Continuing from my previous blog “blockchain simplified” I wanted to introduce some key concepts and give people a basic understanding from which they can continue to develop an understanding of the blockchain ecosystem.
First, both run on blockchain technology, however, differ in implementation and purpose.
Think of Bitcoin using one database and ethereum using a different one.
Both have all the features inherent in Blockchains and both are widely support around the world although the organisations running them are fundamentally different.
Table of key differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum
Differences Bitcoin Ethereum
Purpose Cryptocurrency (BTC) General purpose platform including Cryptocurrency (ETH)
Speed of transaction Around 10 mins Around 15 seconds
Development environment Limited function set Rich functionality support complex business logic (Turing complete)
Mining rewards Smaller rewards as time goes on Fixed rewards
Perfect for: Digital Currency Smart contracts including Digital currency payments
Transaction model Block-based, all compete evenly Dependant on Bandwidth, storage and processing needed (GAS)
For the Geeks
Computational puzzle (Proof of work) SHA 256 Ethhash
Mining system Asics / FPGA GPU
I believe that blockchain will have an Internet level impact on the world possibly even greater over the next 10-15 years. I know as a Digital workplace company we are taking this extremely serious and striving to lead in this area of Digital workplace evolution.
Hopefully, this helps you to start to develop your understanding of what is an initially confusing and complicated space that will impact us all.
This blog is not aimed at technical people, its sole aim is to ease people into blockchain, always happy to get geeky if you want to ping me on @suncao on twitter or on LinkedIn.
