Bitcoin Forum

Some people use bit as synonym for bitcoin. Others use it as synonym for microbitcoin. Still others are against either usage. Let's decide!

Calling 1 Bitcoin 1 bit is pretty confusing to me. It's not that difficult to just say 1 Bitcoin or coin or BTC etc. A bit to me implies a smaller denomination.

It's already pretty much a standard:

http://blog.bitpay.com/2014/05/02/bitpay-bitcoin-and-where-to-put-that-decimal-point.html

DannyHamilton at this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=617549.0  says that everybody he knows use bit for bitcoin. Others disagree with him. That's why I set this poll.

I'd hardly say standard, but all these different units are likely to become very confusing for people in the future. I prefer referring to things in Satoshis. I hope it doesn't hinder adoption.

Who are these people?

Never heard of it...why bit?

1 bit is 1 if setted to high, and 0 if setted to low.

dont make things confuse, bits can be all sort of things and will cause confusion if widespread

1 bit is either 0 or 1. so it should be the smallest digit.

This. A bitcoin is commonly referred to as a "coin" where I live and a microbitcoin is commonly referred to as 100 satoshi.
Theres no other name for 100 dollars either. If at all, then there should be a name for 1000 satoshi. Lots of people say "1 grand" or something to 1000 USD while 100 USD are just... 100 USD, same for Satoshi.

Is doesn't even matter for financial software, bookkeeping or anything either, just use satoshis, neither of those things need a decimal.

How some of you might say "there is 1 cent at well, not only 1 dollar". Yes, but what if we one day need to increase decimals due to widespread adoption? Woudn't if be more useful to then be able to use the decimal point after the 8th decimal place (the satoshi?). If sure would, and since bitcoin will become deflationary eventually, why not think about the future.

DannyHamilton at this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=617549.0

Yes, but the most common use of bit is in the binary number system - so it seems awkward to me applying it to a currency that is expressed in decimal.

We already have Satoshi as the smallest denomination. Why not just keep that? Bitcoin and Satoshi are enough.

ya.ya.yo!

Where I live, people can be heard referring to 100 USD as any of the following:

• C note
• C's
• Benjamin
• Benny
• Black
• hundred
• hundo
• hunnerd

Also, the word hundred is frequently just dropped entirely.  As an example, $453 might be pronounced:
"Four fifty-three".

Note, this poll won't accomplish anything.  It is flawed in design, since it has a significant selection bias towards people who read forums and participate in discussions in places such as reddit.

The number of people who will see this poll at all is very small compared to the number of people using the word "bits" in conversations.  The number of people who will respond to this poll is very small compared to the number of people actually responding to this poll.

1 bit is a unit in computer science that has nothing to do with Bitcoin (as a unit of measure). Because we use mB (millibitcoins or "em-bits" for short) the best thing to call a bit would be one Bitcoin, which I think we should just call one Bitcoin. Using bit for anything else could be confusing and messy.

                    1
1 bit   =  ----------- X 1 BTC
             1,000,000   
       

You are saying this because you are outvoted  ;D (Just joking).

Definitly not 1 whole bitcoin. It needs to be for a smaller denomination.

Of course.  ;)

yet another thread..

1bit=100 satoshi

all those arguing that bit is either binary digit etc.

1 pound of beef is not a measurement of UK currency. yet they share the name.. so get over it
Apple is not only a fruit, but a technology company.. so get over it
AA is not only a known gold-fiat ranking standard, but also a place alcoholics go.. so get over it
hives is not only a skin condition, but also a home for honeybee's.. so get over it

we have already moved passed the arguments of what is a bit. the consensus is that it is 100satoshi's and people and businesses are already using it..

so get over it.

and have a nice day

Creating a new definition for a word with several definitions already isn't a problem for English. English handles overloading words elegantly via contextual disambiguation.  Do other languages do this? 

Example: "If I bit my drill bit and broke off a bit of my tooth, I might have to pay the dentist 100,000 bits to get it fixed."

This makes sense to native English speakers, but, do other languages permit such a sentence? I think we need to think about that...if, say, 1/2 the world's population speaks a language that doesn't have identical words with many different meanings, we might be putting up a barrier we don't realize. 

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

no we are not.
bit is the english word for 100sat, other languages will choose their own

EG
dollar. in every other langage the dollar is a different word.
spanish=dólar (not spelled dollar)
russian=дoллap
greek=δoλάριo
korean=달러

so where in english basd countries its called the dollar and when hearing someone vocal cords vibrate to make the sound, it sounds like dollar. but in every other country the word for dollar does not look or sound the same.

so again other countries WILL make their own word that references 100sat

for instance you will not see a korean write the word bit, using the english alphabet. they would use 잔돈 meaning 'small change' or something else that uses the korean alphabet to describe 100 satoshi's

A bit is a 0 or a 1, nothing else. I see no need to use this confusing terminology when a perfectly good one exists.

sounds like programming paradigms  ::)

Lecture 2 | Programming Paradigms (Stanford University)
@@ exactly that point of the video ...  4 minutes and 44 seconds

http://youtu.be/jTSvthW34GU?t=4m44s

This thread itself is ample evidence that we have not 'moved past the arguments'.


...still to come at some date in the future, as there is obviously no consensus upon 'bit'.

Consensus?  LOL.

At this time the poll doesn't even indicate a majority yet.

https://i.imgur.com/Z2WGVnGl.png

We aren't anywhere near a consensus.

I think 1bit==1 Satoshi.

That is how the computer actually represents the value of coins.

I happen to like:

1 bitcoin|BTC = 1000 millibitcoins|mBTC = 1000000 microbitcoins|uBTC = 100000000 satoshis = 1000000 bits|XBT

1 bit|XBT = 100 satoshis = 0.000001 bitcoin|BTC

A very small part of a bitcoin is a bit.

Bit has already been used in the past as a measurement of money (1/8 of a dollar) so there is that.

Let's start selling bits to noobs.  They can get a lot of bits for a dollar(!) and when denominated in bits they get the familiar XXXX.XX form they are used to so they feel all warm and fuzzy.

I have a consensus of one!

the consensus has made apparent already
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=592691.0
read it

bit=100 satoshi (millionth of a bitcoin)
452 people out of 581 voted on it (77.8%)

so will people stop making new polls with the same arguments over and over and over again..

the first sign of insanity is people re doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result.

if the OP was at all smart he would come up with new names or new suggestions. not the same thing that has already be polled before

That poll is on what order of magnitude should be used for common pricing. The term "bits" to represent 1µBTC does not appear to exist before May 2nd of this year (2014).

How did you manage to vote 5 times?  ;D

Probably "bit" is short enough for some guys with limited "storage capacity". They can store this world more easily than the much longer "bitcoin" without overloading something :).

indeed that poll is very misleading, it looks like there is consensus on the name bit, but what the poll really is about is whether or not we should use bitcoin, millibitcoin or microbitcoin in everyday use.