No, Ethereum does not specifically depend on Bitcoin. However, the use cases are very different. Bitcoin is about money (as a distinct concept from currency).

No, Ethereum does not specifically depend on Bitcoin. However, the use cases are very different. Bitcoin is about money (as a distinct concept from currency). Think of it as a new type of central bank --that's Bitcoin's target market, and always has been (look up "Chancellor on the brink" in the 1st Bitcoin block). Bitcoin also intends to be peer-to-peer cash. This is what the lightning network aims to be, or the BCH fork depending on your point of view. Ethereum is about smart contracts. Think: decentralized organizations, tokenized probabilistic outcomes, insurance, yield generating investments, etc. As it turns out, the two can be very complementary. For example, Bitcoin can be wrapped (WBTC or similar) and represented on the Ethereum chain. This allows Bitcoin to be a store of value which can be collateralized and borrowed against using an Ethereum contract (e.g. Compound, AAVE, etc.). This is one narrow, but important use case: Ethereum can enable BTC holders to access liquidity.