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What is the difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin?

Published Sep 18, 2026Updated Sep 19, 2026Last verified Sep 18, 2026Requests recorded in this site’s own server logs, with the crawler identity checked by reverse DNS or IP range.Meta33Google20OpenAI12Anthropic5Parallel4Ahrefs2Apple1Microsoft1Perplexity1First collected Sep 18, 2026Recent requestsGoogleNov 2, 2026AhrefsOct 31, 2026OpenAIOct 24, 2026MicrosoftOct 24, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 12, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 12, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 12, 2026AhrefsOct 10, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 9, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 4, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 4, 2026Meta · unverifiedOct 3, 2026
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Quick 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.

57 words12 sources

Answer

Sources: EVM design [5], ETH supply [3], and the consensus comparison in the SEC ETF analysis .

Sources

  1. officialWhat is Ethereum? (A Complete Guide) — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  2. officialIntroduction to smart contracts — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  3. officialWhat is Ether (ETH)? — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  4. officialTimeline of all Ethereum forks (2014 to present) — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  5. officialEthereum Virtual Machine (EVM) — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  6. officialGas and fees — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  7. officialProof-of-stake (PoS) — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
  8. officialPrague-Electra (Pectra) — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  9. officialThe Merge — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
  10. newsEthereum Activates Fusaka Upgrade, Aiming to Cut Node Costs, Speed Layer-2 Settlements — CoinDesk · accessed Oct 29, 2026 · Evidence page
  11. officialLayer 2 — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page
  12. officialClient diversity — ethereum.org · accessed Nov 11, 2026 · Evidence page