Is bitcoin the same as cryptocurrency: the full picture
Anyone asking "Is bitcoin the same as cryptocurrency?" is measuring coins against bitcoin, the one most people meet first. Players who pay a casino in crypto often weigh it against USDT or Ethereum, wonder whether bitcoin and cryptocurrency mean the same thing, and ask whether holding it is allowed in the first place. Each comparison below takes one of those questions, explains what sets the coins apart, and says nothing about where any price is going.
Is bitcoin the same as cryptocurrency? No: bitcoin is one cryptocurrency, the first and best known, while the word covers thousands of coins and tokens built on similar ideas. Some, like bitcoin, have no central issuer; others, like USDT, are issued and managed by a company even though they live on public blockchains. Treating every coin as a copy of bitcoin hides real differences in who controls the supply, what backs the value and how the network charges for transfers. Comparing bitcoin with any other coin starts with those three points.
Bitcoin vs Ethereum comes down to purpose and design. Bitcoin was built mainly to send and store value, and its network does little beyond that. Ethereum is a platform that runs smart contracts, small programs that execute on the chain, and thousands of tokens are issued on top of it, including one version of USDT. Its own coin, ether or ETH, pays the gas for every transaction there, so a wallet holding only tokens still needs some ETH before anything can move. The two coins have separate networks, prices and address styles.
Short answers
What matters when paying a casino in USDT?
The network chosen at the cashier must match the network the coins are sent on, because USDT runs on several.
Is bitcoin legal everywhere?
No. Some countries regulate it, some restrict it and a few ban it or key uses of it, so the local rules decide.
What does the value of USDT depend on?
On the reserves its issuer reports holding and on trust in that issuer, which can also freeze specific addresses.
Is selling or exchanging bitcoin taxed?
Tax rules differ by country, and many places treat selling or swapping coins as something to declare.