Bitcoin vs Ethereum: Which crypto is a better buy?

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two biggest cryptocurrencies in the market with a combined market cap of over $1.2 trillion. The two coins have also generated substantial returns to their shareholders in the past decade. In this Bitcoin vs Ethereum piece, we will identify the one that is a better investment for long-term investors.

Bitcoin vs Ethereum

Bitcoin and Ethereum are blockchain projects with different goals. BTC was designed as an alternative currency while Ethereum was built with smart contract capabilities. As a result, many developers have used Ethereum’s platform to build their decentralized products like Aave and Uniswap. 

In terms of performance, the two have had spectacular returns in the past decade. And a closer look shows that a close correlation exists between the two. Bitcoin has risen by about 18,700% since 2015 while Ethereum has gained by over 22,000% in the same period. This means that Ethereum has been a better investment than Bitcoin.

The case for Bitcoin

There are several reasons why many investors believe that Bitcoin is a better investment than Ethereum. First, as the first cryptocurrency on record, Bitcoin has a better brand name than Ethereum. This explains why many institutional investors prefer holding it to Ethereum. Second, it has a limited supply, which means that it will keep getting rare over time.

Third, BTC is viewed as digital gold, which explains why many people invest in it. And finally, Bitcoin is an autonomous organization that is managed by the community. Ethereum is different because of the role that the Ethereum Foundation plays.

The case for Ethereum

Meanwhile, when comparing Bitcoin vs Ethereum, many inventors believe strongly in Ethereum for several reasons. First, they believe that Ethereum has more use-cases than Bitcoin. 

For example, the platform has been used extensively to build decentralized applications in the DeFi, metaverse, and NFT industries. Examples of leading apps in Ethereum are Uniswap, OpenSea, and Aave. Therefore, as these industries grow, the Ethereum price will keep rising.

Second, Ethereum is addressing its carbon footprint issue by transitioning from a proof-of-work network to a proof-of-stake platform. This process is going on and analysts expect that the merge will happen in the third quarter of 2022. Therefore, Ethereum will be more attractive to ESG-focused investors.

Third, Ethereum has additional features that Bitcoin lacks. The most important one is staking, which happens in Ethereum 2. As a result, it is possible to earn money by simply buying and holding the coin.

Therefore, because of these features, in my opinion, I believe that Ethereum is a better investment than Bitcoin. 

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Raoul Pal says its likely ‘the market has found its bottom’

Raoul Pal, the founder and CEO of Real Vision and Global Macro Investor, believes the crypto market has “found its bottom” and that new upside momentum is likely.

The Real Vision CEO made his comments during an interview with Layah Heilpurn, with his outlook coming at a time Bitcoin and the rest of crypto is looking to bounce after a bout of fresh declines over the past few days.

Bitcoin, which traded to lows near $39,000 this week, has recovered some of the losses to currently hover near $41,200. The BTC-USD pair is 4% up in the past 24 hours, while the crypto market capitalisation has bounced 3%.

Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), BNB (BNB) XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) have all added more than 3% in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and Avalanche (AVAX) are some of the biggest crypto gainers on the day so far.

Crypto didn’t make a new low

According to Pal, the crypto market has in the past several months been hit by various macro developments. However, no new low has been made since the last bottom in 2021 despite several likely negative triggers.

It’s a scenario that suggests crypto resilience and that that could point to a low already being in, although no one can with certainty predict the market.

The balance of probabilities is that we made the low last year, we retested the low this year and I think the low is in,” he noted.

He believes crypto’s seen “everything” that could have helped push prices to a new low. That hasn’t happened so far. He told Heilpurn:

I think we’ve thrown a war, 8.5% inflation, the Fed raising interest rates all at crypto, we’ve thrown the Chinese ban, we’ve thrown so much at it and [yet it]didn’t make a new low. Usually, that’s usually a signal the market has found its bottom.”

A slowing economy could trigger fresh upward action

On fresh catalysts for crypto prices, Pal thinks a slowdown in economic growth would be top of the list. This is a scenario that will trigger buying pressure in assets that “tend to outperform in low growth environments.”

He says that a change in the economic landscape could see “people fear inflation less and start fearing growth more.”According to Pal, this is when long-duration assets (and crypto is one such asset that loves a slowing economy) begin to outperform. 

In the stock market, Cathie Wood’s ARKK is a good example.

Pal also talked about Bitcoin’s four-year cycle narrative, noting that these are likely over given the market’s size today compared to during the early years. The cycle could yet have an impact, but that could be on a smaller scale as further adoption reduces the wild volatility, he added.

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Nexo führt Kryptokarte ein … Sie müssen Ihre Coins nicht verkaufen

Nexo, das Kreditinstitut für digitale Assets, hat heute die Nexo Card eingeführt. In einer Partnerschaft mit MasterCard bietet die kryptobetriebene Karte die Möglichkeit, mit über 90 Millionen Händlern Transaktionen durchzuführen.

Und was macht es einzigartig? Sie müssen Ihre Kryptos nicht verkaufen. Was für Krypto-Leute eine sehr gute Sache ist.

Behalten Sie Ihr Vermögen

Das liegt daran, dass die Nexo-Karte mit einer kryptogestützten Kreditlinie bei Nexo verknüpft ist, die bei 0 % effektivem Jahreszins beginnt und auf 13,9 % begrenzt ist. Anstatt also Ihre digitalen Assets auszugeben, verwenden Sie sie stattdessen als Sicherheit – eine ziemlich nette Innovation. Darüber hinaus ist der Sicherheitenmechanismus dynamisch, und Sie können mehrere Vermögenswerte gegen Ihr Guthaben anlegen – beispielsweise eine Mischung aus Bitcoin, Ethereum-Stablecoins und vielem mehr.

Es ist ein Produkt, das Krypto-Enthusiasten seit langem verlangen, da ähnliche Karten von Wettbewerbern verlangen, dass Sie Ihre digitalen Vermögenswerte ausgeben. Ich habe zum Beispiel letztes Jahr die Binance-Karte bestellt, diese aber bald wieder nicht mehr genutzt, da jenseits des Gimmicks „Bezahlen mit Krypto“ wirklich keine Motivation mehr vorhanden war. Tatsächlich zahlte dieses Produkt technisch gesehen nicht einmal in Krypto – es wandelte einfach meine Krypto in Fiat um und benutzte diese, um sie beim Händler auszugeben.

Aber hier gibt es eine echte Motivation, die Karte zu bestellen, da jetzt Ihre Krypto-Assets als Securities verwendet werden können und Sie eine Kreditlinie ziehen können.

APR

Der effektive Jahreszins wird mit 0 % beworben, aber um näher darauf einzugehen, ist die Spanne von 0 % bis 1,9 % für Gold- oder Platinkonten reserviert. Dazu benötigen Sie, dass das Verhältnis von Nexo-Token zu anderen Vermögenswerten über 5 % (für Gold) oder 10 % (für Platin) liegt. Außerdem muss Ihr LTV unter 20 % liegen.

Aber es ist wichtig zu beachten, dass selbst wenn diese Parameter für Sie nicht erreichbar sind, der effektive Jahreszins auf 13,9 % begrenzt ist, was unter den meisten herkömmlichen (Fiat-)Kreditkarten liegt. Alles in allem ist es ein ziemlich gutes Geschäft.

Andere Vorteile

  • Zero Fees: Es gibt keine Mindestrückzahlungen für die Karte. Es gibt auch keine monatlichen Gebühren (ganz zu schweigen von Inaktivitätsgebühren, die mir immer als Betrug erscheinen!)
  • FX-Gebühren: Keine FX-Gebühren auf die ersten 20.000 €, die pro Monat umgetauscht werden.
  • 2 % Krypto-Belohnungen: Jede Transaktion erhält Cashback in Form von Bitcoin oder Nexos nativem Token. Diese ist auf 2 % begrenzt.
  • Virtuell: Zusätzlich zu einer physischen Karte ist eine virtuelle Karte verfügbar. Die meisten Verwaltungsfunktionen im Zusammenhang mit der Karte sind auch in der App verfügbar, z. B. Einfrieren, Hinzufügen zu Google/Apple Pay und Hinzufügen weiterer virtueller Karten. Als treuer Revolut-Kunde machen diese Optionen dein Leben viel einfacher.

 

Fazit

Als die E-Mail in meinem Posteingang ankam, in der ich angefleht wurde, mich für die Nexo Card anzumelden, war ich vorsichtig aufgeregt. Sicher, es war ein cooles Konzept, aber ich nahm an, dass es mit Gebühren verbunden sein würde.

Dies ist jedoch wirklich nicht der Fall – die Bedingungen sind im Vergleich zu dem, was da draußen erhältlich ist, sehr wettbewerbsfähig. Darüber hinaus bietet es die Möglichkeit, Kredite gegen Ihre Krypto-Assets aufzunehmen und eine Kreditlinie zu ziehen, was ziemlich cool und sehr nützlich ist.

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Ethereum Merge could delay beyond Q2, says ETH developer

Ethereum Foundation developer Tim Beiko has hinted at a potential further delay to the Ethereum’s final switch to the much anticipated proof-of-stake mechanism.

The ‘Ethereum Merge’, it appears, will now take place “a few months” after June, yet another delay that pushes the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade beyond Q2 2022.

Beiko, who believes Ethereum miners should not be investing in new mining equipment at the moment, hinted at the delay early Wednesday morning.

It won’t be June, but likely in the few months after. No firm date yet, but we’re definitely in the final chapter of PoW on Ethereum” he noted.

What’s the Ethereum Merge?

On 1 December 2020, Ethereum’s Beacon chain went live, introducing the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to the Ethereum network.  It marked a new milestone in the ETH ecosystem’s push to transition from energy-intensive PoW mining.

But the Beacon chain runs parallel to the Ethereum Mainnet, which continues to use mining to secure the network.

The Merge is set to see the Mainnet and the Beacon chain become one, with mining being dropped wholly for staking as a way of securing the network. The “merge” is also eyed as the predecessor of shard chains, a key milestone in the quest for scalability, security and sustainability.

This is critical to Ethereum as it looks to secure even more value for society. The blockchain network currently anchors the most decentralised finance (DeFi) projects and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) among other applications.

 The merge was projected for the second quarter, according to an upgrades page on the same.

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