The crypto ecosystem has been led by its two biggest networks, Bitcoin and Ethereum. While both are very different, they have a lot in common in terms of growth and adoption. Each one has their advantages, so this article will compare Bitcoin vs Ethereum through facts, giving you all the fundamental insights on both.
Bitcoin vs Ethereum: Differences
Bitcoin and Ethereum have something in common; They have the most popular blockchain, which is why the number of ETH and BTC transactions is constantly growing. Let’s analyze what makes them differ.
Bitcoin
- Bitcoin is the biggest cryptocurrency in the market with a $565,418,986,557 market cap. This makes Bitcoin have a dominance over other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum.
- Bitcoin is meant to work as a payment system and a deflationary asset. The “Bitcoin halving” cuts in half the Bitcoin production every 4 years, thus increasing demand and decreasing supply.
- Bitcoin transactions take approximately 45 minutes to reach their destination. Although BTC transactions are not expensive, they’re not exactly the cheapest either.
- Bitcoin works with the POW (Proof of Work) protocol, where miners use hardware to produce BTC.
Ethereum
- Ethereum is the second biggest cryptocurrency in the market with a $247,133,903,784 market cap. Ethereum usually follows Bitcoin’s price movements, but it can also establish its own dominance.
- Ethereum is a platform for decentralized applications (DApps) where thousands of projects have been developed. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum has its own blockchain (ERC-20) where multiple other cryptocurrencies exist.
- Ethereum transactions are currently far more expensive than Bitcoin’s. The network tends to have a lot of traffick, making gas fees painfully high.
- Ethereum has been working with the POW Protocol since its creation. However, it is currently waiting for the ETH 2.0 update, where it will work through POS (Proof Of Stake).
Which is better?
It is hard to say if one is actually better than the otbher, as both serve different purposes in the crypto ecosystem. One could say that, in a long-term perspective, Bitcoin is better than Ethereum. However, Ethereum’s market cap still has a long way to go and, being more volatile than BTC, it could show huge gains during the next bull market.
Now, from a developer’s standpoint, Ethereum is the place where they can build their projects. This is part of why Ethereum is highly studied and respected.
What does the future hold for both?
Bitcoin and Ethereum have the potential to be some of the highest-valued assets in finance, which is only logical considering how far they’ve come in the last decade.
While Bitcoin continues to reach new highs, more developers will join the Ethereum platform to create new DApps, thus giving place to brand new projects.
Cryptocurrencies will definitely play a big role in the future economy, as inflation decays the traditional financial system. No one can say exactly what will happen over these two, but they will surely be a lot bigger than they are right now.