Bitcoin And Ethereum Predictions As The Market Turns Upwards

Thousands of cryptocurrencies have graced the market for over a decade! Within this period, two cryptocurrencies have always been at the top; Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Both cryptos continue to dominate the market with their high value and demand! What creates the urge to own and trade with it? This article will uncover what the two have and why they're the titans of the crypto world!

Bitcoin – The First Of Many

Bitcoin (BTC) operates as a decentralised cryptocurrency with a proof-of-work consensus mechanism. Launched in January 2009, this is the first-ever cryptocurrency to hit the market! The start of the journey was quite a bumpy ride for Bitcoin. The creator (or creators) go by the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto saw the potential in normalising digital currencies which lead to the mining of 1.1 million Bitcoins. Within April 2011, Bitcoin had achieved the $1 threshold for the first time! During this time, the idea of a digital currency was looked down on; there was scepticism from the public. By desiring to rise in value, Bitcoin was faced with another challenge. Competitive cryptocurrencies were later launched, such as Litecoin (LTC) in October 2011.

Ethereum (ETH) was the biggest to ever compete with Bitcoin. To Bitcoin's advantage, being the first cryptocurrency created more of a longing for earlier cryptocurrency investors. An increase in popularity had benefited Bitcoin significantly, as well as investors. By November 2013, the crypto had hit $1000 per coin, later increasing to $10,000 per coin in November 2017. Within 1 month after hitting $10,000, Bitcoin's value doubled to $20,000 per coin. Its popularity enhanced the value and the number of coins mined.

Ethereum – A Late But Great Addition

Introduced in July 2015, Ethereum (ETH) has a blockchain system that's decentralised and open-sourced. In its early days, the concept of Ethereum was created by its founder, Vitalik Buterin. Buterin was fascinated by the concept of Bitcoin (BTC), to the point where he co-founded Bitcoin Magazine. Other co-founders of Ethereum had partnered with Buterin to crowdfund a campaign that sold users Ether (Ethereum tokens).

Raising more than $18 million, the campaign was successful, leading to kickstart in its launch! While there was optimism for Ethereum, they had suffered major setbacks. In 2016, $50 million worth of Ether was stolen by a hacker. This became a concern for other investors' security. Despite the unfortunate hacking, Ethereum's currency had grown more than 13,000% in 2017. Investors saw potential, so they capitalised on the enormous growth. Years after its significant growth, Ethereum wanted to integrate new ideas and technologies into its platform. Decentralised smart contracts were initiated; an opportunity to trade without any involvement of a third party. Ethereum 2.0 has recently launched with its ambition to use a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. This reduces the mining process, which supports the blockchain to be energy-efficient.

The Current State Of The Two

The difference in value for both of them is extraordinary; both have faced the challenge of making 1 coin worth over $1. Its public outbreak had created promising potential for investors to garner from. At the time of writing, 1 Bitcoin (BTC) is valued at around $23,000, while 1 Ethereum (ETC) is at a rate of around $1600. A journey to behold from the beginning with their struggles but we're nowhere near the end. Bitcoin and Ethereum still believe in their ideology, which is for anyone to buy or spend without any third parties liaising.