What is the difference between Bitcoin and cryptocurrency? 99% of people are wrong

Nakamoto 2025-10-24 09:35 49443人围观 BTC

Do you think Bitcoin is all about cryptocurrency? Big mistake! This digital financial world is far more complex than imagined. Today we are going to uncover this mystery that has confused countless people and see what secrets are hidden behind these digit

Do you think Bitcoin is the be-all and end-all of cryptocurrencies? Big mistake! This digital financial world is far more complex than imagined. Today we are going to uncover this mystery that has confused countless people and see what secrets are hidden behind these digital assets.

Bitcoin: The "gold standard" of the cryptocurrency world"

Bitcoin is the first true cryptocurrency, created in 2009 by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. It pioneered the decentralized digital currency, with the total amount strictly limited to 21 million. This artificial scarcity has earned it the reputation of "digital gold".

But Bitcoin is much more than a currency. It runs on a proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism, using the computing power of miners to maintain network security. The Bitcoin blockchain is focused on one thing: recording transactions securely and reliably. It is simple and stable, but also lacks flexibility.

More than 70% of Bitcoins are held in long-term accounts, which fully illustrates its store-of-value properties. Violent price fluctuations make it difficult to become a daily transaction medium, but as a tool to fight inflation, Bitcoin does have its unique charm.

Cryptocurrency: A world much bigger than Bitcoin

If Bitcoin is compared to gold, then the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem is like a complete financial universe. Thousands of digital currencies such as Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple have their own characteristics and meet the needs of different scenarios.

Ethereum introduces the concept of smart contracts, making the blockchain no longer limited to simple transactions. Developers can build decentralized applications (DApps) on Ethereum, from financial products to games, from identity authentication to supply chain management, the possibilities are almost unlimited.

Litecoin is known as the "silver of Bitcoin", with faster transaction confirmation and more suitable for daily small payments. Ripple focuses on cross-border payments and cooperates with many financial institutions to complete international transfers in seconds with extremely low fees.

The cryptocurrency world continues to innovate. Decentralized finance (DeFi) is reshaping traditional financial services, and non-fungible tokens (NFT) provide new ideas for digital ownership. Most of these innovations build on the foundation laid by Bitcoin, but go far beyond Bitcoin's original design.

Stablecoins: the bridge between reality and digital

If native cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are the "natives" of the digital world, then stablecoins are the translators between the two worlds. By anchoring to legal currency, stablecoins perfectly combine the efficiency and value stability features of the blockchain.

Stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) have become important infrastructure for the crypto economy. It accounts for more than 90% of DeFi lending and is also the preferred settlement tool for NFT and real-world asset (RWA) transactions. The total annual on-chain settlement has exceeded US$25 trillion, reaching a size comparable to traditional card organizations.

The rise of stablecoins has sparked a new currency war. Currently, the global U.S. dollar stablecoin market accounts for more than 90%. Through its huge U.S. debt reserves, it has continued or even expanded the hegemony of the U.S. dollar in the short term. But the blockchain network also provides other countries with new opportunities to bypass the SWIFT system and promote the internationalization of their currencies.

Central Bank Digital Currency: A Digital Extension of National Sovereignty

In this transformation of monetary form, central banks of various countries did not stand idly by. Projects such as China's digital renminbi and Europe's digital euro are actively advancing. The value of central bank digital currency lies in national credit, and its application focuses on domestic retail payment and other scenarios.

Unlike Bitcoin, which is completely decentralized, central bank digital currencies are digitized forms of sovereign currencies. They retain the stability of traditional currencies while possessing the efficiency advantages of digital currencies. Many countries around the world are actively exploring the cross-border application of central bank digital currencies, which may reshape the international payment system.

Hong Kong is building a compliant Hong Kong dollar stable currency, which is seen as a key strategy to achieve overtaking the RMB in internationalization. In this battle over monetary forms, every choice will have far-reaching consequences.

The future: a diverse and symbiotic digital financial ecosystem

Bitcoin ushered in the era of cryptocurrency, but the world of cryptocurrency has already flourished. The future will not be a one-man show of a certain currency form, but more likely a diverse and symbiotic ecosystem.

Bitcoin may retain its status as 'digital gold'； Smart contract platforms such as Ethereum will support a wealth of decentralized applications ； Stablecoins serve as a universal trading medium to connect on-chain and off-chain ； Central bank digital currency ensures that sovereign currency will not be absent in the digital era.

99% of people are indeed wrong. Bitcoin is just the beginning of the cryptocurrency world, not the whole story. This is a field that is still evolving rapidly, and there are still many possibilities waiting to be explored. Are you ready for this monetary revolution?