Elaine Jean Tech 12.22.2021 11:Dec AM EST

Ethereum vs. Bitcoin: Price History, Major Differences, and Which Is the Better Investment?

Blockchain technology had a massive acceptance and usage this year. With that, most investors are facing the dilemma of which to choose, Ethereum or Bitcoin?

Ethereum vs. Bitcoin Comparison

Bitcoin was created in 2009 by a man named Satoshi Nakamoto. It was designed as an anti-inflation digital asset with a total supply of 21 million bitcoins expected to appreciate in value as more people acquire and keep the cryptocurrency.

On the other hand, Ethereum was created in 2014 by the Russian-Canadian computer programmer Vitalik Buterin. It is a so-called "utility token" which means it's used to pay for transactions on its blockchain by an increasing number of apps and platforms.

Ethereum vs. Bitcoin: History of the Price Difference

Bitcoin's price is known for being extremely unpredictable, however, it has been the best-performing asset of any type over the last decade, rising 9,000,000 percent between 2010 and 2020.

When Satoshi Nakamoto mined the bitcoin genesis block, the first-ever block on the Bitcoin blockchain, 50 BTC was priced at $0.00. For the first time in February 2011, the price of BTC was equal to that of the US dollar. The price of bitcoin continued to grow, reaching a high of almost $30.

In 2013, it had risen above $1,000 for a brief period. In 2017, Bitcoin's price continued to rise eventually reaching $19,850, its previous all-time high.

The whole cryptocurrency market entered what is now known as the "crypto winter" in 2018. As reported by This is Money, it wasn't until December 2020, when bitcoin returned to challenge the previous all-time high, rising another 239 percent resulting in a new all-time high of $64,799.

Ethereum introduced its native token, ether, through an initial coin offering (ICO) in August 2014. As stated in Investopedia, Ethereum price was at $0.31 per coin. As a result, 50 million ETHs were sold, raising nearly $16 million for the initiative.

The price of ether remained fairly stable between $0.70 and $21 from its official debut date in 2014 to March 2017. However, in May of that year when the bull crypto market began, the Ethereum price climbed beyond $100 for the first time.

After that, ether soared to a high of $414 in June 2017 before falling again. Bullish momentum needed another five months to regain strength. By that time, the whole crypto market had begun to face significant purchasing pressure, causing nearly every crypto coin to reach new highs. In January 2018, the price of ETH had risen to $1,418 before plummeting.

The second-largest cryptocurrency by market size, Ethereum, took approximately three years to retest its previous all-time high price. The Ethereum price quadrupled between February and May 2021, reaching a new all-time high of $4,379.

Ethereum vs Bitcoin: Which is A Better Investment?

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum carry similar dangers, and their future growth is highly speculative. However, both Bitcoin price and Ethereum price have recently reached new all-time highs, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of even more volatility in the future.

According to Time, Ryan Sterling, the CFP and founder of Future You Wealth, if he is facing the dilemma of Ethereum vs Bitcoin, he would choose Ethereum. This is largely dependent on the fact that the Ethereum blockchain is widely accepted and utilized for payments and NFTs.

However, according to veteran investing experts, Theresa Morrison, the CFP at the Beckett Collective, and Jeremy Schneider of Personal Finance Club, they would choose both.