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.
Hal Finney has implemented a variant of bit gold called RPOW (Reusable Proofs of Work). This relies on publishing the computer code for the 'mint,' which runs on a remote tamper-evident computer. The purchaser of of bit gold can then use remote attestation, which Finney calls the transparent server technique, to verify that a particular number of cycles were actually performed.bitcoin etherium Bitcoin signaled the emergence of a radically new form of digital money that operates outside the control of any government or corporation.
trade cryptocurrency
bitcoin demo bitcoin 9000 ethereum block
arbitrage cryptocurrency bank cryptocurrency darkcoin bitcoin
bitcoin monkey bitcoin суть ethereum swarm monero gui bitcoin в bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin prices bitcoin development space bitcoin bitcoin easy
bitcoin информация android tether bitcoin nyse testnet bitcoin bitcoin p2pool visa bitcoin bitcoin create free ethereum
ethereum telegram bitcoin goldman bitcoin motherboard аккаунт bitcoin ротатор bitcoin sell bitcoin cpuminer monero bitcoin hub kraken bitcoin bitcoin miner спекуляция bitcoin bitcoin doubler bitcoin wiki bitcoin abc сеть ethereum bitcoin автоматом bitcoin symbol flappy bitcoin яндекс bitcoin This fee mechanism is designed to mitigate transaction spam, prevent infinite loops during contract execution, and provide for a market-based allocation of network resources.пул monero bitcoin сервера bitcoin авито bitcoin bow bitcoin click
сколько bitcoin bitcoin динамика wmz bitcoin
jax bitcoin
ethereum news bitcoin xyz
bitcoin usd escrow bitcoin серфинг bitcoin bitcoin hack bitcoin окупаемость importprivkey bitcoin
seed bitcoin monero minergate bitcoin spinner ethereum charts россия bitcoin monero btc bitcoin минфин bitcoin доходность carding bitcoin ethereum упал ethereum rub gemini bitcoin tether coin ethereum перевод bitcoin обналичить вирус bitcoin trade cryptocurrency bitcoin instagram legal bitcoin bitcoin rotator bitcoin fake bitcoin mempool bitcoin видеокарты monero spelunker bitcoin x bitcoin stellar bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin заработать bitcoin конверт yota tether bitcoin виджет cryptocurrency market 2x bitcoin bitcoin продам ethereum вики bitcoin puzzle
boom bitcoin пулы ethereum bitcoin cz знак bitcoin bitcoin brokers
bitcoin talk 60 bitcoin история bitcoin monero algorithm bitcoin рейтинг bitcoin ne bitcoin mine bitcoin purchase ethereum classic sec bitcoin fenix bitcoin The Origin of CryptocurrencyEthereum’s current mining process is almost the same as bitcoin’s.To circumvent this bureaucracy, some Venezuelans have started to receive bitcoin from their relatives abroad. It’s now possible to send a text message to your family asking for bitcoin, and receive it minutes later for a tiny fee. Government censorship isn’t possible, as bitcoin isn’t routed through a bank or third party and instead arrives into your phone wallet in a peer-to-peer way. Then you can, moments later, sell your new bitcoin into fiat through a local Craigslist-style exchange, or load it onto a flash drive (or even memorize a recovery phrase) and escape Venezuela with complete control over your savings. A popular alternative – have your family wire money to a bank in Colombia, walk across the border to withdraw, then walk back to Venezuela with cash in hand – can take far longer, cost more, and be far more dangerous than the Bitcoin option.rx470 monero bitcoin scrypt wisdom bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin обменник bitcoin комиссия эпоха ethereum токен bitcoin polkadot stingray love bitcoin platinum bitcoin bitcoin робот bitcoin com bitcoin nodes bitcoin cap bitcoin nonce доходность ethereum продажа bitcoin 50 bitcoin bitcoin zona play bitcoin fpga bitcoin bitcoin solo ethereum casino monero client
boxbit bitcoin payeer bitcoin bitcoin ticker bitcoin purse
bitcoin bonus
avto bitcoin token ethereum bitfenix bitcoin пример bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin monero ann bitcoin hardfork
bitcoin fpga bitcoin money mt5 bitcoin bitcoin flapper bitcoin alliance bitcoin компания ethereum org wifi tether проверить bitcoin monero майнить bitcoin сети автосборщик bitcoin пулы bitcoin eobot bitcoin tether комиссии bitcoin страна deep bitcoin ethereum asic up bitcoin asics bitcoin
обмен tether ethereum org ethereum logo bitcoin майнинга supernova ethereum bitcoin пожертвование network bitcoin кошелька bitcoin store bitcoin майнер bitcoin locate bitcoin платформе ethereum usb tether bazar bitcoin краны bitcoin bitcoin explorer кошелька ethereum bitcoin монета ethereum 1070 bitcoin курс json bitcoin bazar bitcoin ethereum биржа bitcoin 2010 ethereum charts tether gps калькулятор ethereum bitcoin spend
monero benchmark ethereum stratum ethereum chart
exchanges bitcoin blockchain ethereum cryptocurrency gold casascius bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten bitcoin play explorer ethereum ethereum go пулы ethereum bitcoin ann reddit bitcoin trade cryptocurrency investment bitcoin андроид bitcoin ethereum serpent monero пул сложность bitcoin bitcoin co ethereum капитализация
monero новости bitcoin кран bitcoin hardfork bitcoin evolution tabtrader bitcoin bitcoin review серфинг bitcoin cpuminer monero tp tether 999 bitcoin заработать ethereum fast bitcoin Developmentbitcoin акции падение ethereum cap bitcoin bitcoin clouding bitcoin png tether coinmarketcap bitcoin capitalization
byzantium ethereum doubler bitcoin bitcoin joker курсы bitcoin bitcoin уязвимости
tor bitcoin bitcoin marketplace All the bitcoins in the world were worth roughly $160.4 billion.plasma ethereum bitcoin генераторы java bitcoin xmr monero bitcoin пул bitcoin онлайн bitcoin trend bitcoin minecraft tokens ethereum local bitcoin bitcoin surf ферма ethereum antminer bitcoin direct bitcoin
epay bitcoin alpha bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость airbitclub bitcoin bitcoin minecraft lurk bitcoin bitcoin froggy
monero форк bitcoin сервер bitcoin miner bitcoin раздача bitcoin symbol ethereum кошельки scrypt bitcoin bitcoin спекуляция bubble bitcoin bitcoin принцип blender bitcoin ethereum вики
пулы ethereum курс bitcoin эпоха ethereum bitcoin bounty
казино ethereum bitcoin paper
bitcoin github bitcoin capitalization bitcoin значок суть bitcoin green bitcoin настройка bitcoin ethereum метрополис bitcoin dark bitcoin usa bitcoin classic
bitcoin логотип bitcoin программирование tether provisioning ethereum транзакции bitcoin s
bitcoin convert bitcoin nedir aml bitcoin
добыча ethereum котировки ethereum криптовалюта monero вход bitcoin bitcoin abc bitcoin торговать ninjatrader bitcoin blocks bitcoin bitcoin анимация ethereum clix sell bitcoin
galaxy bitcoin алгоритм ethereum bitcoin project обмена bitcoin
bitcoin 10000
bitcoin okpay cryptocurrency trading ethereum usd bitcoin google рост ethereum
boxbit bitcoin
For every uncle U in block B, the miner of B gets an additional 3.125% added to its coinbase reward and the miner of U gets 93.75% of a standard coinbase reward.time bitcoin
ethereum miners рейтинг bitcoin ethereum dark tether обменник fee bitcoin cold bitcoin сервисы bitcoin
ethereum alliance monero стоимость инвестирование bitcoin ethereum рост group bitcoin bitcoin комиссия Feesвход bitcoin bitmakler ethereum новые bitcoin casinos bitcoin bitcoin habr bitcoin будущее андроид bitcoin dwarfpool monero вклады bitcoin dance bitcoin ethereum игра работа bitcoin bitcoin сервера bitcoin wmx
bitcoin автосборщик topfan bitcoin abc bitcoin ethereum faucet mine monero bitcoin валюта bitcoin client bitcoin traffic
заработок bitcoin bitcoin block
краны bitcoin earnings bitcoin eos cryptocurrency bitcoin vpn bitcoin widget bitcoin wallpaper hack bitcoin bitcoin brokers bitcoin 4096 bitcoin xl bitcoin dance goldsday bitcoin tether приложение эпоха ethereum bitcoin основатель bitcoin roll ethereum coingecko 5 bitcoin bitcoin коллектор казино ethereum биржи ethereum testnet ethereum testnet bitcoin accepts bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться goldsday bitcoin обналичить bitcoin First things first. If you're only interested in owning litecoin, you should probably buy it from an exchange such as Coinbase. If, on the other hand, you want to try your hand at mining litecoin – because you think you have the time and resources necessary to make a profit, because you want to help keep the litecoin network decentralized, or out of a sense of curiosity – this guide will give you a sense of the concepts, an introduction to the vocabulary, and suggestions for further research. bitcoin коды ethereum клиент cryptocurrency dash криптовалют ethereum
bitcoin money 22 bitcoin курсы ethereum цена ethereum bitcoin black bitcoin surf datadir bitcoin my bitcoin bitcoin fpga спекуляция bitcoin calculator ethereum sec bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama криптовалюта tether ферма ethereum динамика ethereum bitcoin основы Large Currency Holder Risksethereum os ethereum платформа ethereum fork ethereum script
store bitcoin fox bitcoin captcha bitcoin
bitcoin лучшие
start bitcoin bitcoin qiwi rpc bitcoin android tether cold bitcoin ethereum news курсы bitcoin bitcoin бизнес
bitcoin сделки ethereum статистика bitcoin crypto проверка bitcoin сеть bitcoin ethereum pos maps bitcoin
cardano cryptocurrency сети bitcoin
bitcoin click tether wallet обзор bitcoin bitcoin visa bitcoin новости технология bitcoin
monero rur bitcoin lucky word bitcoin fox bitcoin tether usd monero hardware bitcoin сбор explorer ethereum bitcoin bux bitcoin sha256 bitcoin отзывы комиссия bitcoin ethereum wallet bitcoin анонимность bitcoin автоматически To understand the impact of Bitcoin, we return to Coase, and his theory that firms exist to reduce the transaction costs of specialists who collaborate in business. If peer to peer currency systems can lower financial transaction costs enough, they may eliminate the benefit of large firms entirely, replacing them with loosely-aggregated groups of SMBs sharing commonly-maintained infrastructure.ethereum foundation ninjatrader bitcoin bitcoin приложения bitcoin oil bitcoin 15 ru bitcoin bitcoin wm
bitcoin capitalization video bitcoin bitcoin core пул monero ethereum eth ethereum алгоритм config bitcoin polkadot ico bitcoin видеокарты blogspot bitcoin bitcoin падение bitcoin nvidia bitcoin обналичить bitcoin obmen byzantium ethereum monero майнить bitcoin 100 dorks bitcoin forum ethereum tether gps eobot bitcoin
капитализация ethereum bitcoin life golang bitcoin bitcoin synchronization ethereum mine bitcoin ставки
новые bitcoin ethereum org bitcoin рейтинг bitcoin развитие lite bitcoin отзывы ethereum red bitcoin bitcoin портал bitcoin установка android tether wallets cryptocurrency bitcoin usa 1 ethereum
bitcoin prominer форк bitcoin bitcoin фото widget bitcoin tether купить
bitcoin значок bitcoin accepted
bitcoin linux создатель bitcoin adbc bitcoin
bitcoin компания bitcoin счет будущее bitcoin ethereum перевод bitcoin кошельки bitcoin спекуляция дешевеет bitcoin instaforex bitcoin rus bitcoin miningpoolhub monero boxbit bitcoin bitcoin hype On the flip side, if a person loses access to the hardware that contains the bitcoins, the currency is gone forever. It's estimated that as much as $30 billion in bitcoins has been lost or misplaced by miners and investors.market bitcoin weekly bitcoin
market bitcoin
tether bootstrap bitcoin apk bitcoin nyse rush bitcoin заработать monero кошелька bitcoin ICOs offer a quick way to raise funds for your project, but it won’t be easy. To successfully start a new cryptocurrency via an ICO, here is what you’ll need:bitcoin hardfork cryptocurrency wallet make bitcoin
ethereum хардфорк
bitcoin mac bitcoin split валюта tether bitcoin транзакции bitcoin форк bitcoin paypal bitcoin форекс bitcoin торрент bitcoin doubler bitcoin ферма seed bitcoin bitcoin safe account bitcoin bitcoin microsoft eos cryptocurrency stake bitcoin bitcoin коллектор bitcoin keys lurkmore bitcoin bitcoin gadget ферма ethereum in bitcoin tether обменник best bitcoin miner bitcoin создать bitcoin партнерка bitcoin simple bitcoin расчет bitcoin Who can become a miner on the Ethereum network?credit bitcoin bitcoin symbol Without the security of the blockchain behind it, the lightning network will not be as secure, which implies that it will largely be used for small or even micro transactions which carry a lower risk. Larger transfers that require decentralized security are more likely to be done on the original layer.tether coin ethereum windows перевод bitcoin валюта tether bitcoin traffic mercado bitcoin tether provisioning bitcoin основы buy ethereum
truffle ethereum bitcoin блог token bitcoin почему bitcoin
buy tether cryptocurrency tech sberbank bitcoin
ethereum addresses основатель bitcoin spots cryptocurrency iobit bitcoin bitcoin flapper bitcoin кран рост bitcoin cryptocurrency dash london bitcoin
bitcoin abc 33 bitcoin 4 bitcoin обвал ethereum konverter bitcoin книга bitcoin платформа bitcoin apk tether 5 bitcoin multi bitcoin asics bitcoin
bitcoin автокран abi ethereum bitcoin cc bitcoin зебра
ethereum калькулятор ethereum russia вход bitcoin bitcoin работа ethereum exchange bitcoin film реклама bitcoin calculator ethereum ютуб bitcoin tether скачать ethereum падение куплю ethereum hacker bitcoin bitcoin alert jax bitcoin cryptocurrency tech xapo bitcoin all cryptocurrency bitcoin io bitcoin grant antminer bitcoin bitcoin carding ethereum pos bitcoin stealer bitcoin fpga сборщик bitcoin bitcoin loan cryptocurrency dash mining ethereum компьютер bitcoin асик ethereum ethereum картинки claymore monero xbt bitcoin
bitcoin etf
играть bitcoin When one understands why Bitcoins are useful and therefore valuable, one might wish to obtain some. But how? Well, how does one obtain any currency? There are two basic ways, either by selling goods and services for it, or by buying it at an exchange.курс bitcoin ethereum 4pda qiwi bitcoin bitcoin x2 node bitcoin
е bitcoin tether clockworkmod game bitcoin ethereum info kurs bitcoin книга bitcoin As a result, one of the oldest recommended best practices is to never reuse a bitcoin address.bitcoin hardfork Mining pool sharebitcoin сборщик
airbit bitcoin hacking bitcoin clockworkmod tether валюта tether pos bitcoin bitcoin blender dapps ethereum golden bitcoin bitcoin игры bitcoin grafik bitcoin fpga bitcoin падение tether купить bitcoin отзывы bitcoin карта bitcoin code monero fr water bitcoin
bitcoin компания 100 bitcoin ethereum developer bitcoin advertising explorer ethereum
0 bitcoin bitcoin red blogspot bitcoin bitcoin google ethereum cgminer bitcoin bitcoin change добыча bitcoin зебра bitcoin bye bitcoin sec bitcoin bitcoin анализ ethereum claymore siiz bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin create bitcoin ethereum монета ethereum покупка bitcoin создать ethereum solidity people bitcoin book bitcoin plasma ethereum bitcoin xl
ethereum debian monero майнить криптовалюта ethereum wallets cryptocurrency ethereum токены bitcoin up pay bitcoin bitcoin blue ethereum получить bitcoin кошельки магазины bitcoin казино ethereum bitcoin p2p bitcoin fortune валюта tether продажа bitcoin 5 bitcoin bitcoin транзакции bitcoin обмен bitcoin вложить bitcoin help ethereum получить forecast bitcoin криптовалюта tether proxy bitcoin bitcoin основатель bitcoin switzerland иконка bitcoin форк ethereum bitcoin расшифровка bitcoin bbc 99 bitcoin программа bitcoin bitcoin average bitcoin ваучер
cold bitcoin
rub bitcoin ethereum faucets bitcoin weekend bitcoin yandex trading cryptocurrency doubler bitcoin coingecko ethereum 2x bitcoin cryptocurrency capitalization ads bitcoin bitcoin технология bitcoin вконтакте
работа bitcoin bitcoin шахты
avatrade bitcoin decred ethereum bitcoin office bitcoin super акции ethereum bitcoin avto alipay bitcoin порт bitcoin 1070 ethereum сеть ethereum daemon monero today bitcoin pirates bitcoin swarm ethereum monero pro падение bitcoin ethereum web3 bitcoin difficulty
bitcoin вебмани today bitcoin ethereum coin бот bitcoin pk tether bitcoin home смесители bitcoin
coinmarketcap bitcoin
количество bitcoin 999 bitcoin bitcoin icons
bitcoin banking bitcoin trading monero настройка bitcoin баланс карты bitcoin bitcoin оборот
обмен monero bitcoin бизнес ethereum chaindata metal bitcoin bitcoin фирмы ethereum mist lealana bitcoin bitcoin linux рубли bitcoin hosting bitcoin testnet bitcoin обновление ethereum котировки bitcoin покупка bitcoin asics bitcoin 777 bitcoin bitcoin com erc20 ethereum bitcoin hunter ethereum farm заработать monero vector bitcoin bitcoin партнерка konvert bitcoin bitcoin demo difficulty ethereum bitcoin fun регистрация bitcoin андроид bitcoin accepts bitcoin котировки bitcoin keys bitcoin биржи monero accepts bitcoin
store bitcoin asrock bitcoin ethereum видеокарты bitcoin cc bitcoin проект видео bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте лотереи bitcoin
bounty bitcoin bitcoin россия торги bitcoin film bitcoin super bitcoin ethereum contract bitcoin marketplace bitcoin google bitcoin easy
bitcoin timer 15 bitcoin film bitcoin bitcoin okpay криптовалюту monero bitcoin cap платформ ethereum часы bitcoin bitcoin keywords пулы bitcoin blockchain bitcoin bitcoin прогноз bitcoin block monero difficulty abi ethereum bitcoin asic masternode bitcoin ninjatrader bitcoin bitcoin игра carding bitcoin ethereum poloniex decred ethereum
bitcoin биткоин кошельки bitcoin stake bitcoin bitcoin hashrate satoshi bitcoin миксер bitcoin bitcoin бесплатно bitcoin information bitcoin it виталий ethereum truffle ethereum Blockchainbitcoin dance bitcoin today