Bitcoin Forum

1.00000000 = 1 BTC = 1 Bitcoin
0.10000000 = .1 BTC = simply .1 Bitcoins, or 1/10th of a Bitcoin
0.01000000 = .01 BTC = 1 Bitcent
0.00100000 = 1 mBTC = 1 milliBit, or whatever the result of this thread (http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=8282.0) is
0.00010000 = 1 nBTC = 1 nanoBit
0.00001000 = 1 pBTC = 1 planckBit, or 1 pBit
0.00000100 = 1 hBTC = 1 hadronBit, or hadroBit, or 1 hBit
0.00000010 = 1 qBTC = 1 quarkBit, or 1 qBit
0.00000001 = 1 sBTC = 1 Satoshi

Here's my proposed breakdown of Bitcoin currency. I've been giving this some thought ever since I came across Bitcoins and figured now was a good time to get some feedback and see if my arbitrary names will catch on.

Why a new name for every decimal point? That seems very troublesome. I’d even find Centibitcoins annoying. This is much simpler:

1.00000000 = 1 BTC = 1 (Bit)coin
0.00100000 = 1 mBTC = 1 Mill(ibitcoin)
0.00000100 = 1 uBTC = 1 Mic(robitcoin)
0.00000001 = 1 sBTC = 1 Sat(oshi)

Indeed, why not use normal SI prefixes? Saves a lot of confusions.

+1

I find OP's mixture of SI and non-SI prefixes disturbing and confusing (e.g. using prefix nano in another meaning than 1E-9).

Cheers,

SI units make the most sense to me. However...

This is a perennial topic (there's an open thread on this very issue right now, and it certainly isn't the first time it's been discussed). I draw two conclusions from this...

Firstly, people are - naturally - going to come up with their own systems. I've said before that there's a world of difference between someone buying an online postage stamp in Germany (micro-transaction) and a group in Somalia buying a boat from another group. Leaving aside the guns the Somalian pirates have to enforce the transaction (I have a vivid imagination!), there will be differences due to both culture and the size of the transactions (and possibly more that I've not even considered).

Secondly, and leading on from the first, I'm very wary of coming up with some "official" or semi-official system. I'd be hesitant, for example, to update the wiki to include any system developed on this forum. People are going to develop their own systems, and we shouldn't get in the way of that, or create any barriers to their understanding of bitcoin.

It would be best to reinfoce these units as a lot of people already use them.

But is it 100 millies or 10 bitcents?  :P