When buying and selling cryptocurrencies, you must do so in an informed and educated way. Failure to do this inevitably leads to disappointment when you realize you’ve made bad investment decisions.
This article will look at Bitcoin (BTC) vs. Chainlink (LINK). We’ll be exploring their origins, how they came to be, their purpose, price history, market capitalization, and where you can buy them – among other things.
History
Exploring the history of a cryptocurrency gives us a better idea of its future by providing us with an idea of how well it has performed so far.
Bitcoin and Chainlink have interesting histories that potential investors should know before making any financial commitments.
Bitcoin (BTC)
A developer, or team of developers, under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, released the whitepaper for Bitcoin in 2008 at the height of the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. The coin was released in 2009 but didn’t gain traction until many years later.
Bitcoin is open-source, public and has support from a large team of developers. Many have claimed to be the original developer, Nakamoto, but none have been conclusively proven to be him.
Chainlink (LINK)
The Chainlink oracle network built on Ethereum was created by Steve Ellis and Sergey Nazarov in 2017 and was officially launched in 2019. While it was built on Ethereum, it’s more of a complement to the network.
What Are They, And Why Were They Created?
Understanding why a cryptocurrency exists in the first place can help us understand its relevancy and potential going forward.
So, what are BTC and LINK, and why were they made? That’s what we intend to explore next.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is a digital currency created to make decentralized transactions away from the control of financial authorities. It’s ultimately proven successful in its endeavor; however, some argue it’s becoming centralized.
This is not only because governments like the US are looking at how to regulate it but because small groups of investors own large portions of it.
Chainlink (LINK)
Chainlink is a blockchain oracle network that lets smart contracts communicate with data outside the blockchain network while retaining the blockchain’s security. It’s an oracle network because it relies on oracles, a decentralized network of entities, to get data from different sources.
The blockchain also compiles all this data to deliver to a particular data point to the smart contract, triggering its execution. The token, LINK, powers the decentralized oracle network (DON).
Price History
The price history of a cryptocurrency gives us an idea of the kind of price behavior we should expect from it and helps us better understand how to respond appropriately to these shifts.
Let’s look at how these coins have performed since they were created.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin’s price history has been highly inconsistent and choppy at best. The cryptocurrency’s price history reflects investor attitude, with displays of great enthusiasm during its peaks that quickly dissipate when the value drops.
Bitcoin has been around for over a decade. In 2010, one Bitcoin token was worth less than 1/10th of a cent. There was a steady but generous rise in the following years until the price grew to over $ 100 in late 2012. The currency would rise drastically after this, spiking to $1,238 in 2013.
After 2013’s prosperity came a slump, as investors and analysts have seen time and time again with Bitcoin. This occurred only for it to rise again in mid-2014, slowly but surely, before dropping in value again in mid-2019 to $10,000.
Bitcoin peaked at a single point in 2021, during the bull market, at well over $60,000, only to drop to where it is today at just over $19,000.
Chainlink (LINK)
Real-world data shows that the Chainlink price is currently $6.88, but in 2017, after its release, it was worth just $0.13. This would only change slightly in mid-2019 when it’d surpass the $1 mark. It’d also begin a climb in mid-2020, followed by some downward spikes, arriving at just over $ 11 by the end of the year.
During the 2021 bull market, Chainlink’s price would see a significant spike, peaking at over $50, followed by a rapid fall to nearly $14. The following months have seen a series of significant falls and minor regains.
Market Cap
Market cap is a critical metric representing a cryptocurrency’s total value. This we can use to compare with another to make better investment decisions.
Let’s consider the market cap of crypto-starter Bitcoin and altcoin Chainlink.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin’s market cap has kept it ranking first in the cryptocurrency market for an extended period. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s market cap is over $370 billion. The market capitalization can be determined by multiplying the circulating supply (currently at 19,199,768 BTC) by the price of a single coin ($19,300.96).
Chainlink (LINK)
The Chainlink network currently boasts a market cap of $3,386,426,601, placing it at rank 21 in the world’s cryptocurrencies. It has a much greater circulating supply than Bitcoin, with 491,599,970.45 LINK in public hands.
Daily Transactions
A cryptocurrency’s daily transactions, like market capitalization, provide us with helpful information to make informed investment decisions when comparing two digital currencies.
But how often do BTC and LINK have transactions? Let’s explore.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin boasts a 24-hour volume (the amount of a cryptocurrency traded in the last 24 hours) of $26,101,402,011.
Chainlink (LINK)
Currently, the Chainlink network boasts a 24-hour volume of $ 262,398,797 – a much lower value volume than Bitcoin’s billions of dollars worth of daily transactions.
Block Size
A blockchain is a chain that consists of blocks of information. When the block size of crypto increases, transaction fees decrease, and more transactions can be confirmed in every block. So, it’s important to know the block size of any single cryptocurrency.
Let’s take a look at the block size of Bitcoin and Chainlink.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin block sizes can be anywhere from 4 megabytes to 2 megabytes in size. Initially, as set by Satoshi Nakamoto, there was a block size limit of 1 megabyte, which meant that it could handle only three to seven transactions each second.
While there was much debate about increasing it from the 1 MB to where it is today or even removing the limit entirely, the consensus was that the limit was a necessary security measure and needed to be raised conservatively.
Chainlink (LINK)
The block size limit on the Ethereum network is 1 MB, lower than the Bitcoin blockchain. While some have argued for increasing it to 1.875 MB, it will stay where it is for now.
Similarities
Both cryptocurrencies use blockchain technology to operate, and they boast a limited supply. Meaning that after a certain amount has been minted, there’ll be no more available. For Bitcoin, this is 21 million, but for LINK, this is one billion.
Differences
While similar in ways to Bitcoin, Chainlink makes use of smart contracts, easily defined as contracts done automatically online. On the other hand, Bitcoin was made solely as an alternative to traditional money.
Risks
While there will always be risks with any investment, it’s essential to understand what they are so you can weigh the risks with the informed benefits.
Bitcoin (BTC)
The primary risk with purchasing Bitcoin is the impending legislative changes surrounding cryptocurrencies. We don’t know what this might mean for cryptocurrency in general, and as the crypto with the largest market share, Bitcoin will be a significant target.
Chainlink (LINK)
LINK has the same risk that many cryptocurrencies have: volatility and being part of a market controlled entirely by the whims of its prominent investors.
Where To Buy
So, where can you buy these cryptocurrencies? We’ll get into this in the next section.
Bitcoin (BTC)
You can buy Bitcoin from numerous places, including crypto exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, Gemini, and Kraken. You can even buy it in Walmart at the Walmart Money Center.
Chainlink (LINK)
Like Bitcoin, you can buy LINK tokens on various crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase and Binance. It’s a very popular token and, therefore, easy to purchase.
Exchanging Bitcoin For Chainlink
You can exchange Bitcoin for Chainlink on most crypto exchanges, such as CoinSpot. You can get around 28 000 LINK tokens for the price of a single Bitcoin at current rates.
Future Plans
What does the future look like for these digital currencies? Do they have a future? What do predictions show? Is there anything new in store for them?
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin projections put Bitcoin at different levels of success over the next year, with some saying it’ll right up to $1,000,000, and others optimistically, but more cautiously, stating it’ll reach the hundreds of thousands.
We can say that Bitcoin will continue to be supported and adopted by retailers across the globe, seeing as it is already being accepted as payment by major corporations such as Microsoft.
Bitcoin has a bright future ahead of it.
Chainlink (LINK)
Some current predictions don’t say much of a bright future for LINK tokens, with it remaining around the same price by 2030; others place it in the hundreds of dollars.
So while developers will continue to work on this blockchain with many real-world applications, we can’t be sure what’ll become of it.
Sources:
https://www.investopedia.com/chainlink-link-definition-5217559
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/121815/bitcoins-price-history.asp
https://www.coinbase.com/price/chainlink
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/guides/what-is-the-bitcoin-block-size-limit
https://discover.luno.com/what-is-the-difference-between-chainlink-and-bitcoin/
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