Bitcoin and Polygon have both been around for a while, although Bitcoin is considerably older. They are popular and frequent choices for cryptocurrency investors – but which should you invest in? This article will investigate these two crypto giants to help you make an informed choice.
We’ll examine their history, price history and future, purpose, and metrics (like market capitalization and block size) and explore their differences and similarities.
History
Despite popular opinion, Bitcoin was not the first cryptocurrency to be released but it was the first to receive significant public attention. The actual first cryptocurrency, eCash, was created by a company known as DigiCash – and this wasn’t even the last attempt before Bitcoin. Several other cryptocurrencies were released before Bitcoin.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency with the largest market capitalization and is one of the more well-known options. It all started with a whitepaper in 2008, released by a pseudonymous developer named Satoshi Nakamoto.
The first Bitcoin block, the genesis block, was made on January 3, 2009, and although it wasn’t worth much then, today, one hundred coins are worth over two million dollars. Although it was released then, it wouldn’t be until May 22, 2010, that the coin would be involved in a real and practical transaction: 10,000 Bitcoins for two Papa John’s pizzas.
Polygon (MATIC)
The Polygon network was launched in October 2017 by Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun as one of the scaling solutions for the Ethereum network. It was later rebranded and changed names from MATIC to Polygon, but Polygon’s native cryptocurrency is still called MATIC.
What Are They, And Why Were They Created?
Most cryptocurrencies do serve a purpose aside from just being a trendy new thing to invest in. Let’s take a closer look at the purpose of Bitcoin and Polygon.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin was created in response to the global financial crisis. During this time, many people became critical of the central bank and financial authorities, making them more receptive to blockchain and crypto.
Bitcoin is currently a largely unregulated and decentralized currency.
Polygon (MATIC)
Polygon was created in response to the Ethereum blockchain scaling issues. In 2017, while the NFT project Cryptokitties was trendy, the network was experiencing terrible congestion, high gas fees, and awful processing times.
The Matic network addresses this issue as it can work independently off-chain, avoiding overworking the parent chain, and ultimately reducing time and cost.
Price History
Now that we’ve taken a look at where Bitcoin and Polygon came from and why they were made let’s start investigating some essential metrics you should know before making a crypto investment decision, beginning with Bitcoin’s and Polygon’s price history and price movement.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin’s price history represents the inconsistencies that long-term investors have faced. Aside from a minor increase in November 2013 to $ 1,154.93, Bitcoin remained valued within just a few hundred dollars until 2017, when a significant spike would bring it up to over $10,000.
There’d again be minor rises followed by more dramatic falls over the next months until 2019 when Bitcoin’s value would climb up to above $10,000 – only to repeat the same rollercoaster pattern until mid-2020.
With the increases here, followed then by the bull market (when the price of cryptocurrencies rises, which encourages further buying) in 2021, Bitcoin reached new heights, rising to roughly $60,000 on two occasions.
Bitcoin would plummet throughout 2022, settling around September. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is valued at $19,134.24.
Polygon (MATIC)
For the Matic network, little would change until the bull market of 2021. It’d experience its first spike up to $2.4483 in May 2021, followed by a dip and a smaller spike. A pattern of spikes and dips would continue throughout 2021 and after, with the largest spike putting it at $2.7275.
At the time of writing this, MATIC is valued at $0.9021.
Market Cap
Another great metric to consider is the market cap of a cryptocurrency. But what might that be for Bitcoin and Polygon? Let’s examine this.
Bitcoin (BTC)
The total value of every Bitcoin mined, known as the market cap, is $386,917,342,051; this puts it well ahead of every cryptocurrency, ranking it #1.
Polygon (MATIC)
Polygon’s market cap is $7,892,485,856, which puts it at #11 in the world’s cryptocurrency market.
Daily Transactions
Another vital metric to consider is the number of daily transactions a crypto sees. Let’s take a look at this for Bitcoin and Polygon.
Bitcoin (BTC)
In the last 24 hours, $47,444,288,997 worth of Bitcoin has been traded.
Polygon (MATIC)
In the previous 24 hours, $470,909,129 worth of the Matic token has been traded.
Block Size
Block size affects the speed of transactions because it represents the amount of data a block can hold. That’s why it’s an important metric to consider when investing in any cryptocurrency – who doesn’t want faster and cheaper transactions? Let’s look at the block sizes of Bitcoin and Polygon, respectively.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin, while restricted to a 1 MB block size in the past, now typically boasts up to a 2MB block size, although theoretically, you can have a block size of up to 4 MB.
Polygon (MATIC)
Polygon places a limit on its block size. However, it has a block confirmation time of less than a few seconds.
Similarities
There are several similarities between Bitcoin and Polygon; these include the following:
- Both Polygon and Bitcoin are decentralized currencies.
- They can both be purchased on crypto exchanges.
- Both are high-ranking cryptocurrencies with high market capitalizations.
Differences
Bitcoin and Polygon are different in several ways, these include:
- Polygon uses a modified proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, whereas Bitcoin uses a proof-of-work consensus mechanism.
- The Polygon cryptocurrency was made as a scaling solution for Ethereum, while Bitcoin was produced only as a decentralized currency.
- Polygon processes transactions faster than Bitcoin.
- Polygon has more utility than Bitcoin.
Risks
What are the risks associated with investing in these two crypto giants? Is there anything important for prospective investors to note? We’re looking at this in the following paragraphs.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Current fears are that the US government will regulate cryptocurrency, and the Biden Administration has even released a framework for how crypto regulation should look. This could damper the success of cryptocurrencies as they may lose their utility as tax-free decentralized currencies.
In addition, fears surrounding China’s total ban on cryptocurrency have sparked even further concern about the future of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a whole. India has even introduced a 30% tax on profits made from trading cryptocurrencies.
Polygon (MATIC)
Along with the concerns for regulation that plague the Bitcoin community, one primary concern for Polygon is its competition. Crypto projects such as Polkadot offer the same features, and without upgrades, Polygon risks dropping down the rankings over time.
Where To Buy
Avoiding scammers and knowing where you can buy cryptocurrency safely is extremely important, so you don’t lose out on significant sums of your investment money. Don’t worry; in the next section, we’ll cover some safe options for you to consider.
Bitcoin (BTC)
You can buy Bitcoin from safe locations, such as Walmart or your local Bitcoin ATM. However, you can also buy it online on popular crypto exchanges, including Gemini, Kraken, Coninbase, BitYard, and Crypto.com.
Polygon (MATIC)
While not as widely available as Bitcoin, you can still buy it at many crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase or Crypto.com. The MATIC price is relatively low, so it’s more accessible than Bitcoin. Even the MATIC price prediction for the coming years doesn’t put it at that much of a higher value.
Exchanging Bitcoin (BTC) For Polygon (MATIC)
You can trade Bitcoin for MATIC, and vice versa, on platforms such as LetsExchange. After registration, all you need to do is select the currencies you’d like to exchange, pick the amounts, select a receiving address, pick a fixed or floating rate, and confirm the exchange. A similar process is followed on other platforms.
Future Plans
Are there any future plans for these cryptocurrencies? What about the Polygon price prediction? What do crypto experts have to say about their future? We’re going to explore this now.
Bitcoin (BTC)
As an open-source project, Bitcoin welcomes improvements, fixes, and updates from community members, although co-owners of Bitcoin manage publications. This means that as long as Bitcoin remains in public attention, it’ll continue to be subject to future updates.
Current projects are overwhelmingly positive for Bitcoin, with some crypto experts putting Bitcoin at a value of $1,000,000 by 2030. Many crypto experts consider this currency a good investment.
Polygon (MATIC)
Although not as dramatic as Bitcoin’s price prediction, the Polygon price prediction puts it at a value of $4.11 by 2025 and around $8.67 by 2030.
Sources:
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polygon/
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/
https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/the-history-of-bitcoin
https://trading-education.com/pros-and-cons-of-investing-in-polygon-matic
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