Introduction – Ethereum & Bitcoin
Bitcoin and Ethereum are known to be the Coke and the Pepsi of the cryptocurrency world. Bitcoin is number one, and Ethereum is number two when it comes to public notoriety and total market cap. However, when you go into the details, we will find that Bitcoin and Ethereum are two different concepts serving different purposes. So, let’s dive deep and find out what makes the projects different, similar, and excellent.
What is Bitcoin?
With Bitcoin, an idea of the crypto or money without physical form was born in January 2009. Bitcoin is the de-facto crypto leader, and no other coin can come even close to Bitcoin. Bitcoins’ main goal is to establish as a viable option to the traditional currencies that are backed up by countries. It is a primary medium of exchange and store of value. The value of other cryptocurrencies usually moves in line with Bitcoin. Moreover, Bitcoin is the most tradable coin at present.
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum isn’t a cryptocurrency, while Ether is. It is the platform on which Ether is based, and most people get confused between them. Ethereum is a decentralized software platform and a programming language. Developers are known to create smart contracts and decentralized apps on this platform. Ether is the native currency of the Ethereum platform that powers this platform. Launched in 2015, Ethereum is an upgrade to Bitcoin’s weaknesses. It offered more opportunities to the developers with its use cases. Hence, it became an individual, competitive entity.
Similarities Between Bitcoin and Ethereum
Ethereum and Bitcoin are decentralized. They don’t get a store of value via a central authority. Both of them are created on a distributed ledger and tamper-proof blockchain. Both currencies are popular, and most people trade both of them.
Difference Between Bitcoin & Ethereum
Bitcoin was created to offer a means for people to transfer value anonymously without a central authority. However, Ethereum was created on the blockchain idea and copied Bitcoin as the coin. Therefore, Ethereum can do much more than simply serving as a platform for giving store of value tokens. Ether is the digital currency of Ethereum, but this isn’t its main aim. Ethereum platform was created to monetize the working of dApps and smart contracts.
At the starting of 2020, Bitcoin’s market cap was nearly $150 billion. The market cap of Ether was just 1/10 of it, at almost $16 billion. But still, nearly the same number of people hold Ether and Bitcoin in their portfolio. Though Bitcoin is a well-known and well-traded crypto for years, Ether is also catching up with eyes.
Since Ethereum is a flexible platform, many people have started holding their Bitcoins on this platform instead of the Bitcoin blockchain. It is called “tokenized Bitcoin.” However, you cannot hold Ether on the Bitcoin blockchain. Another difference is that Bitcoin has become a widely accepted method of cash replacement. You can even come across search engines to browse products to purchase through Bitcoins.
The transactions that take place via the Ethereum network are faster than those on the Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin transactions are monetary, but Ethereum transactions are executable codes as well.
Which Is a Better Buy?
The answer to this question comes down to investors’ risk profiles. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are poised to do well as the whole world has started accepting cryptocurrency and has become more digital. Of these two, Bitcoin, of course, is more stable and mainstream. However, the sentiments for Ethereum have grown among the experts over the last couple of years.
Similar to most other investments, Ethereum’s high risks can bring a high potential for better rewards. Remember that it is not 2009 now. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum can be taken seriously, and it is up to you, your individual decision, and your risk profile to decide the one you want to buy.
Which is a Better investment in 2021?
Answering this question isn’t simple as both these coins have great potential. Both of them have many reasons to develop. For example, Bitcoin enjoys huge price hikes following the halving events in 2020, and the surge has not disappointed till now. However, many believe that it may be because of institutional interest and not by halving. It may be possible that the growth is because of both. Experts predict that Bitcoin still has the potential to grow, and thus, the price of this coin will go much higher by the end of 2021. You can make invest in Bitcoin via Bitcoin Loophole platform. It is an automated trading platform that mainly focuses on making good profit from Bitcoin. Check Bitcoin Loophole Review to know more about this unique platform.
Ethereum has revolutionized the whole blockchain industry by revealing that a lot more is there to blockchain technology than processing cryptocurrency transactions. It is accountable for building smart contracts, Defi, and dApps. With Ethereum 2.0, a massive improvement in scalability and speed will be seen. It can attract everyone who left this project because of high fees and a slow network. If those people come back, the price of this coin will rise.
So, the question like, “Which is a better investment in 2021?” does not have an obvious answer. There is no rivalry between both these projects. The Bitcoin versus Ethereum fight will not lead to the demise of any one project. These two are different concepts with different purposes and goals. Both of them have their use cases along with great potential, room, and reason to grow.
Conclusion
Understand that both Ethereum and Bitcoin are different ideas. Ethereum is a decentralized platform used to program decentralized ideas, while Bitcoin is a decentralized store of value. So, there is no comparison between Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is the blockchain that makes both Ethereum and Bitcoin possible. We do not need to provide our valuable data to others to make transactions because blockchain offers the power to build an immutable and trustless way to perform business.
