Purpose and vision
Bitcoin was created to be a decentralized form of money — digital cash that can’t be controlled by governments or banks. Ethereum, on the other hand, was designed as a platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps).
Technology and functionality
Bitcoin is more limited on purpose — its simplicity helps keep it secure and reliable. Ethereum is more flexible and programmable, enabling features like NFTs, DeFi protocols, and token creation.
Monetary policy
Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million coins, making it deflationary. Ethereum doesn’t have a hard cap, but after recent updates, it introduced mechanisms to reduce supply over time through burning.
Use cases and adoption
Bitcoin is mostly seen as a store of value (digital gold), while Ethereum powers an entire ecosystem of applications. Both have strong communities and wide adoption, but serve different roles in the crypto space.
