How economists differ from coders: Bitcoin vs Ethereum

The debates surrounding different cryptocurrencies can become quite heated on Twitter when people are sat behind their screens. When discussing it in person, though, the conversation flows in a much more friendly manner. What is interesting in speaking to those involved in a form of computer science or coding as a career (not necessarily blockchain related) is that Ethereum is the cryptocurrency that interests them the most. For Bitcoin maximalists online, whilst there are many coders, there are also many economists from the Austrian school that shout the loudest.

The usefulness of blockchain is still questioned, and there seems to be three main camps. The first is those who are now attempting to attach blockchain to any and every industry. The second is the Bitcoin maximalist camp – a mix between those involved in coding, economists, and philosophers who see blockchain as a useful tool for monetary use but relatively little else. The third is those who see the whole space as totally ridiculous – think Roubini as a prime example of this faction.

Using social media can make it difficult to cut through the noise and come to solid conclusions. With such a variety of opinions, understanding who to listen to or believe is a skill that takes practice, but this doesn’t necessarily mean you will be right. One way to counteract this is to block those views you disagree with, but this comes with the risk of creating your own echo chamber – hearing what you want to hear constantly and rarely being challenged.

To counteract these issues, speaking to people in person is a great antidote. Rather than the shouty behaviour of social media, you are able to have a mature discussion and share different points of view with little to no ego. From this experience, I have found it interesting to see who seems interested in Bitcoin and who is interested in Ethereum. Computer scientists lean more towards the Ethereum blockchain as the possibilities it could one day provide are far more extensive than Bitcoin.

This isn’t to say that they are not aware of the current limitations of the Ethereum blockchain, just that they view it as a more exciting platform. I find this interesting because Ethereum does receive a lot of criticism. Some of this stems from the centralised nature shown during the DAO rollback. Questioning the immutability of Ethereum is the easiest attack vector for BTC maximalists.

For those coders who are interested in the technical side of blockchain rather than the philosophical or economical sides, Ethereum still seems ahead in possibilities. Who will win this battle remains to be seen. Indeed, it may not even need to be seen as a battle. Unfortunately, though, for many, too much bad blood has already risen, and I doubt both sides will stop attacking each other. Still, though, meet both sides in person and they’re lovely.