Bitcoin (BTC) is a cryptocurrency, a virtual currency designed to act as money and a form of payment outside the control of any one person, group, or entity, and thus removing the need for third-party involvement in financial transactions. It is rewarded to blockchain miners for the work done to verify transactions and can be purchased on several exchanges.
Like Bitcoin, Pi Network is also similar but different in the mode of accessibility, so Pi Network is a digital project that aims to keep cryptocurrency mining accessible, as the centralisation of first-generation currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) has put mining them beyond the reach of many everyday users.
There are many differences between Bitcoin and Pi Network, but we will compare only these five unique noticable differences:
1. Energy Consumption
Bitcoin mining requires an enormous energy amount in the entire network since miners use computers to solve puzzles on the blockchain for Bitcoin. Uptill now, miners used desktops and home computers to mine Bitcoin.
As compared to traditionally established networks like Bitcoin, which require energy intensive machines, the Pi Network is easy to operate and it is energy efficient which is why it is mined on smartphones too rather than only desktop computers.
2 Development Team
The development team behind the creation of Bitcoin is not known. Rather a faceless man with the name Satoshi Nakamoto is always rumored to be the brain behind the creation of Bitcoin. Today, different people come claiming to be the Satoshi Nakamoto, one is presently facing trial.
This is different from Pi Network. Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan, two Stanford University researchers, founded Pi Network. They began developing it in 2018 with the goal of making a digital currency for everyday people. They released a white paper and the Pi Network app on March 14, 2019 (Pi Day).
3. Consensus Mechanism
Pi Network development integrated the Stellar Consensus Protocol which happens to be completely different from Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm or others using either the Proof-of-Stake (PoS), or the Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS). The Stellar Consensus algorithm is simply an FBA (Federated Byzantine Agreement) system that offers all decentralized networks on the Pi Cryptocurrency network an opportunity to reach consensus as fast as possible. On this consensus algorithm, nodes are not in competition with each other, rather each node is charged with the responsibility of determining if a transaction made by a user is valid or not. Once a block (transaction) is identified by a node, a message is sent across to others on the network and a series of voting will ensue to determine which block will be recorded on the network’s blockchain.
Bitcoin however uses Proof of work (PoW) which is a decentralized consensus mechanism that requires members of a network to expend effort solving an arbitrary mathematical puzzle to prevent anybody from gaming the system. Proof of work is used widely in cryptocurrency mining, for validating transactions and mining new tokens. Proof of work at scale requires huge amounts of energy, which only increases as more miners join the network.
4. Platform Users (miners)
According to crypto.com, an estimated 114 million accounts hold Bitcoin worldwide and that’s almost more than the population of Japan. Pi Network as officially announced has 35 million active users.
5. Coin cap supply
There will never be more than 21 million Bitcoin. The hard cap of 21 million is built into the core of Bitcoin’s code. It cannot be changed unless there is unanimous consensus by a decentralized body of custodians who are elected into service. The fixed supply dynamic of Bitcoin has become one of the key value propositions for the market demand and incentive to continue validating the network.
According to the developers of this cryptocurrency, the total maximum supply will strike a balance to ensure that there is a sense of scarcity at the same time ensuring that most of the Pi coins do not end up in the hands of a few network users. Currently there is no fixed Pi supply or total supply of the Pi cryptocurrency, it is expected to be made once the project has completed the last step.
To ensure that there is fair scarcity, distribution, and meritocratic earning of Pi, the Total Supply Formular the supply has been devised. The formula of the Total Maximum Supply is:
M (total mining rewards) + R (total referral rewards) + D (total developer rewards).
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