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Ethereum, proposed by Vitalik Buterin in 2013 and launched in 2015, extended blockchain beyond simple value transfer. It introduced a Turing-complete virtual machine that can execute arbitrary programs called smart contracts, transforming blockchain into a general-purpose platform for decentralised applications.
| Feature | Bitcoin | Ethereum |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Digital currency / store of value | Programmable blockchain platform |
| Smart contracts | Limited (Bitcoin Script) | Turing-complete (Solidity, Vyper) |
| Account model | UTXO-based | Account-based |
| Block time | ~10 minutes | ~12 seconds |
| Consensus | Proof of Work (SHA-256) | Proof of Stake (since Sep 2022) |
| Native token | BTC | ETH |
| Gas mechanism | Transaction fees only | Gas system for computation pricing |
The EVM is the runtime environment for smart contracts on Ethereum. Every node in the network runs the EVM to execute and validate contract code.
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