Bitcoin vs Ethereum: Digital Money vs Programs

Bitcoin will never have more than 21 million coins. Ether, the coin of Ethereum, has no cap. The network destroys part of what users pay to use it, so the number of ether can fall as well as rise.

Both run on a blockchain, a shared public record that computers around the world copy and check. They do different jobs. This guide compares what each is for, how new coins arrive, how each is secured, what each charges, and when US funds that hold them began trading.

Bitcoin began on 3 January 2009 as digital money with no central bank. Our guide to what Bitcoin is explains more.

Ethereum went live in July 2015. Its record also stores and runs programs. Ethereum.org defines a smart contract as a computer program stored on the blockchain that follows "if this then that" logic.

Ethereum.org compares a smart contract to a vending machine that checks your payment, then hands over the item. Our guide to what Ethereum is explains them.

Each network records transactions, meaning payments or other actions, in batches called blocks. The table sets the two side by side.

Block times are the usual pace: the Bitcoin figure is a target the network adjusts to, and Ethereum adds a block in each 12-second slot. Source: bitcoin.org; ethereum.org; SEC order of 10 January 2024; iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF annual reports for 2025

Bitcoin.org says the rules cap Bitcoin's supply at 21 million coins. Miners earn new coins as a reward for adding each block.

The reward started at 50 coins a block and halves every 210,000 blocks, about every four years, an event called a halving. Since 20 April 2024, it has been 3.125 coins a block, about 450 a day.

By our count from the rules, the supply was 20.11 million coins at block 975,042, the latest on 8 November 2026. That is 95.8% of the cap.

Ether has no cap. Issuance is the creation of new ether. The burn is the destruction of existing ether.

Since 15 September 2022, only validators earn new ether, not miners. Ethereum.org says that cut new ether by about 88%.

Since August 2021, the network burns the base fee, the part of every fee that its rules set. Ethereum.org says the burn follows network demand. The balance between issuance and burn decides whether supply grows or shrinks.

Chart 1 sets each coin's yearly new supply against the coins in existence.

The Bitcoin bars divide a year of new coins at each reward by the supply on the halving day. The pace fell from 12.5% after the 2012 halving to 0.8% after the 2024 halving.

The ether bars are Ethereum.org's figures at 14 million ether staked, the total locked up as deposits. They show 4.6% a year before the Merge, the September 2022 move to staking. They show 0.5% after. Both are before any burn.

Ethereum.org puts the supply at about 120.52 million ether at the Merge. Issuance changes with the amount staked. The ether bars hold it at 14 million, the 2022 figure.

Bitcoin uses proof of work. A miner must solve a puzzle that only trial and error can solve, then attach the answer to each new block. Bitcoin.org says that takes an immense number of calculations, which cost computing power and electricity.

The network adjusts the puzzle's difficulty, meaning how hard it is, so a block arrives about every 10 minutes.

Ethereum.org says a miner would need over half the network's mining power to keep adding dishonest blocks, which takes a lot of expensive computing power. This is called a 51% attack.

Ethereum has used proof of stake since 15 September 2022, a change called the Merge. Staking means locking up ether as a deposit. Ethereum.org says a person needs 32 ether to run a validator alone, while staking pools, groups that combine many holders' ether, let people stake with less.

A validator picked at random proposes each new block. Others check it. A cheating validator can lose part or all of its deposit, a penalty called slashing. Ethereum.org says the Merge cut Ethereum's energy use by about 99.95%.

Ethereum.org says an attacker would need 51% of the staked ether. Honest validators could then destroy the attacker's stake. It also calls proof of stake younger than proof of work, with a shorter record of use.

A fee is the charge for having an action recorded. On Bitcoin, it goes to the miner. Bitcoin.org says it depends on demand for space in the blockchain and on the data size of the payment, not the amount sent. So 100,000 coins can cost the same fee as one.

On Ethereum, every action takes computing work. Gas is the unit that measures that work. The fee is the gas used times the price per unit of gas, paid in ether. Ethereum.org says a plain transfer, the simplest action, uses 21,000 units of gas.

The fee has two parts. The network's rules set the base fee. The network burns it. The tip goes to the validator.

A spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) holds the real coin, not a bet on its price. Its shares trade on a stock exchange like any share. Our guide to spot Bitcoin ETFs covers how they work.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the exchange rule changes that let Bitcoin funds list on 10 January 2024. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) began trading on 11 January 2024, according to its annual report.

The SEC approved the rule changes for eight ether funds on 23 May 2024. The iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) began trading on 23 July 2024, according to its annual report. That was 194 days after the first Bitcoin funds.

Bitcoin is capped digital money secured by mining. Ethereum is a network for programs, with an uncapped coin, a fee burn, and staking. Bitcoin's coin count follows a fixed schedule, while ether's net change follows network use.

Our three-coin comparison sets ether's returns beside Bitcoin's.

Bitcoin sits inside our Macro & Megacaps Systematic Portfolio's rules. A crypto sleeve is a small group of up to five crypto-linked names the portfolio may hold alongside its other holdings. ETH is a candidate for it. Multi-model Signals, our model calls on individual tickers, covers Bitcoin.

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Neither is better in general, because the two do different jobs. Bitcoin is digital money with a 21 million coin cap, secured by miners. Ethereum runs programs, pays validators who stake ether, and burns part of every fee. Our three-coin comparison sets their returns and falls side by side.

No. Ether has no cap, unlike Bitcoin's 21 million coins. Ethereum.org says only validators have earned new ether since 15 September 2022, while the network burns part of every fee. The balance between the two decides whether the supply grows or shrinks. A busy network burns more, so supply grows more slowly.

About 890,000 of Bitcoin's 21 million coins remain to be created. By our count from the rules, 20.11 million existed at block 975,042 on 8 November 2026, which is 95.8% of the cap. The reward is 3.125 coins a block, so the network adds about 450 coins a day.

Ethereum stopped mining to use far less energy and to change how new coins are issued. It switched from proof of work to proof of stake on 15 September 2022. Ethereum.org says the Merge cut its energy use by about 99.95% and new ether by about 88%. Bitcoin still uses mining.

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