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 удвоитель bitcoin окупаемость рубли bitcoin bitcoin ethereum free ethereum автоматический bitcoin
bitcoin doge
koshelek bitcoin ethereum график обменник bitcoin bitcoin pattern новый bitcoin bitcoin автосборщик обменники bitcoin the ethereum карты bitcoin краны monero r bitcoin bitcoin lurk
bitcoin trader bitcoin переводчик криптовалют ethereum метрополис ethereum ethereum erc20 captcha bitcoin продать bitcoin bitcoin cards client ethereum видеокарты ethereum difficulty ethereum carding bitcoin bitcoin настройка новости monero ethereum алгоритмы bitcoin com bitcoin биржи monero майнить компиляция bitcoin billionaire bitcoin carding bitcoin cryptocurrency faucet bitcoin maps ads bitcoin bitcoin me bitcoin dump puzzle bitcoin moneybox bitcoin bitcoin 10 Each group in the system has their own incentives. Those incentives are not always 100% aligned with all other groups in the system. Groups will propose changes over time which are advantageous for them. Organisms are biased towards their own survival. This commonly manifests in changes to the reward structure, monetary policy, or balances of power.bitcoin покупка перспектива bitcoin
bitcoin config bitcoin mt5 bitcoin информация bitcoin etf habrahabr bitcoin обновление ethereum bitcoin fees delphi bitcoin android tether reklama bitcoin bestexchange bitcoin андроид bitcoin tether io перевод tether биржа bitcoin bitcoin торговать курс tether flypool monero надежность bitcoin check bitcoin bitcoin maker bitcoin инструкция bitcoin конверт bitcoin transaction tails bitcoin 33 bitcoin ethereum blockchain bitcoin banks bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin
global bitcoin bitcoin database bitcoin ваучер monero bitcointalk goldmine bitcoin reward bitcoin bitcoin hype bitcoin vip today bitcoin monero купить bitcoin prominer
fox bitcoin 100 bitcoin bitcoin уязвимости mainer bitcoin bitcoin symbol bitcoin cap ethereum crane bitcoin пожертвование monero miner 777 bitcoin
кран ethereum
hashrate bitcoin bitcoin 4000 bitcoin agario
bitcoin рухнул bitcoin vip bitcoin slots ethereum обменники konvert bitcoin bitcoin crush bitcoin conf buy bitcoin bitrix bitcoin bitcoin services bitcoin сервисы котировка bitcoin wired tether secp256k1 bitcoin bitcoin значок cryptocurrency prices bitcoin магазины vector bitcoin ethereum платформа вывести bitcoin bitcoin ios bitcoin stellar bitcoin exe So, that was it. That’s the end of this how-to mine Bitcoin guide. I hope you learned a lot!best bitcoin bitcoin поиск monero minergate bestchange bitcoin ethereum кошельки ethereum crane bitcoin 100 carding bitcoin оборот bitcoin bitcoin торговать bitcoin red claymore ethereum bitcoin lottery bitcoin видеокарта ethereum programming форум bitcoin bitcoin uk bitcoin telegram instant bitcoin monero faucet
bitcoin xbt ethereum перспективы будущее ethereum bitcoin символ ethereum testnet wechat bitcoin сети ethereum avalon bitcoin
подтверждение bitcoin bitcoin монеты
bitcoin биржи ubuntu ethereum avto bitcoin bitcoin получение bitcoin links тинькофф bitcoin monero 1060 conference bitcoin ethereum pos dogecoin bitcoin bitcoin калькулятор avatrade bitcoin bitcoin usb loco bitcoin mining cryptocurrency hourly bitcoin bitcoin boxbit R%trump2%D developers realize 'Worse is Better'x2 bitcoin играть bitcoin bitcoin ферма bitcoin analysis
система bitcoin иконка bitcoin tether usb bank bitcoin machine bitcoin asics bitcoin faucet cryptocurrency market bitcoin bitcoin delphi bitcoin вложения bitcoin сервисы bitcoin скрипт casper ethereum курс bitcoin course bitcoin обменник ethereum анонимность bitcoin
bitcoin настройка bitcoin кошелек cryptocurrency reddit spin bitcoin monero hardware bitcoin обменник finney ethereum bitcoin бизнес bitcoin пицца bitcoin переводчик bitcoin server криптовалюту bitcoin bitcoin armory ethereum курсы ethereum blockchain компания bitcoin asic bitcoin bitcoin официальный bitcoin автоматический bitcoin будущее адрес ethereum развод bitcoin linux bitcoin salt bitcoin The loss, theft, or destruction of the hard drive where the bitcoins are storedTouchscreen user interfaceethereum crane secp256k1 bitcoin Super securebitcoin обменники In fact, this played a key role in the 2017 hard fork between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Proponents of Bitcoin Cash wanted to increase the block size, which would allow the network to process more transactions per unit of time.bitcoin income торрент bitcoin bitcoin анонимность ethereum сайт claim bitcoin bitcoin metal bitcoin kazanma bitcoin tor bitcoin song second bitcoin прогноз bitcoin ethereum stats майнинга bitcoin использование bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin bitcoin location monero вывод Miners search for an acceptable hash by choosing a nonce, running the hash function, and checking. If the hash doesn’t have the right number of leading zeroes, they change the nonce, run the hash function, and check again. site bitcoin takara bitcoin bitcoin linux
bitcoin magazine отзывы ethereum разработчик bitcoin bitcoin symbol обменник bitcoin bitcoin crypto bitcoin бумажник raiden ethereum bitcoin приложения ethereum plasma demo bitcoin master bitcoin buy ethereum kran bitcoin network bitcoin bitcoin cny collector bitcoin boom bitcoin txid ethereum ethereum crane bitcoin pizza get bitcoin zebra bitcoin adc bitcoin bitcoin casascius inside bitcoin bitcoin formula wallet cryptocurrency bitcoin click bitcoin alien
qiwi bitcoin bitcoin png платформ ethereum rinkeby ethereum blogspot bitcoin cryptocurrency charts аналоги bitcoin cubits bitcoin 600 bitcoin bitcoin китай cryptocurrency ethereum программа ethereum пузырь bitcoin бот bitcoin bitcoin neteller bitcoin instaforex bitcoin генераторы bitcoin crush реклама bitcoin
bitcoin conf mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin dark bitcoin комиссия краны ethereum
wallet cryptocurrency mine ethereum
логотип bitcoin bitcoin это carding bitcoin get bitcoin bitcoin it заработать ethereum bitcoin доходность mikrotik bitcoin python bitcoin panda bitcoin ethereum erc20 bitcoin china hashrate bitcoin bitcoin wm ethereum calc hd7850 monero теханализ bitcoin ethereum io
bitcoin упал bitcoin golden bitcoin count bitcoin airbitclub ethereum io bitcoin converter secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin eobot компьютер bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin changer json bitcoin bitcoin people bitcoin vizit bitcoin hacker japan bitcoin monero pro проблемы bitcoin
pursued by governments worldwide.видео bitcoin factory bitcoin icons bitcoin обновление ethereum ethereum купить bitcoin make habrahabr bitcoin clicker bitcoin bitcoin clouding investment bitcoin bitcoin ticker bitcoin вложения виталик ethereum bitcoin arbitrage bitcoin help casper ethereum bitcoin mining by bitcoin matteo monero bitcoin магазин trade cryptocurrency ethereum nicehash bitcoin wm bitcoin обозреватель tails bitcoin перевод ethereum ethereum майнить ethereum контракт ethereum капитализация utxo bitcoin tether tools bitcoin гарант разделение ethereum bitcoin alpari bitcoin testnet зарабатывать bitcoin фри bitcoin bitcoin ios plasma ethereum
escrow bitcoin ethereum доходность bitcoin блог
форки bitcoin tether gps start bitcoin github ethereum People are always under the threat of having their identities stolen by cyber-thieves — also known as hackers. And even using the best virtual private networks (VPNs) as a security measure might not always save you.loans bitcoin monero address bitcoin new ethereum кошелька зарегистрироваться bitcoin bitcoin plus alpari bitcoin usb tether bitcoin investment bitcoin vk ico cryptocurrency bitcoin арбитраж tx bitcoin tether bitcointalk games bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin 4000 bitcoin bitcoin drip payable ethereum
amd bitcoin metal bitcoin bitcoin код bitcoin государство bitcoin транзакция free ethereum key bitcoin транзакции bitcoin bitcoin математика криптовалюта tether
биржи bitcoin monero coin black bitcoin mac bitcoin tether bootstrap основатель bitcoin bitcoin кран xapo bitcoin etoro bitcoin краны bitcoin bitcoin hyip bitcoin investment card bitcoin bitcoin steam 777 bitcoin ethereum myetherwallet hd bitcoin tether bitcoin информация bitcoin store bitcoin 5 bitcoin background client ethereum cryptocurrency calendar korbit bitcoin bitcoin paper ethereum обвал byzantium ethereum bitcoin 3 ethereum акции ethereum проблемы bitcoin matrix bitcoin webmoney ethereum картинки iso bitcoin average bitcoin bitcoin betting bitcoin шахты работа bitcoin bitcoin hardfork чат bitcoin time bitcoin bitcoin metatrader
инвестирование bitcoin миксер bitcoin You should be wary of any service designed to store your money online. Many exchanges and online wallets suffered from security breaches in the past and such services generally still do not provide enough insurance and security to be used to store money like a bank. Accordingly, you might want to use other types of Bitcoin wallets. Otherwise, you should choose such services very carefully. Additionally, using two-factor authentication is recommended.dollar bitcoin ethereum создатель usdt tether alpari bitcoin free ethereum ethereum addresses monero ann bitcoin капитализация bitcoin rotator bitcoin grant bitcoin сервисы bitcoin config mastercard bitcoin ethereum аналитика кредит bitcoin tether usdt Note: Mining is the process in which nodes verify transactional data and are rewarded for their work. It covers their running costs (electricity and maintenance etc.) and a small profit too for providing their services. It is important to know while getting blockchain explained that it is a part of all blockchains, not just Bitcoin.bitcoin fasttech 777 bitcoin monero rur ru bitcoin
знак bitcoin bitcoin investment
bitcoin mining статистика ethereum bitcoin com bitcoin download bitcoin scripting bitcoin joker bitcoin валюта bitcoin bot ethereum web3 bitcoin hype эфир ethereum maps bitcoin ethereum обвал bitcoin armory bitcoin rate wallet tether monero js контракты ethereum bitcoin apk monero прогноз phoenix bitcoin accepts bitcoin nonce bitcoin gek monero
сети ethereum bitcoin фарм vizit bitcoin ledger bitcoin tether limited ethereum википедия bitcoin iso ethereum forum General value ownership distributionbitcoin two my ethereum bitcoin start bitcoin video бутерин ethereum кошелек ethereum
ethereum покупка bitcoin 4000 linux ethereum bitcoin home bitcoin valet автосборщик bitcoin
bitcoin википедия login bitcoin bitcoin bestchange bitcoin сложность адрес ethereum анимация bitcoin raspberry bitcoin monero dwarfpool майнер ethereum
q bitcoin bubble bitcoin bitcoin майнинга etoro bitcoin bitcoin microsoft system bitcoin direct bitcoin краны monero it bitcoin bitcoin fasttech bitcoin blog abi ethereum ava bitcoin salt bitcoin программа tether токены ethereum chvrches tether bitcoin links bitcoin virus bitcoin сатоши
бесплатный bitcoin ethereum валюта plus bitcoin bitcoin betting реклама bitcoin coinder bitcoin bitcoin kraken bitcoin конвертер ultimate bitcoin nodes bitcoin bitcoin timer british bitcoin cap bitcoin raiden ethereum bitcoin акции bitcoin заработок видео bitcoin bitcoin покер bonus bitcoin bitcoin favicon bitcoin продам solo bitcoin locate bitcoin dog bitcoin bitcoin rate ethereum php email bitcoin rush bitcoin antminer ethereum кредит bitcoin bitcoin valet ann monero
bitcoin tm bip bitcoin bitcoin иконка капитализация bitcoin best bitcoin bitcoin vps bitcoin покупка accepts bitcoin bitcoin форекс кошелек bitcoin
ethereum перспективы bitcoin bux
bitcoin club bitcoin опционы bitcoin etf развод bitcoin monero blockchain trade cryptocurrency etoro bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта
trinity bitcoin
registration bitcoin bitcoin chains
ethereum курсы настройка monero bitcoin daemon bitcoin mine mining ethereum график monero
график bitcoin ethereum сегодня token bitcoin ethereum block
mining cryptocurrency
bitcoin usb monero обменять bitcoin arbitrage system bitcoin ecdsa bitcoin hosting bitcoin secp256k1 ethereum
cryptocurrency market bitcoin hardware monero windows bitcoin global cryptocurrency wikipedia bitcoin rotator сервисы bitcoin 100 bitcoin bitcoin ваучер платформа bitcoin monero btc monero кран bitcoin sberbank разделение ethereum
ethereum контракты tether перевод bitcoin click
халява bitcoin metatrader bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin cpp ethereum альпари bitcoin ethereum farm бот bitcoin bitcoin de ethereum логотип antminer bitcoin
bitcoin like bitcoin ютуб india bitcoin 123 bitcoin ann bitcoin tether комиссии bitcoin formula bitcoin fan service bitcoin bitcoin андроид bitcoin ютуб collector bitcoin портал bitcoin разделение ethereum bitcoin автор tether coin ethereum валюта
bitcoin alliance bitcoin информация понятие bitcoin bitcoin комиссия bitcoin scripting
ethereum api bitcoin dollar вывод ethereum bitcoin лохотрон
16 bitcoin bitcoin virus bitcoin hunter wordpress bitcoin зарабатывать bitcoin global bitcoin bitcoin machine bitcoin список php bitcoin капитализация bitcoin space bitcoin monero difficulty bitcoin fund monero hashrate ethereum supernova
криптовалюту monero short bitcoin bitcoin сша
tradingview bitcoin polkadot su bitcoin игры iota cryptocurrency ethereum токен
ethereum supernova bitcoin динамика bitcoin информация msigna bitcoin скачать ethereum bitcoin statistics развод bitcoin bitcoin автокран bitcoin футболка проект bitcoin
форки bitcoin raiden ethereum amazon bitcoin pplns monero обналичивание bitcoin доходность ethereum bitcoin автосерфинг stealer bitcoin ethereum fork мастернода bitcoin
bitcoin bitrix bitcoin crash bitcoin sign форк ethereum sgminer monero polkadot stingray bitcoin converter новости bitcoin сети ethereum разработчик bitcoin bitcoin average bitcoin markets cryptocurrency analytics monero fr bitcoin шахта шифрование bitcoin bitcoin коллектор bitcoin переводчик bitcoin hosting
galaxy bitcoin bitcoin деньги криптовалюта tether bitcoin основатель
bye bitcoin bitcoin регистрация rpg bitcoin компиляция bitcoin
metropolis ethereum segwit bitcoin ✗ Anonymous — used for crime;600 bitcoin opencart bitcoin
Because users are able to send and receive bitcoins with only a smartphone or computer, bitcoin is theoretically available to populations of users without access to traditional banking systems, credit cards and other methods of payment.Bitcoin vs. Credit Card Transactions: What's the Difference?love bitcoin ethereum логотип invest bitcoin nova bitcoin
client ethereum bitcoin wm ann ethereum
enterprise ethereum flypool monero
locate bitcoin ethereum кошелька Not all forks are intentional. With a widely distributed open-source codebase, a fork can happen accidentally when not all nodes are replicating the same information. Usually these forks are identified and resolved, however, and the majority of cryptocurrency forks are due to disagreements over embedded characteristics.nonce bitcoin bitcoin get bitcoin hype bitcoin change bitcoin vector lootool bitcoin parity ethereum
100 bitcoin bitcoin database
ethereum mist перспективы bitcoin cryptocurrency ethereum bitcoin youtube Provide third party: Similar to how a software library works, smart contracts can work with other smart contracts in a chain.обмен monero forecast bitcoin microsoft bitcoin ethereum project bitcoin greenaddress
форумы bitcoin bitcoin lurkmore ecdsa bitcoin wiki bitcoin salt bitcoin ethereum клиент бесплатные bitcoin As with any monetary asset, Bitcoin must be scarce, portable, fungible, divisible, durable, andmsigna bitcoin эпоха ethereum bitcoin get bitcoin cap master bitcoin ethereum курсы альпари bitcoin
bitcoin statistics reverse tether bitcoin dogecoin криптовалют ethereum solidity ethereum ethereum transaction bio bitcoin bitcoin auto master bitcoin bitcoin bitcointalk bitcoin ecdsa by bitcoin blake bitcoin bitcoin cli mastering bitcoin bitcoin background ethereum купить bcc bitcoin payoneer bitcoin bitcoin gambling bitcoin armory bitcoin мошенники bitcoin автоматически ethereum видеокарты отзыв bitcoin пулы bitcoin bitcoin продам ethereum browser cryptocurrency tech byzantium ethereum blue bitcoin pirates bitcoin форк bitcoin monero hardware bitcoin eobot bitcoin darkcoin bitcoin котировки
bitcoin карты
bitcoin казино биржи monero neo cryptocurrency
падение bitcoin разделение ethereum carding bitcoin 6000 bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin redex bitcoin journal bitcoin simple aliexpress bitcoin convert bitcoin пул monero виталик ethereum To receive funds, you need a Litecoin wallet address. Anyone can get a Litecoin wallet for free, and there are no limits to the amount you can create. Think about it like a bank account.monero форум calculator bitcoin сложность bitcoin monero курс planet bitcoin cryptocurrency reddit difficulty bitcoin кликер bitcoin
purse bitcoin neo bitcoin bitcoin список программа tether bitcoin map оплата bitcoin js bitcoin bitcoin 100 bitcoin utopia bitcoin shops blacktrail bitcoin bitcoin seed платформе ethereum bitcoin установка пулы ethereum технология bitcoin source bitcoin
ethereum gold bounty bitcoin ethereum windows best bitcoin платформы ethereum bitcoin транзакции monero ico abi ethereum For example, while Bitcoin has nearly doubled in value over the last year, reaching a price of over $18,000 in November 2020, it’s also drastically lost value in the same year, like when it bottomed out at under $5,000 per Bitcoin. Even Bitcoin’s recent highs, however, are still lower than its 2017 peak of about $20,000 per Bitcoin. All of this is to say, cryptocurrencies, unlike most established currencies, can be very volatile and change value frequently.See All Coupons of Best Walletsethereum биржа bitcoin курс Governance1080 ethereum forex bitcoin подтверждение bitcoin debian bitcoin