Two of the most popular cryptocurrencies out there are Bitcoin and Ethereum. Also known as BTC, and ETC, respectively, they are the leading cryptos in the World of digital currencies. Bitcoin which is tradable via the bitcoin trading platform, at the moment, has covered around fifty-seven percent share in the crypto market and can be considered to be leading others. Comparatively, the market cap of Ethereum is somewhere around $180 million, which is also quite huge. As Ethereum is an emerging currency, people are hopeful for its bright future. However, the question is: Will Ethereum be as good as bitcoin?
Over the last few years, as the market value and share of these currencies have augmented, their volume of circulation has also enhanced. Currently, around 122 million ETH coins are circulating in the market. Competitively, with bitcoin, this number is around 19 million. As this supply has decreased, some experts think that the supply and demand rule has played in the market. With the reduced supply, the demand for Bitcoin has increased. While the supply of ETH is quite extensive, the growth hasn’t translated into sales as much.
Comparing Ethereum with Bitcoin
For every new crypto trader, the question of whether Bitcoin is better than Ethereum is a potent one. He would want to know which is more profitable in the future. In most cases and scenarios, both these coins are quite the same. They work in similar manners and offer somewhat the same features.
However, the one thing that differentiates the two is the way they are used. A majority of crypto users use bitcoin as a store of value. They try to extract maximum benefits from holding bitcoin, which lets them make huge profits out of it. They buy bitcoin, manage it and then sell it off when its value increases. It helps them make huge money out of the investment.
Ethereum and smart contracts
Comparatively, Ethereum works as a secure financial transaction and is used in that manner. As it comes with a unique feature of smart contacts. With these features, every transaction associated with ETH tends to be highly well-protected.
Ethereum And Proof of Stake
For the longest time, both the cryptos of Bitcoin and Ethereum would use the same mechanism of work, which was proof of work. However, Ethereum has now moved one step ahead and has gone with a merge. It has brought a shift from the Proof of Work mechanism to the Proof of stake mechanism. It is a manner of validation of the transaction and keeps the blockchain secure. Hence, one can say that ETH has become a little more secure compared to Bitcoin.
Simply put, the Proof of Stake is a consensus mechanism through which the participants are asked to stake their money to validate the transactions. It then adds a new block to the blockchain. This reduces the requirement of extensive computation activities, which were a major reason for delayed transactions and slower processes.
Low Usage of Energy by Ethereum
Another great benefit associated with Ethereum is that it doesn’t require excessive usage of energy for its work. With this shift to the Proof of Stake move, the coin would require less energy in its minting. This way, it would be able to score brownie points from the environmentalists who have always been critical of cryptos using so much energy in their creation and leading to huge carbon footprints.
The fact that the concern of the environmentalists regarding the utilization of energy has been addressed effectively by Ethereum gives it an edge over Bitcoin for sure.
Final Thoughts
There is no denying the fact that Bitcoin is surely more popular compared to Ethereum. It has an edge for being the pioneer in the industry and bringing people towards accepting the concept of Cryptocurrency. Also, Bitcoin has now, somehow, become the face of cryptocurrency. However, recent developments show that the popularity of Ethereum is on the rise and it will showcase a huge improvement in the market share in the coming period. Its ability to do faster transactions and lower energy utilization make it better than Bitcoin.