Is there one Blockchain the entire crypto universe operates within or multiple?

[MeSoCorny]

I always thought the blockchain operated within the ethereum network. I'm still learning a lot of this stuff. However, since Bitcoin was created first I'm assuming it has its own blockchain or ethereum and all Dapps operate within it or their own. I'm a bit confused.

[1713299517]

1713299517

[dbshck]

That's right, every "coin" (like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Ripple) has its own, independent blockchain. These "coins" are different from ERC20 "token" which operate within Ethereum blockchain or Waves' "asset" which run on the Waves platform. They are totally unrelated to other "coins". There are some good articles available on the internet about this, just Google it!

[denis-z12]

I always thought the blockchain operated within the ethereum network. I'm still learning a lot of this stuff. However, since Bitcoin was created first I'm assuming it has its own blockchain or ethereum and all Dapps operate within it or their own. I'm a bit confused.

No no, Ethereum and Bitcoin operate on different Blokchains. Every cryptocurrency has its own blockchain which is a record off all the transactions that ever took place. Many tokens are based on the Ethereum network called erc20 tokens.

Think of it in this way, imagine you want to send en email to someone, over yahoo for example but in order to send that email you would need to download its blockchain (record of all the emails that have been sent up until that day). Tomorrow you are sending an email but this time over hotmail, therefore you cant use the yahoo records - you would need to download the one hotmail provided.  

[MeSoCorny]

So do the coins, such as the ICO's created on the Ethereum network, operate on Ethereum's blockchain, such as within a sidechain I guess, or will they also create their own singular blockchain for their coin once it is established? Thank you in advance.

[dbshck]

So do the coins, such as the ICO's created on the Ethereum network, operate on Ethereum's blockchain, such as within a sidechain I guess, or will they also create their own singular blockchain for their coin once it is established? Thank you in advance.

Ethereum tokens don't have their own blockchain, they operate and rely completely on Ethereum blockchain. These tokens are just smart contracts running on ETH blockchain. You will need to pay the tx fees/gas in ETH to send these tokens and the fee/gas will go to the ETH miner.

[MeSoCorny]

So do the coins, such as the ICO's created on the Ethereum network, operate on Ethereum's blockchain, such as within a sidechain I guess, or will they also create their own singular blockchain for their coin once it is established? Thank you in advance.

Ethereum tokens don't have their own blockchain, they operate and rely completely on Ethereum blockchain. These tokens are just smart contracts running on ETH blockchain. You will need to pay the tx fees/gas in ETH to send these tokens and the fee/gas will go to the ETH miner.

I see what you're saying. So actual coins, such as Monero or Dash, can't be created on Ethereum using Dapps or smart contracts and will establish their own blockchains. However, Dapps and projects that utilize tokens can be created there and are sent using the fee/ gas system like on MyEtherWallet. That's where I was getting confused, conflating both tokens and coins as a similar thing. Thank you.