What Is the Real Difference Between Bitcoin and Ethereum?

According to Pew Research, 16% of Americans have invested in cryptocurrency in the past few years.

If you’re interested in being one of those Americans, you’re probably looking at the most popular crypto investments: Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

But what’s the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum? Keep reading to learn all you need to know before investing. 

Bitcoin

Bitcoin started in 2009, and it was one of the first crypto options out there. Bitcoin is backed by a central authority rather than a government. There are no physical coins, and if you’re investing in Bitcoin, you’ll have your investment recorded in a public ledger.

Bitcoin has become so popular over the years, and it’s been more accepted even with governments. However, some stores still don’t recognize this crypto as a good medium of payment. 

Ethereum

Ethereum is another type of cryptocurrency that uses blockchain technology. This one was launched in 2015, and it’s hosted on an open-ended software platform that is decentralized.

While Ethhereum isn’t as popular as Bitcoin, it is becoming just as popular. 

Because it runs on its own blockchain, developers can build on this and run other applications on the technology. So not only is Ethereum a coin and token, but it’s also a platform that you can use. 

Ether is used for two reasons: for investing in Ethereum and for running applications on the Ethereum network. 

Main Differences

If you’re thinking about making cryptocurrency deposits, you’ll need to know the differences between the two coins to figure out which one to invest in.

These two coins both use a public ledger, and they run on encrypted and safe platforms. 

However, people use Bitcoin more like gold in the economy. People use Ether mostly to power the Ethereum network. 

You can use these tokens on almost any platform, but Bitcoin will have an Omni layer. Ethereum uses a different one, which is ERC-20. 

Bitcoin also takes a while to add new blocks of data. This is also how long it can take to do a transaction through this coin.

For example, if you try to make a transaction on the Bitcoin network, it will take about ten minutes. On Ethereum, it’s much faster and will finish in just fifteen seconds or less. 

Keep in mind that Bitcoin transactions are more monetary. You can add notes and messages to the transactions though. If you make a transaction with Ethereum, you’ll have an executable code that you can use to make a smart contract attached to the transaction. 

Discover More About the Difference Between Bitcoin and Ethereum

These are only a few things to know about the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum, but there are many more factors to consider. 

When in doubt, talk with a financial advisor to figure out what investment is best for you and our portfolio.

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