Mark Cuban: The 3 ways Ethereum ‘dwarfs’ bitcoin

Mark Cuban: The 3 ways Ethereum ‘dwarfs’ bitcoin

Ether, the cryptocurrency that runs on the Ethereum blockchain, hit a record high on Tuesday.

Though it is still second behind bitcoin in market value, there is growing excitement surrounding Ethereum and its capabilities.

According to billionaire investor Mark Cuban, "the number of transactions and the diversity of transaction types along with the development efforts in Ethereum dwarf bitcoin," he tells CNBC Make It. "The utilization of Ethereum is much higher."

First, the Ethereum blockchain consistently processes more transactions per second than bitcoin's, making payments faster and more productive.

Second, it can support the creation of applications. Ethereum is known for its smart contracts, which power and build decentralized applications, like DeFi (or decentralized finance) apps, and NFTs (nonfungible tokens).

"Right now, bitcoin is a more established store of value and there is no reason to think it won't continue to be for a long time," Cuban says. "Ethereum, on the other hand, is booming with development that I think will create so many new applications."

Third, Cuban says that as an upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain called Ethereum 2.0, which launched in 2020, continues to roll out, "the impact of Ethereum could be greater than we currently imagine."

Investors agree that there are several benefits to Ethereum 2.0. First, it could make Ethereum