Bitcoin Forum

We've discussed this before, but there never has been a consensus as to how to handle future denominations of Bitcoin for purchases. Someday Bitcoin will be distributed amongst a wide user base and purchases will be approaching the nano BTC level. The problem is innumeracy. Most Americans don't understand the concept of metric prefixes. They are conditioned to corporatized names and logos from infancy. Shall we begin to popularize a naming convention for purchases using something analogous to trading commodities i.e. Gold Bitcoin, Silver Bitcoin, etc. for every fractional order of magnitude? Or will we end up using milliardth, billionth, or nano to mean Bitcoin to -9 orders of magnitude?

Why do you think you can solve this now?  If people really have a hard time with milli, micro, nano, why don't you just wait to see what they actually do use?

mBTC.  Too easy.

"I can't believe a batch3 Avalon is almost 74,000 mBTC".

BTM (mBTC) has rapidly developed into a de-facto standard in online gaming. If bitcoin market value continues on its present trend much longer it will be the norm full stop.

I have no idea what "commoners" will call BTM, µBTC and satoshi, if it comes to that. You never know, they might call them BTM or mBTC, µBTC and satoshi! :) Or maybe peeps could get used to the floating point, e.g. "the basic payout on Daily Bitcoins is BTC0,00001", "I like to tip forum posters BTC0,005", and so on.

But already even within the Bitcoin nerd circles, I've seen peeps confuse BTC0,005 with BTC0,0005 with BTC0,00005! So who knows? :)

We already have the satoshi for a small increment - I propose the next named small increment be somehow related to Hal Finney:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0)

Eg:  (1 BTC = 100,000,000 Satoshi); (1 BTC = 1,000,000 Finneys)

  

Hal Finney's a legend, so that sounds good to me!

Then they better start using their brain and learn that.

Or stop using bitcoin because if they can't understand what milli or micro means, they clearly are unable to understand how to use bitcoins  :)

Having lived through the process in reverse (i.e. a hyperinflationary currency, where you keep adding zeroes, then the government keeps chopping them off), I can tell you the community will quickly revert to nicknames for each denomination. As you said, BTM seems to be gaining traction. uBTC might catch on too. And I think the satoshi is, by now, fairly well established.

Hopefully, we'll stay away from floating points... they suck, and they're a permanent reminder we are primates with only ten extensions on our hands  :D

Introducing XBT (= 100 satoshi) is the way to go. This enables integration with mainstream financial systems.

See reasoning and votes in:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=149150.0

Wow! Zim? :)


Today's maths/bitcoin class. Teacher comes in and says "repeat after me: point double zero five, point triple zero five, point quadruple zero five - read the numbers backwards". ;D

Screw stupid 'muricans, make them learn the metric system.

Source: I am an engineer in america that understands both the metric system and the stupidity of everyone around me IRL.

EDIT: typo

Bullshit.

Every American learns about metric prefixes in school. We know the difference between a milliliter and a liter, and the difference between a millimeter (about 25 to an inch), a meter (about a yard) and a kilometer (about half a mile).

We use M and B and T when talking about large amounts of money (million and billion and trillions), while they are not the same as the metric abbreviations it still works the same. We also state memory amounts for computers using a sort of modified metric prefixing system.

Just use millibits, mB, and people will get used to it.

I will be defaulting to BTM (or mBTC) when I get my website up and running.

It will be easier to say a user has 100 BTM instead of .1 BTC.

Since a lot of people have their client set to show xxx.xx mBTC, I move to make 0.01 mBTC (aka, the millibitcent, 10^-5 BTC, 10 uBTC, etc) the Finney.

So at $100 per BTC, a Fin will be worth 0.1 pennies. At $1,000, a penny, at $10,000, a dime. The Finney (thus defined) has a reasonable token amount associated with it over a broad range of exchange rates.

I'm sure people will figure out their own names for these denominations.  I'm in favor of calling mBTC millies, and I'm certain anyone who hears me say "I'll take this for a hundred millies" will probably get my message :P  That is, if they're familiar with Bitcoin.  Otherwise I'm going to get some funny stares no matter what I call it.

And "millie" is certainly easier to say than "bee-tee-em", much as the latter's grown on me. :)

I don't get the logic for BTM.   mBTC sounds way simpeler to me.

Bitmill sounds easier to say IMO.

Did you consider what was laid out on the wiki?  https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#What_do_I_call_the_various_denominations_of_bitcoin.3F

BTM is 3 letters mBTC is 4.  Bitmill is easy to say, and many sites already incorporate it - it also is precisely the same thing but less scary for non-metric familiar users.   IMHO the bitmill/BTM is here to stay

I've never heard of using BTM, but i like it. So it's BTC, BTM and BTU(?)

We don't say Litermill or metermill, it is milliliter and millimeter. The best way to do it is say millibit, or officially, the millibitcoin. The abreviation could be changed to mB if you think mBTC is too long.

It could go in the other direction as well.

10,000 BTC =  Pizza

"Bitcents" is easiest.

100 bitcents = 1 bitcoin.

100 BCT = 1 BTC

Are you trying to have all the dyslexic people loose all their money? I never liked BTC (we should be using the abbreviation XBC) but BCT is just plain horrible.

I just never liked the name Bitcoin. Its one of those words that gets old fast and ever more irritating, like moist. Adding geeky metric prefixes doesn't help. Can't we tap into scifi literature for better names for these denominations? Even Quatloos has a better ring to it! Maybe it's just me.

Yep, it's just you  :P

I never liked the name either. It feels cheap. We could just rename it.

In fact, I usually just call them coins nowadays, in casual conversation.

Exactly, this is why US is going downhill (if it is) and they do use metric in some examples.

mBTC
uBTC
nBTC

is the way this is going.

but I think by then, we may be using LTC/TRC for daily transaction BTC for the big stuff/golde 2.0 reserve of BTC

or BTC client/BC will have forked to allow much faster transaction

"Millicoin"

I still like milliBits, I am going to abreviate them mB from now on. Who is with me?

The USD currently sells for about 10.5 mB.

Yeah, I like mB a lot better than mBTC too. Putting a prefix in front of the currency code always looked awkward to me, I've never seen that for other currencies.