Blockchain vs. Cryptocurrency: What’s the Difference?
Blockchain vs. Cryptocurrency: What’s the Difference? By Jim Kofalt, Chief Product Strategist, Verae
Every few weeks, someone will ask me what I do for a living. When I say I work in blockchain, the reaction is usually some mix of curiosity and caution—followed by a question about Bitcoin.
And I get it. For a long time, blockchain and cryptocurrency were treated like two sides of the same coin (pun intended). But now that the dust is settling, and blockchain is being used in everything from agriculture to digital identity, I think it’s worth pulling them apart a bit.
So, here’s how I like to explain it.
Cryptocurrency Is One Use Case—Not the Whole Picture
Cryptocurrency is a type of digital asset that uses cryptography and blockchain to manage transactions without a central authority. Bitcoin was the first, and it became shorthand for the whole space. But it’s just one application—like email was to the internet in the early ’90s.
Blockchain, on the other hand, is the underlying technology. Think of it as a distributed digital ledger—a way to record information that’s transparent, tamper-resistant, and decentralized.
So while every cryptocurrency uses a blockchain, not every blockchain is used for cryptocurrency.
You can use a hammer to build a house or break a window. Same tool. Different intent.
What Blockchain Does Well (That Has Nothing to Do with Money)
At Verae, we’re not building a cryptocurrency. We’re using blockchain to create trustworthy digital records for real-world assets—things like IT hardware, electronic waste, and service logs. It helps us solve problems like:
Who handled this asset, and when?
Has any part of this record been changed?
Can we prove that this data hasn’t been tampered with?
None of that requires tokens or trading. Just a commitment to accountability.
And this isn’t just for us. We’re seeing hospitals use blockchain to trace pharmaceuticals, manufacturers using it to verify parts sourcing, and even publishers exploring it for digital rights management.
So Why the Confusion?
Part of the confusion is baked into history. Bitcoin and Ethereum were the first public demonstrations of what blockchain could do—and they made a lot of people a lot of money (or, just as often, lost it). So the conversation got stuck there.
But like any new technology, the story matures. Now, we’re entering a phase where people are asking: How can blockchain help solve real, non-financial problems? That’s where things get interesting.
The Bottom Line
If cryptocurrency is a rocket, blockchain is the engine. You can use it to launch something entirely different—it just depends on where you want to go.
We’re using it to build digital trust infrastructure in messy, real-world systems like supply chains and asset management. Others are tackling digital identity, sustainability, and government transparency.
And no, we don’t hand out coins.
If you’re curious to explore further:
Our work at Verae with chain of custody, IT asset traceability, and data integrity
As always, it’s about asking the right questions—and not getting distracted by the hype.
