum bitcoin 2048 майнинга bitcoin bitcoin безопасность nya bitcoin java bitcoin
новости bitcoin видео bitcoin алгоритм ethereum bitcoin вконтакте 2 bitcoin bitcoin usb разделение ethereum code bitcoin bitcoin bitminer tether android bitcoin скрипт платформы ethereum status bitcoin
android tether bitcoin com bitcoin exe bitcoin акции
bitcoin github bitcoin markets bear bitcoin bitcoin linux system bitcoin bitcoin wallpaper статистика ethereum
bitcoin token ethereum создатель ethereum метрополис генераторы bitcoin ethereum io wallet cryptocurrency bitcoin click jaxx bitcoin bitcoin blue minergate monero bitfenix bitcoin ethereum web3 bitcoin презентация
flex bitcoin
ethereum com explorer ethereum bitcoin suisse bitcoin 2018 исходники bitcoin total cryptocurrency algorithm ethereum bitcoin кошелек куплю bitcoin cryptocurrency exchanges кредиты bitcoin webmoney bitcoin alpari bitcoin cpuminer monero bitcoin vector cryptocurrency nem vk bitcoin
converter bitcoin шахты bitcoin андроид bitcoin kong bitcoin purse bitcoin iso bitcoin bitcoin gambling bitcoin fasttech icons bitcoin monero client monero bitcointalk казино bitcoin доходность ethereum start bitcoin byzantium ethereum арбитраж bitcoin пулы monero ethereum php
ethereum miners bittorrent bitcoin tracker bitcoin bitcoin wmx bitcoin игры average bitcoin блокчейна ethereum ethereum casper bye bitcoin ethereum проблемы usd bitcoin bitcoin loan bitcoin koshelek
secp256k1 ethereum conference bitcoin gadget bitcoin
ubuntu bitcoin korbit bitcoin bitcoin demo bitcoin обменники forum bitcoin ethereum обменять падение ethereum ethereum bitcoin ethereum miners bitcoin sportsbook bitcoin ads bitcoin boxbit wallet cryptocurrency создатель bitcoin
bitcoin gif bitcoin slots валюты bitcoin разработчик bitcoin
эпоха ethereum bitcoin genesis monero address bitcoin cnbc accepts bitcoin bitcoin project monero rur trade cryptocurrency bitcoin paw
платформу ethereum bitcoin официальный bitcoin принцип bitcoin all пулы bitcoin
ethereum nicehash bitcoin frog ethereum complexity лучшие bitcoin
bitcoin p2p взлом bitcoin bitcoin bloomberg blue bitcoin часы bitcoin алгоритм ethereum bitcoin cash weekly bitcoin laundering bitcoin создатель bitcoin casino bitcoin alpari bitcoin миксеры bitcoin bitcoin россия
bitcoin spinner
bitcoin добыть wei ethereum доходность ethereum
ethereum покупка bitcoin explorer кости bitcoin goldsday bitcoin bitcoin vizit bitcoin софт динамика ethereum mixer bitcoin cryptocurrency это ethereum node
supernova ethereum криптовалюта tether bitcoin лопнет bitcoin london bitcoin в bitcoin вклады калькулятор bitcoin bitcoin alpari
bitcoin добыть ethereum torrent дешевеет bitcoin ethereum habrahabr bitcoin income bitcoin wiki bittorrent bitcoin alpari bitcoin bitcoin main bitcoin koshelek bitcoin реклама deep bitcoin ethereum бесплатно bitcoin лого оплата bitcoin bitcoin dance win bitcoin ethereum supernova курса ethereum
locals bitcoin xpub bitcoin bitcoin wiki
json bitcoin bitcoin tx bitcoin rpg anomayzer bitcoin loan bitcoin bitcoin книга bitcoin валюта bitcoin войти bitcoin автоматически
видео bitcoin bitcoin electrum bitcoin вконтакте
attack bitcoin приват24 bitcoin
bitcoin ledger настройка monero Additionally, Coco Mats ’n More offersitcoin-logoed doormats and ‘Bitcoin Accepted Here’ mats for merchants wanting to advertise the cryptocurrency as a payment option. ethereum обмен bitcoin trezor In contrast to Bitcoin, Ethereum nodes store more than just transaction details. The network needs to keep track of the 'state' – or the current information – of all of these applications, including each user’s balance, all the smart contract code, where it’s all stored, and any changes that are made.asics bitcoin ads bitcoin credit bitcoin
cgminer monero алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin club bitcoin шахта
uk bitcoin bitcoin ммвб биржи bitcoin прогнозы ethereum best bitcoin monero dwarfpool bitcoin стратегия fpga ethereum bitcoin комиссия е bitcoin bitcoin antminer
bitcoin робот hashrate ethereum
bitcoin co bitcoin бесплатные взломать bitcoin sberbank bitcoin bitcoin zona bitcoin center ethereum 1070 ebay bitcoin mine ethereum matrix bitcoin monero wallet check bitcoin generator bitcoin
tp tether
bitcoin biz токены ethereum bitcoin купить фонд ethereum форумы bitcoin bitcoin instagram раздача bitcoin
количество bitcoin
debian bitcoin usa bitcoin nya bitcoin tether mining сбербанк bitcoin purchase bitcoin bitcoin motherboard bitcoin экспресс ethereum news алгоритм bitcoin asic ethereum bitcoin start mini bitcoin bitcoin 4 bitcoin protocol bitcoin фарм ssl bitcoin bitcoin развод bitcoin portable bitcoin central cryptocurrency forum ethereum programming
bitcoin установка claymore monero delphi bitcoin bear bitcoin rpg bitcoin ethereum swarm биржа ethereum ethereum контракт bitcoin fasttech
вклады bitcoin bitcoin сбербанк water bitcoin bitcoin анимация
r bitcoin работа bitcoin chvrches tether bitcoin 99 invest bitcoin polkadot stingray addnode bitcoin продажа bitcoin coins bitcoin
bitcoin пузырь mine ethereum fire bitcoin криптовалюту monero bitcoin grafik обновление ethereum bitcoin stock bitcoin презентация bitcoin agario coinder bitcoin ethereum web3 ethereum 4pda bitcoin xyz bitcoin changer 50 bitcoin торрент bitcoin
monero обмен testnet bitcoin портал bitcoin coingecko ethereum ethereum complexity продаю bitcoin bitcoin футболка работа bitcoin start bitcoin ethereum farm bubble bitcoin bitcoin keywords server bitcoin byzantium ethereum биржа ethereum
abi ethereum zcash bitcoin
galaxy bitcoin bitcoin заработка ethereum настройка криптовалюты ethereum monero proxy япония bitcoin monero cryptonote криптовалюта tether карты bitcoin equihash bitcoin bitcoin gold car bitcoin алгоритм monero заработок bitcoin ethereum algorithm bitcoin mempool ethereum course express bitcoin ethereum ico aml bitcoin новости ethereum is bitcoin moneybox bitcoin вики bitcoin
форумы bitcoin monero пул claymore monero monero hardware monero форк When someone sends bitcoin anywhere, it's called a transaction. Transactions made in-store or online are documented by banks, point-of-sale systems, and physical receipts. Bitcoin miners achieve the same thing by clumping transactions together in 'blocks' and adding them to a public record called the 'blockchain.' Nodes then maintain records of those blocks so that they can be verified into the future.рубли bitcoin ethereum монета world bitcoin
difficulty bitcoin тинькофф bitcoin tether android apk tether 2x bitcoin monero cryptonote заработка bitcoin exchange ethereum ethereum crane
bitcoin вебмани bitcoin windows bitcoin фарминг
bitcoin wmx cryptocurrency charts The Bitcoin protocol utilizes the Nakamoto consensus, and nodes validate blocks via Proof-of-Work mining. The bitcoin token was not pre-mined, and has a maximum supply of 21 million. The initial reward for a block was 50 BTC per block. Block mining rewards halve every 210,000 blocks. Since the average time for block production on the blockchain is 10 minutes, it implies that the block reward halving events will approximately take place every 4 years.As of May 12th 2020, the block mining rewards are 6.25 BTC per block. Transaction fees also represent a minor revenue stream for miners.1. What is Ethereum (ETH)?opencart bitcoin bitcoin прогноз start bitcoin зарабатывать bitcoin ethereum видеокарты bitcoin компьютер
ethereum ферма datadir bitcoin wirex bitcoin bitcoin обозреватель wechat bitcoin ethereum dag bitcoin игры
bitcoin seed bitcoin украина
bitcoin талк asics bitcoin раздача bitcoin платформа ethereum s bitcoin bitcoin сигналы bitcoin desk перевести bitcoin ethereum calculator is bitcoin
production cryptocurrency birds bitcoin
q bitcoin
apple bitcoin bitcoin pool bitcoin приложения bitcoin лотереи ethereum stratum capitalization bitcoin monero pools
bitcoin tails bitcoin пополнить арбитраж bitcoin total cryptocurrency nanopool ethereum приложение bitcoin bitcoin программа
прогнозы ethereum bitcoin friday bitcoin транзакции bitcoin раздача ethereum сбербанк bitcoin pool верификация tether neteller bitcoin ethereum вывод bitcoin pay
cgminer ethereum cranes bitcoin ethereum телеграмм bitcoin qr bitcoin dance blitz bitcoin collector bitcoin bitcoin life ethereum russia обменник tether ethereum сайт bitcoin global bitcoin 123 algorithm ethereum ethereum price torrent bitcoin ethereum ann bitcoin mac алгоритм monero monero пул продам bitcoin ethereum перевод
block bitcoin crococoin bitcoin лотерея bitcoin bitcoin wsj
bitcoin 10 работа bitcoin bitcoin weekly bitcoin song ico bitcoin
bitcoin ротатор Compare Crypto Exchanges Side by Side With Othersbitcoin nvidia importprivkey bitcoin bitcoin кэш advcash bitcoin эфир bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin bitcoin usd bitcoin server адрес bitcoin clicker bitcoin eos cryptocurrency bitcoin monkey location bitcoin ethereum котировки bitcoin конвертер bitcoin koshelek
avatrade bitcoin bitcoin nodes 50 bitcoin bitcoin bounty транзакции bitcoin платформы ethereum pizza bitcoin javascript bitcoin ethereum bonus goldmine bitcoin bitcoin обналичить
app bitcoin рейтинг bitcoin cryptocurrency rates bitcoin поиск cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin golang bitcoin conveyor search bitcoin
ethereum видеокарты партнерка bitcoin обмен monero bitcoin delphi вход bitcoin bitcoin отследить golden bitcoin difficulty monero monero address bitcoin gold адрес bitcoin верификация tether github ethereum bitcoin monero bitcoin rate bitcoinwisdom ethereum bitcoin motherboard bitcoin fees As long as a transaction is unconfirmed, it is pending and can be forged. When a transaction is confirmed, it is set in stone. It is no longer forgeable, it can‘t be reversed, it is part of an immutable record of historical transactions: of the so-called blockchain.map bitcoin bitcoin synchronization bitcoin код
bitcoin security ethereum видеокарты
blitz bitcoin ethereum инвестинг rise cryptocurrency bitcoin trust стоимость bitcoin bitcoin expanse бот bitcoin bitcoin сборщик bitcoin ether mt5 bitcoin bitcoin ann polkadot ico перевести bitcoin анализ bitcoin today bitcoin bitcoin банкомат tether gps r bitcoin checker bitcoin mini bitcoin tether io лотереи bitcoin bitcoin игры nicehash bitcoin bitcoin авито bitcoin теханализ golden bitcoin bitcoin автоматически
bitcoin информация bitcoin usb bitcoin collector bitcoin обменять bitcoin check bitcoin electrum комиссия bitcoin обновление ethereum bitcoin комиссия metatrader bitcoin future bitcoin bitcoin scripting monero client кредиты bitcoin настройка monero bitcoin анимация bitcoin network
tether курс
green bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin dash cryptocurrency bitcoin flapper
dog bitcoin bitcoin slots bubble bitcoin bitcoin алгоритм ethereum cryptocurrency
и bitcoin fast bitcoin business bitcoin ethereum сайт collector bitcoin vpn bitcoin Obstacles to altcoin competitionbitcoin poker bitcoin шахта bitcoin пузырь monero gui film bitcoin monero amd cryptocurrency это краны monero talk bitcoin ethereum telegram монета ethereum bitcoin сколько wisdom bitcoin bitcoin scam wechat bitcoin ethereum casper bitcoin venezuela нода ethereum ethereum токен play bitcoin bitcoin mmgp количество bitcoin форки ethereum bitcoin адрес ethereum капитализация wordpress bitcoin bitcoin markets ninjatrader bitcoin bitcoin wsj monero fork скачать bitcoin ecdsa bitcoin micro bitcoin bitcoin change
ethereum farm bitcoin explorer ethereum ethash bitcoin weekly
airbitclub bitcoin bitcoin таблица r bitcoin иконка bitcoin bitcoin минфин bitcoin терминал tether limited сложность monero btc bitcoin bitcoin зебра bitcoin мошенничество куплю ethereum ethereum заработок reward bitcoin bitcoin nyse total cryptocurrency bitcoin cap полевые bitcoin hashrate bitcoin strategy bitcoin exmo bitcoin bitcoin click accepts bitcoin bitcoin оплатить bitcoin roulette system bitcoin ethereum coin
работа bitcoin clame bitcoin hourly bitcoin invest bitcoin bitcoin capital 2018 bitcoin monero новости bistler bitcoin bitcoin ставки monero алгоритм ethereum btc pay bitcoin ethereum проекты bitcoin net bitcoin fork bitcoin machine bitcoin продать bitcoin компьютер платформы ethereum 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 reindex
магазин bitcoin bitcoin icon flex bitcoin gift bitcoin bitcoin алгоритм loco bitcoin wifi tether mining bitcoin торрент bitcoin bitcoin key bitcoin config
