
Bitcoin VS Ethereum - Olshansky
https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/bitcoin-vs-ethereum/
======
gcp
I've been avoiding the altcoin zoo as much as possible, but Ethereum is worth
looking at. It fixes key features of bitcoin (12 second vs 10 minute
transactions) though smart handling of stale blocks, actual memory hard mining
algorithm (unlike Litecoin that didn't turn to be) and adds a whole new
dimension to the blockchain with the built-in VM and computer. Just Google the
DAO incident for some amusing and interesting reading.

Proof of stake should IMHO _NOT_ be mentioned, doing so is very misleading.
Ethereum doesn't use it, and if a suitable algorithm was ever developed, any
coin could switch to it in the same way as Ethereum will.

~~~
um_ya
Downside is that Ethereum doesn't have a cap on number of coins, which means
it has high inflation (20% a year right now). Also, Ethereum uses A LOT of
disk space, over 1GB is added every month.

~~~
ricw
For 2017 it is 14.75% [1]. The bigger question is to what it may change in the
future. Vitalik has stated that it will be lower / closer to zero, but who
knows. The only given is that it will change.

[1] [https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/12501/what-
is-e...](https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/12501/what-is-ethereums-
inflation-rate-how-quickly-will-new-ether-be-created)

Updated typo: 14.75%, not 1475..

~~~
gcp
You made a typo and are off by a factor of 100.

------
KZeillmann
I'd love to read this article, but the website is absolutely broken for me on
Chrome -- HTTPS issues.

~~~
nyae
Same on ff

~~~
odabaxok
It works with 'Reader view'

------
TD-Linux
The author's assertion that "nobody uses Bitcoin Script" is a bit silly -
EVERY transaction uses Bitcoin Script, just a very simple one, for addresses
[1]. The next most popular scripts implement multisig. OpenTimestamps also
uses a simple script to commit a hash in a transaction. Currently uncommon
uses are HTLC's which allow you to spend based on a zk-SNARK [2], and the
Lightning network.

I would actually say a bigger difference is that Bitcoin state is limited to a
set of unspent transaction outputs with value (UTXO set), whereas Ethereum
allows the script to store arbitrary state in its output.

On a side note, Proof of Stake is a really cool feature if it works, but
Ethereum doesn't have it, only the promise that it would hardfork to it if a
viable solution is found.

[1] [https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Script](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Script)

[2] [https://bitcoincore.org/en/2016/02/26/zero-knowledge-
conting...](https://bitcoincore.org/en/2016/02/26/zero-knowledge-contingent-
payments-announcement/)

(and yeah, I had to use Fx reader mode to parse the jumble of text at all)

~~~
Olshansky
I agree, that was poor wording on my end... Thank you for the clarification.

I should have said that it's very limited and much more difficult to use than
Ethereum's smart contracts.

I also wanted to avoid going into a deeper discussion that would involved the
potential adoption of segwit, which would enable lightning networks and a
bunch of other sidechains.

~~~
hdhzy
> I should have said that it's very limited and much more difficult to use
> than Ethereum's smart contracts.

I think the biggest issue with Bitcoin Script is that only a subset of scripts
is considered "standard" [0] and only standard transactions are propagated by
the network. If you can find a miner that accepts non standard TX then it's
fine and blockchain already contains some interesting transactions (like
lottery [1]).

[0]: [https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/21123/which-
scri...](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/21123/which-scripts-are-
currently-considered-standard-and-therefore-actually-propagate)

[1]: [https://curiosity-driven.org/bitcoin-
contracts#multilottery](https://curiosity-driven.org/bitcoin-
contracts#multilottery)

------
cjslep
Posts such as this still don't address a large concern:

What assurances are there about the "political" (for lack of a better term)
controlling entities around the coin? For instance, Bitcoin is susceptible to
a 51% attack to destroy opposition, and Ethereum has already shown they will
do so in the DAO use case.

For this reason, I stick to fiat, even though I look forward to
cryptocurrencies maturing even more.

~~~
gcp
Any coin can be subverted if the majority of the userbase agrees so - that's a
fork.

Note that for fiat currencies, this is true, too. It's even worse, because
usually it's 51% of the issuing national government, which might be a much
smaller group that the total users.

~~~
lossolo
The problem is that one user (entity) could gain 51% of hashing power, not
majority of the user base.

------
cdrark
There is a huge speculative bubble going on in the cryptocoin world. Check out
the history of the largest non-Chinese exchanges Poloniex and Bitfinex before
getting involved. They have created billions of dollars in equity in just a
couple months mostly in useless altcoins.

------
monkmartinez
Can you pay your taxes with bitcoin or ethereum?

~~~
akerro
No, but you can use bitcoin or ethereum to avoid paying taxes.

~~~
ajross
Tax fraud can be done in dollars and euros too, it's maybe just a bit harder.
Still fraud.

------
um_ya
Here are the negatives of Ethereum:

1) Inflation rate is HIGH, 15% a year right now and it has no cap on the
number of coins that can be created.

2) Ethereum's blockchain takes up A LOT of space. Over 1GB is added every
month.

------
mtgx
I think Ethereum's implementation of (now hybrid) Proof of Stake has the
potential for some serious disruption (and thus investor fear) when it will
happen:

[http://www.coindesk.com/ethereums-big-switch-the-new-
roadmap...](http://www.coindesk.com/ethereums-big-switch-the-new-roadmap-to-
proof-of-stake/)

~~~
ShabbosGoy
What? If anything, proof of stake will increase investor interest, because any
holder of Ethereum can potentially win the lottery, where the probability of
winning is determined by how much Ethereum one holds.

~~~
mtgx
I'm talking about risk. PoS is likely to have many more security issues than
Proof of Work does. Other things could break, too, because of it. We may see
other attacks such as the one that led to the big fork (ETH vs ETC), and so
on.

