public inbox for bitcoindev@googlegroups.com
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
* [Bitcoin-development] "bits": Unit of account
@ 2014-04-20 12:35 Mike Gehl
  2014-04-20 13:15 ` Rob Golding
  2014-04-20 17:42 ` Arne Brutschy
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 56+ messages in thread
From: Mike Gehl @ 2014-04-20 12:35 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: bitcoin-development

The usefulness of a "bitcoin" unit will decrease as the value of the
network increases. Today, a majority of transactions are denominated
in fractions of a bitcoin. As a consequence, millibitcoin (mBTC) and
microbitcoin (uBTC) units have been introduced to alleviate the
decimal problem.

While SI units are great for people well versed in them, there is a
very good reason people aren't asking for 100 micro dollars in change.
The average person is not going to be confident that the prefix they
are using is the correct one, people WILL send 1000x more or less than
intended if we go down this road, and these mistakes will happen
frequently. Labeling should be easy enough for kindergarten kids.

I propose that users are offered a preference to denominate the
Bitcoin currency in a unit called a bit. Where one bitcoin (BTC)
equals one million bits (bits) and one bit equals 100 satoshis.

For a user discussion on the topic see:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/23flcn/bits_instead_of_%CE%BCbtc/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1rmto3/its_bits/



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 56+ messages in thread
* Re: [Bitcoin-development] "bits": Unit of account
@ 2014-05-01 22:35 Aaron Voisine
  2014-05-03  2:06 ` Gordon Mohr
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 56+ messages in thread
From: Aaron Voisine @ 2014-05-01 22:35 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Bitcoin Development

I'm also a big fan of standardizing on microBTC as the standard unit.
I didn't like the name "bits" at first, but the more I think about it,
the more I like it. The main thing going for it is the fact that it's
part of the name bitcoin. If Bitcoin is the protocol and network, bits
are an obvious choice for the currency unit.

I would like to propose using Unicode character U+0180, lowercase b
with stroke, as the symbol to represent the microBTC denomination,
whether we call bits or something else:
 http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/0180/index.htm

Another candidate is Unicode character U+2422, the blank symbol, but I
prefer stroke b.
http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2422/index.htm

Aaron

There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole
government working for you -- Will Rodgers

> On Apr 21, 2014 5:41 AM, "Pieter Wuille" <pieter.wuille@gm...> wrote:
>
>>On Apr 21, 2014 3:37 AM, "Un Ix" <slashdevnull@...> wrote:
>>
>> Something tells me this would be reduced to a single syllable in common
>> usage I.e. bit.
>
> What units will be called colloquially is not something developers will
> determine. It will vary, depend on language and culture, and is not
> relevant to this discussion in my opinion.
>
> It may well be that people in some geographic or language area will end up
> (or for a while) calling 1e-06 BTC "bits". That's fine, but using that as
> "official" name in software would be very strange and potentially confusing
> in my opinion. As mentioned by others, that would seem to me like calling
> dollars "bucks" in bank software. Nobody seems to have a problem with
> having colloquial names, but "US dollar" or "euro" are far less ambiguous
> than "bit". I think we need a more distinctive name.
>
> --
> Pieter



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 56+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2014-05-05 22:33 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 56+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2014-04-20 12:35 [Bitcoin-development] "bits": Unit of account Mike Gehl
2014-04-20 13:15 ` Rob Golding
2014-04-20 14:28   ` Tamas Blummer
2014-04-20 14:52     ` Christophe Biocca
2014-04-21  8:52       ` Thomas Voegtlin
2014-04-21  9:34         ` Tamas Blummer
2014-04-22 14:55           ` Natanael
2014-04-20 14:53     ` Pieter Wuille
2014-04-20 15:05       ` Tamas Blummer
2014-04-20 15:50         ` Alan Reiner
2014-04-20 16:19           ` Chris Pacia
2014-04-20 16:27             ` Wladimir
2014-04-20 16:30               ` Chris Pacia
2014-04-22 13:51               ` Aaron Axvig
2014-04-23  9:44                 ` Danny Hamilton
2014-04-23  9:56                   ` Tamas Blummer
2014-04-23 11:48                     ` Chris D'Costa
2014-04-20 16:23           ` Erik Garrison
2014-04-20 16:30             ` Alan Reiner
2014-04-20 16:56               ` Mike Caldwell
2014-04-20 17:47                 ` Jannis Froese
2014-04-20 18:10                 ` Pavol Rusnak
2014-04-20 17:42 ` Arne Brutschy
2014-04-20 18:11   ` Mike Caldwell
2014-04-20 18:22     ` Arne Brutschy
2014-04-20 18:34       ` Mike Caldwell
2014-04-20 18:43     ` Oliver Egginger
2014-04-20 19:19       ` Christophe Biocca
2014-04-20 19:32         ` Gmail
2014-04-20 20:28         ` Mike Caldwell
2014-04-21  0:16           ` Justin A
2014-04-21  1:18             ` Mike Caldwell
2014-04-21  1:33               ` Un Ix
2014-04-21  3:34                 ` Mike Caldwell
2014-04-21  4:08                   ` Christopher Paika
2014-04-21  5:41                 ` Pieter Wuille
2014-04-21  5:51                   ` Tamas Blummer
2014-04-21  6:21                   ` Tamas Blummer
2014-04-21 12:14                     ` Un Ix
2014-04-21 12:24                       ` Tamas Blummer
2014-05-01 22:35 Aaron Voisine
2014-05-03  2:06 ` Gordon Mohr
2014-05-03  5:41   ` Aaron Voisine
2014-05-03 15:48     ` Christophe Biocca
2014-05-03 16:02       ` slush
2014-05-03 16:10         ` Tamas Blummer
2014-05-03 16:27       ` Mike Caldwell
2014-05-04  1:04         ` Chris Pacia
2014-05-04  5:18           ` Drak
2014-05-04  6:15             ` Aaron Voisine
2014-05-04  6:23               ` Un Ix
2014-05-04  6:27               ` Wladimir
2014-05-04  6:36                 ` Tamas Blummer
2014-05-04  6:59                   ` Wladimir
2014-05-04 14:42               ` Mike Caldwell
2014-05-05 22:33     ` Gordon Mohr

This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox