Bitcoin vs Ethereum
Bitcoin focuses on being sound, censorship-resistant money, while Ethereum is a programmable platform for decentralized applications. You'll compare design goals, supply, and use cases.
Who Is This For?
- •Beginners deciding what to buy or use first
- •Users curious about how digital gold differs from a world computer
Learning Objectives
- 1.Summarize the distinct purposes of BTC and ETH
- 2.Contrast supply models, block times, and consensus choices
- 3.Pick which chain fits a given use case
Bitcoin Overview
Bitcoin was designed with one goal: to be the best money ever created. Simple, predictable, and impossible to corrupt.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Digital Gold · Store of Value · Sound Money
Key Properties:
- ✓ Mathematically enforced scarcity
- ✓ Most decentralized network
- ✓ Longest track record (since 2009)
- ✓ Conservative, security-focused upgrades
- ✓ Limited scripting by design
- ✓ Lightning Network for fast payments
💡 Bitcoin's philosophy: Don't trust, verify. Every change is scrutinized for years. The code prioritizes security and decentralization over new features. This conservative approach is why many trust it with significant wealth.
Ethereum Overview
Ethereum was designed as a programmable blockchain—a world computer where anyone can deploy applications that run exactly as programmed.
Ethereum (ETH)
World Computer · Smart Contracts · DeFi & NFTs
Key Properties:
- ✓ Full smart contract support (Solidity)
- ✓ Home of DeFi ($50B+ TVL)
- ✓ Largest dApp ecosystem
- ✓ Active development and upgrades
- ✓ EIP-1559 fee burning mechanism
- ✓ Rollup-centric scaling roadmap
🔥 ETH Supply & The Burn
Since EIP-1559 (August 2021), a portion of every transaction fee is burned (destroyed). When network activity is high, more ETH is burned than created—making ETH deflationary.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Let's compare Bitcoin and Ethereum directly across key attributes. Remember: different doesn't mean better—it means different purposes.
🧪 Block Speed Comparison
Watch how many blocks each chain produces in the same time period (simulated 2 hours):
📊 Full Comparison
| Attribute | ₿ Bitcoin | Ξ Ethereum |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | Store of value, digital gold | Programmable platform, world computer |
| Consensus | Proof of Work (mining) | Proof of Stake (validators) |
| Block Time | ~10 minutes | ~12 seconds ✓ |
| Supply Cap | 21 million (fixed) ✓ | No hard cap (dynamic) |
| Smart Contracts | Limited (Bitcoin Script) | Full (Solidity, Vyper) ✓ |
| Transaction Speed | ~7 TPS | ~15-30 TPS (L1) ✓ |
| Energy Usage | High (PoW mining) | Low (PoS staking) ✓ |
| Decentralization | ~15,000+ nodes ✓ | ~8,000+ nodes |
| Network Age | 2009 (oldest) ✓ | 2015 |
| Upgrade Speed | Slow, conservative | Faster, more frequent |
🎯 Which Should I Use?
Select a use case to see which chain is better suited:
💡 Many investors hold both: Bitcoin as their savings account (store of value) and Ethereum as their checking account (for active use and building). They complement each other.
Common Mistakes & Gotchas
These misconceptions about BTC and ETH lead to confusion and poor decisions.
⚠️ Key insight: The "BTC vs ETH" debate often misses the point. They're designed for different things. Asking which is better is like asking whether gold or the internet is better—it depends on what you need.
Knowledge Check
Let's see how well you understand the differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum.
What is Bitcoin's primary goal?
How does Ethereum burn ETH?
Why are Ethereum blocks faster than Bitcoin blocks?
What is the maximum supply of Bitcoin?
For building a DeFi lending protocol, which chain is more suitable?