Difference Between Bitcoin and Ethereum: As it is popularly known Bitcoin is the first and dominant cryptocurrency, however, since the emergence of Ethereum, Bitcoin’s market share in the cryptocurrency market has reduced substantially as Ethereum and other altcoins keep gaining popularity. Ether is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, so a comparison between Bitcoin and Ethereum is only natural.
When Cryptocurrency boomed in 2017, the value of Bitcoin accounted for up to 87% of the whole Cryptocurrency market. As of February 2022, there are lots of cryptocurrencies in the market and the market share of Bitcoin has dropped to 42%.
There are some similarities between Bitcoin and Ethereum. Both are digital currencies traded on exchange platforms and stored in different cryptocurrency wallets. Both Crypto coins are not issued by any central bank or regulatory authority, they are decentralized coins. Both use the public ledger technology known as the blockchain.
There are also many discrepancies between these two coins. We’ll take a closer look at the similarities and differences between bitcoin and ether.
Bitcoin Basics
January 2009 was the year Bitcoin was introduced to the general public. The mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the idea in a white paper, making promises of digital currency without a central authority unlike fiat money and other government-issued currencies and it will be safe and secure. There are no physical bitcoins, only balances associated with a cryptographically ( Public Key and Private Key) secured public ledger.
Bitcoin is the predecessor and a road map to all cryptocurrencies that have been developed over the years, even Ethereum falls under this category. Over the years both regulators and the government have reluctantly accepted Bitcoin. 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 co-exist with the financial system despite being regularly scrutinized and debated.
Ethereum Basics
Ethereum is an open-ended decentralized software platform. Ethereum makes use of the blockchain to do other things than to create a digital currency. The Ethereum blockchain enables the deployment of smart contracts and applications that are decentralized (dApps) to be made and used without fraud, third party interference or control. Ethereum comes complete with its own programming language that runs on a blockchain, enabling developers to build and run distributed applications.
Ethereum has lots of potential to build new applications of different kinds and can be powered by its native cryptographic token, ether or ETH. ETH or ether is like a fuel to power the commands run on the Ethereum platform and developers use it to build and run applications on the Ethereum platform. The presale of ether was run in 2014 and it received overwhelming support.
Unlike Bitcoin which was solely created to serve as a substitute for government currencies, ether was created for both a store of value just like Bitcoin and it is used on the Ethereum network to run applications.
Major Differences – Difference Between Bitcoin and Ethereum
It is known that both Bitcoin and Ethereum are powered by the principle of blockchain technology and cryptography (Public and Private Keys), they two still differ in many ways. For instance, Bitcoin network transactions are only notes about the transaction, how many bitcoin is sent, the sender and the receiver, Ethereum on the other hand may contain executable codes that can be used for dApps and smart contracts. Another difference is that Bitcoin transactions are confirmed within minutes and ether transactions are confirmed within seconds.
The major difference between Bitcoin and ether is that, while Bitcoin is built to primarily be a substitute to a national currency and thus appear to b both a store of value and a medium of exchange, Ethereum was created with the intention of monetising the smart contacts and decentralized applications built on its blockchain.
Ethereum is another digital coin built on the blockchain and theoretically should not be a competitor with Bitcoin. However, the soaring popularity and growth of ether have pushed it into competition with all cryptocurrencies, especially from traders’ perspectives. Ether has been close behind bitcoin rankings of the top cryptocurrencies b market capitalization since its launch in mid-2015.
The Ethereum ecosystem has witnessed significant growth over the years, thanks to the increasing popularity of its decentralized applications (dApps) in areas such as finance, arts and collectibles ( NFTs or non-fungible tokens), gaming, and technology.
The main difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum
The major purpose of Bitcoin is to serve as a substitute to traditional currencies, therefore, a tore of value and a medium of exchange. Ethereum is an open-source network on the blockchain that develops decentralized applications in different areas including Defi (Decentralized Finance), smart contracts, and NFTs.
Why Bitcoin is compared to digital gold and Ethereum digital silver
Bitcoin is compared to digital gold because it was the first cryptocurrency and it has the highest market cap exceeding $1 trillion at some point, the limited supply ( only 21 million can be mined) may ensure that it will always have value. Ethereum is compared to digital silver because it is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and like silver, has a wide variety of applications.
If you are in Nigeria or Ghana you can easily sell your Bitcoin with the highest rate in the crypto exchange market on Dart Africa. Dart Africa is the leading exchange platform that buys Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital coins with high rates and payments are made within minutes of confirming the transaction. Trade with Dart Africa today to enjoy these amazing offers.
Read Also How Much Is 1 Bitcoin In Naira
