Ethereum received a lot of attention since its announcement at the North American Bitcoin Conference in early 2014 by Vitalik Buterin. The natural consequence of its rising popularity has been its constant comparison to Bitcoin, the first virtual currency. It is important for investors to understand the similarities and differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Bitcoin, the first virtual currency, was born nine years back in 2008. It introduced a novel idea set out in a white paper by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto: Bitcoin offers the promise of lower transaction fees than traditional online payment mechanisms and is operated by a decentralized authority, unlike government issued currencies. There are no physical Bitcoins, only balances associated with public and private key