{"id":761,"slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-ethereum-and-bitcoin","question":"What is the difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin?","intent":"informational","language":"en","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/what-is-the-difference-between-ethereum-and-bitcoin","entity":{"slug":"ethereum","name":"Ethereum","url":"https://worldwiki.io/entity/ethereum"},"answer":{"short_answer":"Bitcoin works mainly as a ledger for payments. Ethereum is a programmable state machine: its Ethereum Virtual Machine runs general-purpose smart contracts. Bitcoin uses proof-of-work mining, while Ethereum has used proof of stake since 2022. Bitcoin's supply is capped, but ETH has no fixed cap; its net supply depends on issuance to validators minus burned transaction fees.","detailed_answer":"<p>Sources: EVM design <span class=\"ref\">[5]</span>, ETH supply <span class=\"ref\">[3]</span>, and the consensus comparison in the SEC ETF analysis .</p>","format":"paragraph","confidence":75,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23","updated_at":"2026-09-18 16:10:23"},"sources":[{"id":196,"title":"What is Ethereum? (A Complete Guide)","url":"https://ethereum.org/what-is-ethereum/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:45"},{"id":197,"title":"Introduction to smart contracts","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/smart-contracts/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:47"},{"id":198,"title":"What is Ether (ETH)?","url":"https://ethereum.org/what-is-ether/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:47"},{"id":186,"title":"Timeline of all Ethereum forks (2014 to present)","url":"https://ethereum.org/ethereum-forks/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:36"},{"id":199,"title":"Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/evm/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:47"},{"id":200,"title":"Gas and fees","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/gas/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:47"},{"id":161,"title":"Proof-of-stake (PoS)","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:20"},{"id":201,"title":"Prague-Electra (Pectra)","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/pectra/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:48"},{"id":160,"title":"The Merge","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/merge/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:18"},{"id":202,"title":"Ethereum Activates Fusaka Upgrade, Aiming to Cut Node Costs, Speed Layer-2 Settlements","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/12/03/ethereum-activates-fusaka-upgrade-aiming-to-cut-node-costs-speed-layer-2-settlements","publisher":"CoinDesk","type":"news","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:49"},{"id":203,"title":"Layer 2","url":"https://ethereum.org/layer-2/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:49"},{"id":191,"title":"Client diversity","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/nodes-and-clients/client-diversity/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:43"}],"published_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23"}