On Wednesday, an interview with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink went viral in which the CEO called Bitcoin an international asset. Not only that, Fink also pointed toward digital assets such as Bitcoin as being a way to digitize gold on the blockchain. This statement from the CEO has since been interpreted in various ways to mean that Fink referred to BTC as digital gold. So the question now remains, if Bitcoin is digital gold, which cryptocurrency is digital silver?
ETH Is Digital Silver?
The digital gold argument for Bitcoin continues but with Ethereum being the second-largest and most popular cryptocurrency in the market, it has often been dubbed the ‘Digital Silver’. Over the last seven years, its performance has also solidified claims that Ethereum is silver to Bitcoin’s gold.
There have previously been claims that Litecoin qualifies to be referred to as the digital silver. Most of these claims were rooted in the fact that Litecoin’s mechanism is basically identical to that of BTC. However, performance-wise, it has fallen short compared to ETH, which is now BTC’s largest rival.
One area where Litecoin tends to outshine Ethereum though is when it comes to supply. While Litecoin undergoes halving events every four years like BTC to reduce its block rewards and has a maximum supply, Ethereum has none of these things. ETH’s unlimited supply has usually been a concern as this means the digital asset could be a perpetually inflationary asset. That is, until the implementation of the ETH burn, aimed at reducing the rate at which new coins are being brought into circulation.
Data from Ultrasound Money, a website that tracks the ETH burn and issuance rate, shows that instead of increasing, the ETH supply is now decreasing at a rate of 0.33% per year. This development eliminates the concerns about inflation for ETH, further giving credence to the fact that Ethereum is the digital silver.
ETH price resting above $1,900 | Source: ETHUSD on Tradingview.com
Bitcoin Vs Ethereum, Which Is Better?
The argument about the better option between Bitcoin and Ethereum continues to wax strong, especially on social media platforms. However, both of these digital assets are unique in their own way and serve different functions in the market.
While Bitcoin continues to hold the torch as the pioneer cryptocurrency, garnering massive support over the last decade, Ethereum, in its own right, has propelled the concept of decentralized finance (DeFi).
The use of smart contracts on the latter has helped developers to create financial products investors can leverage to manage their own wealth without the need for an intermediary. Although this capability is gradually being developed on Bitcoin as well.
For now, both digital assets serve different sides of the market. However, this could easily change in the future.