Bitcoin and Ethereum, the de facto cryptocurrency leaders, have firmly conquered the world of the cryptocurrency market. What are their features? Which of them to choose? The fact is that other cryptocurrencies are much closer to Bitcoin and Ethereum than Bitcoin and Ethereum to each other. Nonetheless, let’s try to figure it out.
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- The list of vendors who accepts Ethereum as payment is very saturated. Chances are that within a few years paying with Ethereum will just as common as paying with Fiat or Bitcoin. Contents show Ethereum price & analysis: Ethereum price has surged by 92% from last year and at the moment it is one of the best performing cryptocurrencies in the.
Ethereum vs Bitcoin: An Overview
Bitcoin (BTC) is the main decentralized digital blockchain-based cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of more than $638,488,720,800, launched in 2009 by a mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. Although BTC was not the first version of a digital currency, it has come to be known as a predecessor to all cryptocurrencies launched over the past decade.
In this article about 10 companies and businesses that accept ethereum, you will find the answers to what ethereum is, which companies accept digital. Who accepts Ethereum as payment 2018 List of companies that accept Ethereum We accept Ethereum Cryptocurrency Today Does Amazon accept bitcoin or ethereum? 2 days ago Ethereum Transaction Fee Reduction. EIP-1559 is a fee market change for the current ETH 1.0 blockchain.More specifically, it introduces a transaction pricing mechanism that “includes fixed-per-block network fee that is burned and dynamically expands/contracts block sizes to.
Bitcoin payments are processed by computers linked through a shared ledger. All transactions are recorded into a “blockchain” of each computer.
Ethereum(ETH), launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin, is a blockchain-based open-source decentralized platform, used for its cryptocurrency, Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap after bitcoin. It is also a ledger technology that is used by companies for building new programs.
On the one hand, Ether and bitcoin have much in common: each is a digital currency traded via online exchanges, both are decentralized (not issued or regulated by anyone), both use the distributed ledger technology, better known as the blockchain. On the other hand, there are also many global distinctions between the two crypto leaders.
Key differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum
Before making a decision “Should I buy Bitcoin or Ethereum?” you need to know their general features.
#1 Targets and use cases
Despite both being attractive to crypto investors, Ethereum and Bitcoin have vastly different targets and use cases. Bitcoin is more of an aspirational store of wealth and payment currency, so users who invest in it intend to hold it for the long term.
Bitcoin is like a decentralized store of value – a peer-to-peer currency used for financial transactions without the involvement of third parties in payment technology. Bitcoin’s purpose is to be an alternative to fiat currency.
Ether is a whole different animal. Ether was primarily launched as a digital currency on the Ethereum network to run decentralized blockchain-based smart-contract applications (ĐApps) without downtime, control or third party interference, that do not go offline and cannot be altered. It is more often used as gas fees in transactions for other tokens.
#2 Transactions
Ethereum’s block time (transaction speed) is seconds. Bitcoin’s block time is minutes. Bitcoin’s transactions are manual and proved by miners. Based on smart contracts, Ethereum’s transactions are automatic, so it provides high speed and security of transactions.
#3 Transaction fees
The Bitcoin transaction fees do not depend on the transaction amount. Users can manually set the desired fee value, however, the transaction may freeze due to a small fee amount, since miners can process transactions that are more profitable for them.
Ethereum has fees for confirming transactions. Users pay fees in Ethers, converted into gas (a denominated Ether unit used to pay for transactions on the Ethereum blockchain).
#4 Total supply
The bitcoin total supply is limited (21 million), so that it leads to a shortage of currency on the market and increases its value. To prevent BTC depletion, the process of halving is built into the protocol to shorten mining rewards every 4 years. Ether, on the contrary, is not limited, it’s production is continuous.
#5 Bitcoin vs Ethereum blockchain
Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains run on separate protocols: Ethash and SHA-256.
Ethash
Ethash is a proof-of-work hashing encryption algorithm designed specifically for Ethereum. It is based on two algorithms: Dagger and Hashimoto. Dagger is an algorithm that places strict demands on the memory of a video card. Its principle of operation is similar to Scrypt, but its performance is higher, especially while increasing network complexity. The Hashimoto algorithm works with input/output operations. Particularly, it limits the speed of production, as the amount of memory for writing and reading information is not infinite.
SHA-256
SHA- is a Secure Hash Algorithm, 256 means that algorithm generates a 256-bit hash, i.e. a string of 256 bits. The hash rate is calculated in units of gigahashes per second (GH / s). It takes from six to ten minutes to create one block.
#6 Flexibility
Unlike the Bitcoin blockchain, Ethereum is a flexible network that allows storing bitcoin on it, so-called “Tokenized bitcoin”. Tokenized bitcoins allow users to make BTC payments when interacting with decentralized finance (DeFi) services developed in the Ethereum ecosystem. Ether can not be stored on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Buying Bitcoin vs Buying Ethereum
Valid methods for buying BTC and ETH online are generally the same: via bank transfers, credit or debit cards, cash, and cryptocurrency exchanges. You need to choose a platform, create an account, deposit money and buy chosen cryptocurrency.
What to choose for payments?
Needless to say, there are benefits in using both Bitcoin and Ethereum. BTC is more liquid and has a lower coin supply than Ethereum, but Ethereum has better technology, huge potential, and provides more uses than Bitcoin does. Bitcoin is more widely used as a payment alternative to fiat money.
However, as ETH is used to fund transactions at rising costs, DeFi users, for instance, must buy Ethereum to pay for associated fees, this leads to the Ethereum price rise, and over time its value will likely be more useful in everyday life. Nowadays, more companies and services accept Bitcoin payments than payments with Ethereum, but it is just a matter of time.
The bottom line
Having said this, the primary differences that separate Ethereum from Bitcoin are their purposes and their concepts. Ethereum blockchain runs smart contracts, and Bitcoin focuses on manual payment technology. Ethereum has unlimited use cases, while Bitcoin tackles payment and banking issues. More and more businesses accept BTC as a method of payment, more and more applications become widely used on the Ethereum network.
Over the time, Bitcoin and Ethereum are becoming more compatible by the implementation of tokenized bitcoins or many planned “cross-chain” developments, designed to let people connect different blockchains and transfer coins more freely among them.
Ethereum is considered one of the most successful altcoins so far. When it comes to payments, the time taken to confirm an Ethereum payment is far less than a Bitcoin payment. A Bitcoin payment approval takes 10 minutes on average, whereas it takes much shorter to pay with Ethereum. Despite being more convenient, one severe issue that Ethereum faces to date is finding enough number of places that accept Ethereum payments. Earning more brand recognition and solving some of the scalability issues would definitely make Ethereum more popular as a crypto payment option in the days to come.
However, since 2017, Ethereum has been speeding up on gaining traction in the market as a medium of crypto payments. The list of stores that accept Ethereum is increasing with each passing day. A lot of Ethereum payment gateways have also come into the scene of late. Here, in this article, we will provide a holistic overview of how to use Ethereum by pointing out the Ethereum payment channels and listing out some of the sellers that accept Ethereum payments. We will also discuss vital functional details pertaining to how to accept Ethereum on this website.
Who Accepts Ethereum as Payment Today?
For Ethereum holders eager to know where can I pay with Ethereum, here is a list of popular sites that will prove useful:
- One of the largest Swiss online retailers Digitec Galaxy accepts Ethereum payments.
- UK’s largest independent marketplace Flubit accepts Ethereum
- Zorket, an international marketplace that offers retail fashion products such as apparel, bags, shoes, and accessories accepts Ethereum.
- CheapAir.com is a flight ticket aggregator that had already accepted more than US$5 million worth of Bitcoins before it started accepting Ethereum.
- Tripio is a company similar to Airbnb that allows homeowners to rent their properties and earn cryptos in return.
- GamerAll is a marketplace that sells characters, weapons, and skins for most of the popular games, such as DOTA 2 and Rust in exchange for crypto.
- Bitcoin Grotto is a brick and mortar store in the UK that accepts cryptocurrency. In exchange for coins such as ETH, BTC, and LTC, customers can buy smartphones, gaming consoles, TV sets, etc from this store.
- A well-known pet supplies retailer CryptoPet accepts Ethereum payments.
- PizzaForCoins, a pizza shop that sells its pizzas exclusively in exchange for cryptocurrency accepts ETH.
- The widely popular VPS hosting service Snel.com accepts Ethereum payments.
- Blockchain coffee is a gourmet coffee sold specifically to ETH enthusiasts. Anyone can pay with ETH for a blend of this coffee.
- Overstock, a popular interior design company that deals with home improvement and offers goods such as furniture, electronics, jewelry, and materials for décor accepts Ethereum payments.
- Tapjets, one of the biggest private jet booking platforms in Crypto in the US accepts Ethereum.
- The popular Scandinavian web-hosting platform FlokiNET accepts Ethereum.
- The popular eCommerce store in Amsterdam Peddler.com accepts Ethereum payments.
- Popular online retailer gift cards eGifter accepts Ethereum.
- Amagi Metals is a place where one can buy gold and silver with Ethereum.
- BitGild is another retailer focused on selling precious metals that accept Ethereum.
- 1000EcoFarms, a store to purchase farm-fresh products, accepts Ethereum.
- The Hungarian travel agency MoreStampsGlobal accepts Ethereum.
There are several other stores and retailers that have provisions for an Ethereum payment. The above list only shows some of the better-known brands.
Does Amazon Accept Ethereum?
Being the largest eCommerce retailer, people are often curious to know whether Amazon accepts Ethereum payments. Well, the answer is that they do. With the help of the Lightning Network browser extension, people can make purchases from Amazon using Ethereum.
The service that makes the transaction possible leverages the services of the Lightning Network to convert crypto to fiat without charging any extra fees. For now, the service is only available in the United States. Amazon also allows buying gift-cards using Ethereum.
Ethereum Payment Method
To accept payments in Ethereum, a store needs to integrate an Ethereum payment gateway. The process is easy and convenient for the sellers. What these payment gateways do
is that they automate Ethereum and other cryptocurrency payments while speeding up the transaction and eliminating the need for intermediaries. These payment gateways offer highly encrypted, secure payments at a much cheaper cost compared to traditional payment gateways.
The development of these payment gateways is based on the building blocks of smart contracts. Contracts that are used for processing and verifying peer-to-peer transactions. Smart contract-based payments offer increased transparency and enhance the level of security. It makes these payments less vulnerable to cyber hacks and attacks. If a seller does not want to go with a payment gateway, they can post their ETH wallet address on the website.
Payments Through Credit Card
Ethereum Who Accepts Paypal
There are intermediate services that help make ETH payments via VISA cards. The users only need to connect their ETH wallets to the payment card. These intermediary services then exchange the ETH in the wallet for traditional fiat currency such as US dollars. These intermediaries charge a commission of nearly 2% for making such conversions.
Summary
In terms of market capitalization, Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency. With a market cap nearing US$53 billion, the only cryptocurrency that has a larger spread than Ethereum in the market is Bitcoin. With such a high volume of market cap, it is quite expected that Ethereum will soon become as popular as bitcoin as a medium of payment and peer-to-peer exchange. With growing availability, more and more merchants will set up Ethereum payment gateways to accept ETH.
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