Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) is money, Ethereum (available on Coinbase) is empowerment.

Since 2013 aLTCoin after aLTCoin has tried and failed to replace Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) as the number one cryptocurrency on the market. It is fascinating how Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) persists even though other coins may be faster, cheaper to move, or even arguably more secure. One lesson from all of this is the best technology is not always the most widely used technology. ALTCoins launched, many of which strived to replace Bitcoin (available on Coinbase), and then came Ethereum (available on Coinbase) and all the rules changed.

The discussions from the Crypto Community in 2013 are full of excitement about Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) and illustrate how the Crypto Community believed Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) would one day replace fiat currency. As a store of value, Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) and many cryptocurrencies have thrived. The market has grown to the point that it has been called a bubble hundreds of times by prominent people in the media. Is Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) revolutionary? Yes. Is Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) an effective currency…in many respects, yes. Could Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) become so much more than currency? Yes, it could.

More than Cryptocurrency

When Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) was gaining popularity in mid-2013, many discussions started to focus on smart contracts and how they would one day replace attorneys. In the United States where litigation and fear of litigation is a way of life, the possibilities of reducing the need for third parties to enforce legal contracts is an incredibly appealing idea. But as we can all see, smart contracts can do more than just replace legal documents. In the world of cryptocurrency, smart contacts are essentially software that moves money. With the invention of Ethereum (available on Coinbase), the world was given the power to create and deploy smart contracts, to program the movement of money, all without needing an entire IT infrastructure. For the first time in human history the Open Source Community merged with the Blockchain Community and produced a unified computer network that did more than just share information, it acted on that shared information. Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) is a shared computer network that performs math, but Ethereum (available on Coinbase) is a shared computer network that can act on ideas.

Ethereum (available on Coinbase) will outlive many other aLTCoins and certainly deserves to be called a peer of Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) because it actually achieved somETHing Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) has not. It is not just that Ethereum (available on Coinbase) is better technology, which it is. It is not just that Ethereum (available on Coinbase) enables shared computing power that can do more than math, which it does. But what Ethereum (available on Coinbase) has achieved is the combination of better technology, shared computing, and sTron (available on Binance)g community. Ethereum (available on Coinbase) may have the largest aLTCoin community with a purpose. The Litecoin (available on Coinbase) community is or was probably bigger but what actually makes an organization is not people, but people with a shared purpose, a shared vision, and the empowerment to act.

In short, Ethereum (available on Coinbase) is empowerment. 

The Power of Power

What is the one thing all people want? It is not money, it is not fame, it is not love…it is power. We all want at least some degree of control over our own lives and the world around us. We want to influence our world, for our own gain, or for benefit of others, but influence is just another word for power. Power is a base element. Money and fame sit on top of power and are simply tools we use to control the world around us. Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) provides additional control over our own money in a way that is so revolutionary that it is shaking the very foundation of the financial markets. The power of Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) is clearest in the fear it provokes. The negative reactions to Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) have been unjustified and extreme. Anger is based on fear, and fear is based on the belief of an impending loss of power.

If money is not real power, what is? Real power comes when you are not simply experiencing freedom, but using tools to create more freedom for yourself and those you care about. Real power frees others to have their own real power. That is what Ethereum (available on Coinbase) does better than any other aLTCoin that has ever been created and that is why Ethereum (available on Coinbase) is here to stay.

Ethereum (available on Coinbase) was built not to replace Bitcoin (available on Coinbase), but to change the world. It was built with the idea that it had to be able to evolve and accept the new ideas people would bring forth. In addition, Ethereum (available on Coinbase) has leaders, a community, and like Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) continues to become the foundational technology behind hundreds of new projects, platforms, and community goals. Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) is the most popular coin because it was the first. It may never lose the top spot, but unlike most of the other aLTCoins, Ethereum (available on Coinbase) changed the game and that makes it more like Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) than any of the other aLTCoins. Ethereum (available on Coinbase) and Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) are both tools of empowerment and togETHer are changing the world. Join the discussion on Twitter @Bitcoin (available on Coinbase)Census