Bitcoin’s record year is just a part of the big story The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency, and its meteoric rise has made it a mainstay of conversation for investors, media, and technologists alike.In fact, the innovation of the blockchain is changing entire markets, while causing ripples with central banks and the financial industry.At time of publication, the bitcoin price now hovers near US$2,200, a massive increase from this time last year.But the true impact of Bitcoin is actually far more reaching than this – it’s actually helped to birth new markets for over 800 other cryptocurrencies and assets that are available for online trading.And while the market for bitcoins is worth nearly $40 billion itself, the rest of these cryptocurrencies are actually worth even more in combination.For the first time since Bitcoin was founded, it now makes up the minority of the entire cryptocurrency market at about 47.9% of all coins and assets.

So what are the other altcoins that make up the rest of this universe, and where did they come from?Litecoin is one of the first altcoins, and it is nearly identical to Bitcoin after being “forked” in 2011.Litecoin aims to process blocks 4x faster than Bitcoin to speed up transaction confirmation time, though this creates several other challenges as well.At time of writing, Litecoin’s market capitalization is worth $1.3 billion.Ethereum, launched in 2015, is the largest coin by market capitalization aside from Bitcoin.However, it is also quite different.While Bitcoin is designed to be a payments protocol first, Ethereum enables developers to build and deploy decentralized applications, while also enabling smart contracts.The tokens used to power the network are called Ether, but they can also be traded online.At time of writing, Ethereum’s market capitalization is $15.4 billion.Also interesting: the Ethereum network actually split into two in 2016.It’s a complicated situation, but read about it here.

There is now a separate Ethereum, based on the original Ethereum blockchain, trading as “Ethereum Classic” with its own market capitalization of $1.4 billion.Ripple (XRP) is the native currency of the Ripple Protocol – a broader catch-all for an open-source, global exchange.It’s already being used by banks such as Santander, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, UBS, and RBC.It solves a different problem than Bitcoin, allowing for settling payments between different currencies and even different payment systems.Today, Ripple’s native coin (XRP) has a market cap of $10.9 billion.With over 800+ altcoins or assets out there, there’s plenty of information to absorb.Here’s a short 20-minute course on the history of altcoins that might provide useful context, as well as in-depth explanations of Ethereum and Ripple that may help you learn about the important parts of a rapidly growing altcoin universe.Article by Jeff Desjardins, Visual CapitalistHome   »   Ethereum   »  to   Bitcoin = 0.12206 Bitcoin Currency Conversion Tables Ethereum   BitcoinΞ 10B 1.21Ξ 30B 3.64Ξ 50B 6.07Ξ 100B 12.14Ξ 500B 60.7Ξ 1000B 121Ξ 2000B 243Ξ 5000B 607Ξ 10000B 1214Ξ 30000B 3642Ξ 50000B 6070B0.1214 per EthereumFri, 23 June, 2017 Bitcoin   EthereumB 1Ξ 8.24B 3Ξ 24.71B 5Ξ 41.19B 10Ξ 82.38B 50Ξ 412B 100Ξ 824B 200Ξ 1648B 500Ξ 4119B 1000Ξ 8238B 3000Ξ 24713B 5000Ξ 41189Ξ8.2378 per BitcoinFri, 23 June, 2017 Best Exchange Rate Cost with Poloniex Today's Change Range of Change DateExchange Rate24 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1221 BTC23 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1186 BTC22 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1227 BTC21 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1291 BTC20 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1381 BTC19 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1407 BTC18 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1407 BTC17 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1412 BTC16 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1384 BTC15 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1399 BTC14 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1402 BTC13 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1478 BTC12 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1146 BTC11 Jun 171 ETH = 0.1142 BTC10 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0998 BTC09 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0930 BTC08 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0942 BTC07 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0927 BTC06 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0891 BTC05 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0967 BTC04 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0930 BTC03 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0908 BTC02 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0941 BTC01 Jun 171 ETH = 0.0975 BTC31 May 171 ETH = 0.1052 BTC30 May 171 ETH = 0.0875 BTC29 May 171 ETH = 0.0791 BTC28 May 171 ETH = 0.0767 BTC27 May 171 ETH = 0.0745 BTC26 May 171 ETH = 0.0759 BTC Date: Bank Commission +/- 0%+/- 1%+/- 2% (Typical ATM rate)+/- 3% (Typical Credit Card rate)+/- 4%+/- 5% (Typical Kiosk rate) Currency Conversion Tables Ethereum   BitcoinΞ 10B 1.21Ξ 30B 3.64Ξ 50B 6.07Ξ 100B 12.14Ξ 500B 60.7Ξ 1000B 121Ξ 2000B 243Ξ 5000B 607Ξ 10000B 1214Ξ 30000B 3642Ξ 50000B 6070B0.1214 per EthereumFri, 23 June, 2017 Bitcoin   EthereumB 1Ξ 8.24B 3Ξ 24.71B 5Ξ 41.19B 10Ξ 82.38B 50Ξ 412B 100Ξ 824B 200Ξ 1648B 500Ξ 4119B 1000Ξ 8238B 3000Ξ 24713B 5000Ξ 41189Ξ8.2378 per BitcoinFri, 23 June, 2017 Cost Firm Fee Exchange Rate Pay By Delivers Cost Ξ10 10.000.1209B 0.0020.000.1206B 0.0130.000.1202B 0.01fx-rate.netSat, 24 June, 2017 05:30:00 (+08) Note: fx-rate.net and Enclick Ltd are not authorised to give advice under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

The prices displayed above are our best guidance on the likely exchange rates, and for indicative purposes only.Exchange rates constantly change throughout the day and can change at the time of closing a trade.We keep the prices updated by checking the exchange rate margins and fees for each provider, and then apply them to the currency interbank rate; our best projection of their price to customers.ethereum physical coinOur Terms & Conditions Apply fx-rate.co - You are free to copy and distribute the table under Creative Commons Licence CC-BY 3.0 - please refer to fx-rate.co and link back to the tablebitcoin blockchain viewerSince its release in early 2009, Bitcoin has been the trailblazing leader of the cryptocurrency revolution.cnbc investigation bitcoin

Countless imitators have come and gone but Bitcoin remains dominant, despite nearing the current limits of its transactional capacity.Ethereum, created mid-2015, is Bitcoin’s strongest rival… But can Ethereum deliver on the hype surrounding its complicated technology, as well as recover from the recent spectacular failure of the DAO, to usurp Bitcoin’s primacy?How valid is the frequent claim that Bitcoin and Ethereum aren’t direct competitors but rather complimentary aspects of the new, blockchain-based economy?The peaceful coexistence theory holds that the web is vast and deep enough for Bitcoin and Ethereum to carve out their respective niches: Bitcoin specialising in its role as digital gold; offering a dependable monetary system free from unbounded inflation and political intervention.Ethereum evolving into the world computer; a blockchain-based programming language enabling code-based contracts and decentralised applications.In practice, matters are more complex.Given the extensibility of cryptocurrency, neither coin has a clearly defined sphere of operation.

There is considerable overlap between their functions and markets, with nothing to prevent user migration.For example, additional layers built upon Bitcoin, such as the Rootstock.io smart contact platform, threaten to trespass on Ethereum’s playground.Rootstock promises to do everything Ethereum can, with the added security of a two-way peg to the more secure Bitcoin network.Likewise, Ethereum has become a popular trading and investment instrument, infringing upon Bitcoin’s domain as “magic internet money.” Ethereum’s daily trading volume, insofar as such figures can be trusted for either currency, is currently about 1/5th that of Bitcoin: Stats as of the 21st of June 2016, courtesy of CoinMarketCap The following user scenarios serve to illustrate the frequent necessity of choosing between Bitcoin and Ethereum: Peaceful coexistence is a myth; Bitcoin and Ethereum clearly compete for users.The good news is that such competition should ultimately produce better cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin users tend to be politically and economically conscious.Many users support certain principles, such as individual sovereignty and free markets.There exists a definite aversion to central planning and control, so Bitcoin is often revered as the counter to central banks and big governments.Ethereum users tend to be less ideologically-motivated.They are generally content to vest ultimate authority in Vitalik Buterin, inventor of Ethereum.The community’s focus tends to be on the technology’s future business and financial applications.The network effect, expressed mathematically by Metcalfe’s law, states that a network’s value is proportional to its number of users.Whether we’re talking fax machines, social media or cryptocurrency; people are more likely to join popular networks.As the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has a clear first-mover advantage here.Bitcoin transaction data doesn’t just confer ownership of coins; it also conveys certain instructions relating to transaction.

For example, a recently-implemented change allows sent coins to be locked for a custom time period.The set of possible instructions is known as Bitcoin’s scripting language and it’s intentionally limited to transactional processing.Ethereum’s primary innovation was to expand this set of instructions into a fully-featured programming language such as JavaScript, which Ethereum’s language closely resembles.This is what is meant by Ethereum being “Turing-complete.” Risk vs.Reward: The undeniable fact is that, by adding complexity at the protocol level, Ethereum presents a larger attack surface to adversaries.This heightened risk of attack makes Ethereum an inferior store of value.Further, there is no decisive advantage gained from Ethereum’s scripting language which could not be duplicated via protocol-separate code.Bitcoin may be in trouble if Ethereum ever develops such a killer app but until then… Bitcoin has a Proof of Work blockchain which is currently composed of 1 megabyte blocks.

These blocks are mined on average every 10 minutes by SHA-256 hashing.Bitcoin mining is primarily performed by ASIC devices.Bitcoin’s blockchain can process around 3 transactions per second.Ethereum currently has a Proof of Work blockchain, although a proposed fork will switch it to Proof of Stake (PoS).The Ethereum blockchain is composed of blocks of variable size.Blocks are mined on average every 15 seconds by hashing a modified Dagger-Hashimoto algorithm.This algorithm is designed to resist processing by ASIC devices; as a result Ethereum mining is primarily performed by graphics cards.Ethereum’s blockchain can process around 25 transactions per second.Scalability: Ethereum appears to have a clear advantage in terms of blockchain scalability.Bitcoin is in the process of upgrading its transactional capacity.Security: In terms of blockchain security, massive infrastructure investment by Bitcoin miners has resulted in a peak Bitcoin hashrate of 1,803,059,256 GH/s (1.8 ExaHash).This greatly exceeds Ethereum’s hashrate, which peaked at a comparatively paltry 3,010 GH/s (3 TeraHash).

The monetary cost to perform a 51% attack on Bitcoin is proportionately greater.Decentralisation: Hashrate distribution among mining pools is fairly equal between Bitcoin and Ethereum on a percentage basis.The majority of Bitcoin mining occurs in China due to favourable economic factors.This raises a red flag in terms of the potential pressure the Chinese state could exert on the Bitcoin mining network.While Bitcoin could alter its mining algorithm to thwart any takeover attempt, this “mining hardware reset” would doubtless prove tremendously destructive.Although Ethereum mining in its current state resembles the glory days of individual-level Bitcoin mining, its planned switch to PoS will likely increase centralisation.Gavin Andresen, former Bitcoin lead developer, succinctly critiqued PoS thus: “I think proof-of-stake is hard coded, ‘the rich get richer’ and is deeply unfair.” Mining: Ethereum is profitable to mine on high-end GPUs, especially given low power costs.Advanced graphic cards are available for under $200 and can also run games and other apps.

However, before investing in a mining rig, aspiring Ethereum miners should consider that the upcoming change to PoS will invalidate their investment.Bitcoin is only profitable when mined with specialised ASIC hardware running on very low cost electricity.High-end ASIC hardware costs over $2000 per unit and has no purpose besides mining Bitcoin.The pace of ASIC hardware advancement is slowing as it approaches the limits of semiconductor miniaturisation technology; it can be hoped that this process, perhaps in combination with the increasing power generation efficiencies, will eventually lead to a more widely-dispersed Bitcoin mining network.Bitcoin’s total supply will be strictly limited to 21 million coins.Bitcoin’s issuance is halved roughly every 4 years.As of the next halving in July 2016, Bitcoin’s inflation rate will drop to an annual rate of ~5%.Future halving events, combined with coins lost through user error, will ultimately result in a deflationary currency.Ethereum’s issuance by miners is capped at an annual rate of 18 million ETH.

This represents an inflation rate of ~20% at the current supply.As ETH is not consumed by running programs but instead sent to the miner of the associated transaction, Ethereum’s value is likely to decline in the long term.Implications: All else remaining equal, the purchasing power of a deflationary currency will rise over time whereas the relative value of an inflationary currency will fall.Bitcoin therefore encourages saving and benefits early adopters who bought in cheaply.Ethereum encourages spending and lowers the cost of entry for newcomers.Bitcoin is thought to have been mined exclusively by Satoshi Nakomoto in its early phase.At that time, there was no barrier to the entry of other miners, other than Bitcoin’s obscurity.It’s estimated that Satoshi owns roughly 5% of total supply.As Satoshi’s coins have yet to move, some speculate they may be inaccessible.Ethereum’s distribution took the form of an ICO (Initial Coin Offering), whereby 31,529 BTC was traded for 60,102,216 ETH in advance of the Ethereum blockchain’s launch.

Approximately $14m USD was raised in this fashion by the Ethereum Foundation, which awarded itself 12m ETH; roughly 14% of the current total supply.Fairness: Bitcoin had a demonstrably fairer launch.The Ethereum Foundation’s majority stake is somewhat concerning given the intended switch to Proof of Stake mining.Under PoS, the likelihood of minting new tokens is proportional to holdings.This raises the possibility of the further concentration of self-awarded wealth.Bitcoin’s codebase benefits from over 100 Core contributors and several alternative implementations.With over $10b in assets on the line, they take a conservative approach to development.All proposed improvements must undergo peer review and rigorous testing prior to being merged.The perceived slow pace of this process, at least in terms of scaling, led to contention (the so-called Blocksize Debate) and the eventual estrangement of numerous users, several companies and even a few developers.Core developers are now under considerable pressure in terms of delivering scaling solutions without compromising security.

Ethereum is the brainchild of Vitalik Buterin, who handled its initial development along with 3 other skilled developers.They were able to pick and choose ideas from the development of Bitcoin and altcoins and introduce new ideas of their own.However, literally anyone can code a smart contract which runs on top of Ethereum.Herein lays both opportunity and danger.Certain estimates put the number of bugs per line of contract code at 1 in 10.As seen with the draining of The DAO and numerous minor incidents, investing in such contracts without proper code review can lead to serious loss.More work is required to secure smart contracts before they can reliably underwrite new ways of doing business.A Developing Story: both coins face considerable challenges if order to realise their full potential.However, this industry tends to attract some of the world’s best and brightest minds, who invariably relish intellectual challenge.Bitcoin has more lives than a cat, by an order of magnitude.Betting against Bitcoin is just not advisable, as many have learnt to their detriment.

If SegWit, the Lightning Network, Rootstock, Elements and other exciting developments play out as expected, Bitcoin will retain its crown with ease.Ethereum is no safe bet, which is not to say it couldn’t pay off handsomely.The uncertainty surrounding its prospects increases its volatility, making it a great instrument for traders.In the short term, much will depend on how the DAO crisis is resolved.Medium term, there’s considerable uncertainty around the PoS fork and how it’ll impact network security and incentives.Long-term, doubts remain regarding Ethereum’s high rate of inflation and its significant pre-mine.If it’s to survive, it must also evolve past dependence on a single trusted authority, in the person of Vitalik. and gutcher.de that really details the exact differences (it’s a bit long but it’s worth it).About Latest Posts Latest posts by Steven Hay (see all) Bitcoin Volatility Explained Bitcoin VS Ethereum: Cryptocurrency Comparison A Beginner’s Guide to Monero (Buying, Trading, Mining)