The Network Ledger- The Evolution of Blockchain Software from Bitcoin to Ethereum

Last updated on April 18th, 2023 at 11:51 am

Description: Nowadays, channels of investments are so many. Traditionally, we had to buy land, own a house, a business, or have stocks, but now, with a growing market in blockchain software, the sky’s the limit. Have you ever heard of the term Bitcoin? That is just one of them that you can buy, sell, or even invest.

Many tend to wonder when this whole Bitcoin charade began and why it is of so much value today. To put it in the simplest terms, Bitcoin is a type of digital currency that you can use to purchase items and even pay for some services online. 

Crypto’s blockchain software is a decentralized money option not affected by the value of other currencies, any government or company. It is entirely independent, making it a gem among currencies. It can be used in almost every business sector today, such as buying stock, playing for high stakes treasure maps in casinos, purchasing coffee, and even booking a flight or paying for a holiday.

The Genesis of Bitcoin

It remains a secret as to whom or what Nakamoto is. Most people assume that that name belongs to a man, but the character cannot be of any confirmation. But all in all, he, she, or they were the initiator of the Bitcoin. Back in 2008, it was evident that there was a recurring issue that stood out when it came to digital currency. This menace was something called double-spending.

Digital ‘double-spending’ is when a transaction gets sent twice. This invoked a loss of trust in financial transfer through the internet —something had to be done.

However, with modern technology, someone could easily cut, copy, paste documentation hence making something from nothing. To curb this, third-party money online transfer firms came into play. But there was a hitch once again. If this third-party program is hacked, theft, fraud, and discrepancies were expected. 

The solution was a peer-to-peer network that would transfer digital currency verified by a distributed and decentralized system. The print for the whole operation was first drafted in an email but was further explained on a white-paper linked to blockchain software called the Bitcoin.

The next year, 2009, on 8th January, the first version of Bitcoin made a debut as version 0.1. Following numerous updates the whole year, an exchange market for the blockchain software was opened. It sold for $0.003. That was back in 2010.

Today, ten years later, one bitcoin goes for an estimated $8 600.

Since the Blockchain software, Bitcoin is online, can anyone mine or use it?

On the matter of usage, anyone can use it, but mining needs more than one computer. The process takes too long, and it is very energy-consuming. Hence the return will not match up the initial investment of a mining set up, well unless you are a millionaire ready to incur the cost.

On the system, when a transaction is processed, it is pushed to a network where the Bitcoin node stamp is used as verification. They are then arranged in a block. The system becomes a sequence trail that forms a history of all transactions in a chain of blocks, thus called blockchain software.

Birth of the Ethereum

As if the Bitcoin was not enough, yet another currency to join the cryptocurrency world was the Ethereum. Vitalik Buterin developed the white paper for Ethereum in 2015.

Bitcoin only served as the central bank of the internet, and the need for making an upgrade of it was wanting. The new version was to do as the internet for a new digital economy built for creating a decentralized application developed on a programmable layer in addition to it being a digital currency. Thus the birth of Ethereum- an open-source, public blockchain software that people could build on the blockchain.

The new blockchain software, Ethereum, became an intelligent financial transaction channel making the internet finance-based rather than just information-based. 

Is Ethereum Better Than Bitcoin?

Well, if you take the direction of Ethereum being an upgrade of Bitcoin, then yes, it is better. And this is validated by the reasons below:

Ethereum is more efficient

Compared to Bitcoin, Ethereum has shorter block times, making it very efficient. With this, there is a significant increase in speed when it comes to creation. This boils down to faster transactions allowing a large number of transactions to operate within the blockchain software.

Ethereum has the proof-of-stake beyond Bitcoin’s proof-of-work

In the POW in Bitcoin, you find evidence that an individual Bitcoin is complete and included in the chain. Here the first miner takes the block reward. But in the POS, owners can create blocks in the blockchain software. Within this system, miners take transactional fees, and there is no block reward. Consequently, the POS system is cheaper, less resource-demanding, and more reasonable.

Ethereum is more economical

The Bitcoin blockchain software rewards half every four years while Ethereum releases an equivalent in just 12 months. The progress that Ethereum is making is better when compared to the Bitcoin.

People trust what they know

Apart from the name Satoshi Nakamoto, nothing much can be said about how Bitcoin was designed. This puts some doubt in some people’s minds. With Ethereum, they do have a more detailed picture and vision of the technology. Vitalik has always been open about his plans from the get-go.

Take away

Diving into the financial world is marvelous, but when all that is integrated into the internet, you get some mind-blowing tech revelations. It is quite fascinating how blockchain software is changing things. Share with us your thoughts on what you think about the two in the comments section below. If you are compelled to invest, then go right ahead.