Not financial, legal, or tax advice. This is a general technical comparison, not investment guidance.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two largest cryptocurrencies, but they're built for different purposes: Bitcoin is designed primarily as a store of value and payment network, while Ethereum is a programmable platform for running applications. Understanding that split explains most of their other differences.
Purpose
Bitcoin's core use case is being a scarce, decentralized digital asset, often described as "digital gold." Ethereum was built to run smart contracts and applications, making the network itself a platform rather than just an asset.
Supply
Bitcoin has a hard cap of 21 million coins, enforced by the schedule described in Bitcoin Halving. Ethereum has no hard cap, though its issuance rate has slowed significantly since its move to Proof of Stake.
Consensus
Bitcoin still runs on Proof of Work, secured by miners. Ethereum switched to Proof of Stake in 2022, securing the network through staked capital instead of mining hardware.
Use cases
Bitcoin is used mainly for holding value and transferring funds. Ethereum hosts a much broader range of activity, including DeFi apps, NFTs, and tokens, all built on \[pillar hyperlink: What Is Ethereum\].
The investment angle
Many holders treat Bitcoin and Ethereum differently: Bitcoin as a scarcity-driven store of value, Ethereum as a bet on the growth of applications built on top of it. Neither framing guarantees an outcome, and both carry meaningful risk.