[[base unit] = 1 BTC 0.001 BTC = 1 mBTC 0.001 mBTC = 1 µBTC 0.01 µBTC = 1 sat]

Previously I criticised other proposals for improving bitcoin denominations, so fairness requires that I also lay out my opinion to be criticised by others.



First of all, here's the current bitcoin unit system as used in most wallets, etc.:

[base unit] = 1     BTC
              0.001 BTC = 1     mBTC
                          0.001 mBTC = 1    µBTC
                                       0.01 µBTC = 1 sat

This system has some flaws:

• It is a top-down system, i.e. we start with a large unit and subdivide it further and further. The subunits are thus designated as fractions of the base unit; but the human brain prefers to deal with multiples, not fractions.
• It involves the greek letter "µ" which can sometimes be difficult to type, necessitating ugly workarounds. It is also tempting to abbreviate "micro" as "m", causing confusion with "mBTC".
• The definition of one bitcoin being hundred million satoshis is completely arbitrary and not encoded anywhere in the protocol or blockchain. Internally, all transactions are in satoshis anyway, so it just doesn't seem right to base the system on this purely arbitrary unit.

The first point is actually the most important one: Remember when you learned about integers (1, 2, 3, ...) in school? Remember when you learned about fractions (½, ⅓, ¼, ...)?
Fractions are tought later as it's the more difficult subject. Multiples, on the other hand, are easier and more intuitive, which is an important property to make bitcoin viable for the masses.

The weakness of the current bitcoin unit system is that new units are created through division by 1000, e.g. ¹/₁₀₀₀ BTC = 1 mBTC, which involves fractions.
So, to get this straight we have to create new units through multiplication with 1000, e.g. 1000 sat = 1 ksat, thereby removing any fractions from the system.

Strictly speaking, the resulting system would look like this:

[base unit] =    1 sat
              1000 sat =    1 ksat
                         1000 ksat =   1 Msat
                                     100 Msat = 1 BTC

But in practice, there won't be a difference between "1k sat" and "1 ksat", nor between "1M sat" and "1 Msat", i.e. the spacing is insignificant.
It doesn't require learning any greek prefixes either: Everyone already knows that "k" means thousand and "M" means million, which makes the meaning of "ksat" and "Msat" self-explanatory.

[base unit] =    1 sat
              1000 sat =    1k sat
                         1000k sat =   1M sat
                                     100M sat = 1 BTC

It is very important to stress that the intermediate units (ksat/Msat) don't need to be explained because they are so intuitive that many people use them without noticing.
So the only thing that this system requires to learn is that 100M satoshis = 1 BTC, and this learning exercise is unavoidable anyway.



This proposal is definitely not new, but it strikes me through its simplicity, so I wonder why it isn't widely employed already. Thus, my question to you is: What are the objections against this kind of unit system?

I'm trying to assess the current state of bitcoin units, the other way around.

It's a honest question: I plan to add a bitcoin faucet to my website to attract more traffic.

I'm brainstorming about it right now and I wonder how to display to the users what amount of bitcoin they'll receive.
The average payout will be smaller than 0.01$ in bitcoins.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts!