Ethereum is a great progress based on the principle of blockchain. Although Bitcoin is also supported by blockchain technology, the purpose of Ethereum is not to compete with Bitcoin. The operations of Bitcoin and Ethereum are based on the principles of distributed ledger and encryption technology, but they are still different in many technical fields.
Bitcoin is a virtual token in the earliest blockchain technology. It is the transaction medium and value storage means in the point-to-point transmission payment system. Ethereum is an open source public blockchain platform with intelligent contract function, which can be said to be a more evolved blockchain technology. By supporting the special cryptocurrency Ethereum, Ethereum provides a decentralized virtual machine to handle peer-to-peer contracts. The New York Times believes that the platform of Ethereum is a public computer operated by a network composed of many users, and the right to use this computer is allocated and paid by Ethereum.
Although both Bitcoin and Ethereum are digital currency, unlike Bitcoin, the main purpose of Ethereum is not to build itself into a payment substitute, but to facilitate and monetize the operation of Ethereum, so that developers can build and run distributed applications.