Understand the difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin: why Bitcoin does not have faster difficulty settings
When comparing the two most used cryptocurrencies, Ethereum and Bitcoin, a remarkable difference stands out: its approach to adjust the difficulty in the blocks. Although Bitcoin has suffered a series of difficulty settings downward over time, its mechanism has led to delays in this process. In contrast, the Ethereum approach is more nuanced, with significant implications for scalability and general ecosystem.
Difficulty adjustments down Bitcoin
The Bitcoin Network is based on the work test algorithm (POW), which requires that the miners solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate transactions and create new blocks. The Pow difficulty adjustment mechanism implies increasing or decreasing block reward, hash rate and energy consumption to encourage miners to perform more calculations.
Bitcoin’s downstairs difficulty adjustments are triggered by a predetermined schedule, which is established by Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonym creator. This schedule allows gradual decreases in the difficulty of the block over time, ensuring that the network remains efficient and safe. However, this process has been criticized for being slow and inefficient, which leads to delays in the creation of new blocks.
Ethereum approach
On the contrary, Ethereum is an algorithm of Toma Test Consensus (POS), which allows validators to gain blocks controlling a fraction of the total ether supply (ETH). Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum’s difficulty adjustment mechanism is not predetermined and is based on the real world demand for a new block space.
When new blocks are created, they are considered “orphans” if they do not have enough participation to ensure them. This means that validators must compete with each other to win tokens eth reaching their own coins. The process of verification of new transactions and the creation of blocks is slower than in Bitcoin due to the following reasons:
- Less energy consumption : Ethereum’s post algorithm requires less energy compared to Pow, which can lead to a longer period of time between block creations.
- They are required more validated : Since there are more validators that compete for the same participation, it takes longer to create and verify new blocks that are created and verified.
Why Bitcoin does not have difficulty fastest adjustments
The delay in the downward difficulty adjustments in Bitcoin is greatly attributed to its centralized nature and its limited scalability. The work test algorithm is based on a complex mathematical puzzle to validate transactions, which requires significant computational power. This makes it difficult for the network to adjust the difficulty quickly.
In addition, the bitcoin block size limit (1 MB) restricts the number of blocks that can be created per second, which leads to bottlenecks in the new block creation times. These limitations make it difficult for Bitcoin to maintain the rhythm of the Ethereum -based Ethereum consensus algorithm.
Conclusion
In summary, the main reasons why Bitcoin does not have difficult difficulty settings are due to its centralized nature and limited scalability. While these factors contribute to delays, they also allow Bitcoin to maintain a robust network with a long history of successful block creation times.
The Decentralized and efficient post -energy algorithm of Ethereum, on the other hand, allows times to create more efficient new blocks and a more scalable ecosystem. As Ethereum continues to develop its infrastructure and improve scalability, the gap between Bitcoin and Ethereum is likely to be reduced in the future.
Sources
- “Difficulty adjustments down Bitcoin” by COINDESK
- “Ethereum 2.0: Why will the post consensus will be faster than you think” for the block
- “How Bitcoin works (and why it’s not like Ethereum)” By Cryptoslate