Just when you thought the Dogecoin craze was over, DOGE blasted past $0.60 on May 4 setting a record for the new all time high. At the same time, Ethereum continued it’s record setting rally with a short excursion over the $3500 mark.
With the crypto bull run in full effect, many new investors are looking to be early in the next generation of money. With both Ethereum and Dogecoin in price discovery mode, let’s take a look at what these 2 currencies are, and what makes them so unique.
What is Dogecoin?
Dogecoin is a Bitcoin copycat that was created amidst a tsunami of other Bitcoin copycats. Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer did not intend on becoming Bitcoin’s worst nightmare, they just wanted to meme on the other shitcoins. They ended up doing both.
Markus explained in a Reddit rant that the project took around 3 hours to put together, and that he spent “the bulk of that time making alterations to the client to make the text Comic Sans”.
Dogecoin has a few notable differences from the Bitcoin core it copied. Namely, faster transaction processing, lower fees, and lower security. For an in-depth look at this comparison, check out Dogecoin vs. Bitcoin.
The takeaway for this comparison is that Dogecoin is a transactional cryptocurrency, made for sending payments to friends and creatives across the world quickly and cheaply.
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a global computing platform for decentralized applications in finance, supply chain, insurance, options trading and much, much more. What seperated Ethereum from Bitcoin was Ethereum’s ability to compute (as well as transact) on the chain. These computations are known as smart contracts, and are written in Ethereum’s own programming language, Solidity.
The Ethereum project began in 2013, and is currently the most actively developed project in the entire blockchain and cryptocurrency industry (and it’s not even close). Ethereum began to solve the problems that creator Vitalik Buterin saw within Bitcoin. After working in the crypto industry for a few years, Vitalik saw the future of finance on the blockchain.
Since its inception, Ethereum has continued to grow following 4 year market cycle patterns based off of Bitcoin’s halvening. In 2018, Ether reached an all time high of $1,420 before correcting harshly. In 2021, that record has been erased and rewritten many times already.
The Ether cryptocurrency powers the Ethereum network and is the required form of payment for access to the chain. Ether additionally functions as a store of value and medium of exchange, however, high demand for space on the chain has driven up the price of transactions.
Similarities Between Dogecoin and Ethereum
Both DOGE and ETH are stores of value and capable of transactions, however, this is DOGEs main selling point, and ETHs weakness. If you are just looking to send your friend a couple bucks, it might cost you $10 on the Ethereum network, and $0.10 on the Dogecoin network. The Dogecoin transaction will also process faster! If the $75 billion market cap did not make it clear, Dogecoin has been selected as the people’s currency of choice.
Dogecoin and Ethereum are also both resistant to dedicated mining computers, called ASICs. These computers are designed solely to mine a single type of cryptocurrency, and tend to skew power towards the center. The decision to make their currencies resistant to ASICs encourages decentralization and better security. A win for everyone involved.
Differences Between Dogecoin and Ethereum
While both cryptos have some transaction purposes, Ethereum differs by allowing smart contracts to be executed on the chain. Ethereum’s smart contracts enable automation of financial products such as liquidity pools and derivatives, as well as applications in other products and sectors. To learn more about smart contracts and their potential use cases, check out Benzinga’s guides to What is Ethereum? and What is DeFi?.
While the importance of smart contracts can hardly be understated, there are additional differences between these 2 chains. Ethereum’s chain is much more decentralized and secure than Dogecoin. In the blockchain world, decentralization and security are 1 in the same, as the only way to hack the chain, is to centralize 51% of it yourself. It would cost around $217,000 to attack and control Dogecoin for 1 hour, whereas it would cost around $3.1 million to do the same thing to Ethereum.
Another difference between the 2 projects is the size and activity of their respective development teams. While Ethereum has been the most actively developed project in the space for years, it seems Dogecoin’s team neglected the puppy from 2018 until 2021, when the Dogecoin team pushed out the first update in years.
Where to Buy Dogecoin
Dogecoin is available from Gemini, Robinhood, Kraken, Voyager and others. If you don’t already have an account with one of these centralized exchanges, you can get started with the link below.
To keep things simple, some centralized exchanges store your dogecoin for you. While this may seem like a benefit, it actually means that you don’t own, or even have access to, your money. Additionally, this presents a centralized choke point for a high-value hack. If control of your funds is something you value, then it may be worthwhile to download or purchase a dedicated crypto wallet. Find out which one is right for you on Benzinga’s guide to the Best Crypto Wallets.
Alternatively, you could opt for a decentralized exchange (DEX) where you can swap from your favorite stablecoin into some DOGE.
- Best For:Buying & selling DogecoinVIEW PROS & CONS:securely through Robinhood Crypto's website
Where to Buy Ethereum
You can pick up some Ethereum from Coinbase, Etoro, Gemini, Robinhood, Kraken, BlockFi and more. Just make sure you have an Ethereum wallet like MetaMask to keep it in. If you are new to buying crypto, check out Benzinga’s guide to the Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges.
- Best For:Buying & selling DogecoinVIEW PROS & CONS:securely through Robinhood Crypto's website
People Also Ask
Is dogecoin or Ethereum better for sending money?
Dogecoin is cheaper and faster than Ethereum at processing transactions, however, much less secure.
Is Dogecoin or Ethereum a better long term Investment?
While you’ll have to make any investment decisions for yourself. It appears that anyone searching for long term gains would be better off opting for Ethereum. While, those looking to get rich quick might be more suited for Dogecoin.