We will have dollar parity all over again

[Le Happy Merchant]

When one Bitcoin hit parity with the dollar it was a big deal. I wasn't here to see it, but I have been looking through articles from back then, and old posts.

I just want to point out that we are once again approaching a dollar parity benchmark. One centibitcoin will (possibly) be worth $1.00 on open exchange.

I would like to suggest a gradual shift in the mentality of Bitcoin pricing. I feel that it is less daunting in the long run to denominate $1000/BTC as $10/cBTC.

While I have no proof to back this claim up, I believe this will ultimately lead to stickier prices. While this may not please speculators, it would lead to a healthier Bitcoin economy, and a better public image.

Thoughts, rebuttals?

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[Dansker]

Well I agree.

I would be better if we called 0.0001 bitcoins "1 bitcoin".

Then we'd leave space for future price-hikes too.

[Rothgar]

I think it should just skip right to milliBTC (mBTC).  Now, one mBTC is trading around 9.2 US cents.  I think this is a fine trading unit.

[ehoffman]

Of course, it would be easier to use Bit-cents, but there already mechanism in place for milli-Bitcoins, in Bitcoin-qt at least.  I think we'll get there eventually.

With ordinary stocks, usually, when the issue occur, there is a "split", where each share is split in 10 shares each weighting 10 times less (for example... the number is arbitrary).  So, one day, you have 10 shares at 150$, the next you have 100 shares at 15$.  You have the same amount, but fur us, puny weekly minded humans, it's easier to "deal" with less-than-100$ shares.  So, I guess the same limit does apply for Bitcoins in our minds.  We think that >100$ is too high, not worth buying, etc.  But let's say tomorrow we have 0.1$/mBTC, then one could easily see the potential of mBTC raising to .15$, .2$, etc.

[ryepdx]

True facts. Plus denominating the price in mBTC helps make the price swings seem less wild. Moving a couple cents up or down in a day seems a lot less unnerving than moving ten or twenty dollars in a day.

Personally, I'm looking forward to dollar parity with uBTC.

[mumung]

Last week I stumbled over one question that I didn't have an answer for, maybe uou guys can help.
Let's assume one Satoshi at some point reaches dollar parity, let's assume further that
I want to purchase a cd worth $10 but with ten Satoshis.
Here is the question: What will be the transaction fee, if the Satoshis
aren't further divisible? If I had to pay one Satoshi for the transaction, that would equal
10% and would probably have me buying it somewhere else. So would the network only charge fees
over a certain transaction value to keep the percentage of the transaction low, or would it simply result in buying or transacting only larger sums in order to keep the transaction fee low.

thx.

[chriswilmer]

Last week I stumbled over one question that I didn't have an answer for, maybe uou guys can help.
Let's assume one Satoshi at some point reaches dollar parity, let's assume further that
I want to purchase a cd worth $10 but with ten Satoshis.
Here is the question: What will be the transaction fee, if the Satoshis
aren't further divisible? If I had to pay one Satoshi for the transaction, that would equal
10% and would probably have me buying it somewhere else. So would the network only charge fees
over a certain transaction value to keep the percentage of the transaction low, or would it simply result in buying or transacting only larger sums in order to keep the transaction fee low.

thx.

My assumption is that if we reached that point (a very good problem to have!) we would all suffer through another hard-fork to add extra decimal places to the protocol. If we failed to do that, it would mean very good things for alt-currencies like litecoin.

[Littleshop]

I think it should just skip right to milliBTC (mBTC).  Now, one mBTC is trading around 9.2 US cents.  I think this is a fine trading unit.

I also like mBTC.  It will be good for a while and many smaller things are price-able in it.  Larger price, then BTC.

[Amitabh S]

don't you mean dollar parity with the Satoshi. I'm sure you did. Just clarifying it for others

[Elwar]

Last week I stumbled over one question that I didn't have an answer for, maybe uou guys can help.
Let's assume one Satoshi at some point reaches dollar parity, let's assume further that
I want to purchase a cd worth $10 but with ten Satoshis.
Here is the question: What will be the transaction fee, if the Satoshis
aren't further divisible? If I had to pay one Satoshi for the transaction, that would equal
10% and would probably have me buying it somewhere else. So would the network only charge fees
over a certain transaction value to keep the percentage of the transaction low, or would it simply result in buying or transacting only larger sums in order to keep the transaction fee low.

thx.

My assumption is that if we reached that point (a very good problem to have!) we would all suffer through another hard-fork to add extra decimal places to the protocol. If we failed to do that, it would mean very good things for alt-currencies like litecoin.

This...a Satoshi would be like our current Bitcoin. We would just have Satoshicents, mSTS, etc.

[Melbustus]

I like thinking in mBTC. SealsWithClubs already does that.

So we can start using mBTC s the default when we refer to a quantity of "bitcoin", and then just use something like "kilo coin" to refer to the 100,000,000 satoshis quantity (1 full/current btc).

[sgbett]

Of course, it would be easier to use Bit-cents, but there already mechanism in place for milli-Bitcoins, in Bitcoin-qt at least.  I think we'll get there eventually.

Why so it does. I switched to mBTC and now instead of lamenting how few coins I have left, I am now overjoyed that I have thousands!

I know for a fact nothing has changed, but the chimp brain is strong in this one!

[notme]

I like thinking in mBTC. SealsWithClubs already does that.

So we can start using mBTC s the default when we refer to a quantity of "bitcoin", and then just use something like "kilo coin" to refer to the 100,000,000 satoshis quantity (1 full/current btc).

There are SI standard prefixes for a reason.  Arbitrarily changing kilo to mean a multiplier of 1/100000000 instead of a multiplier of 1000 would not be productive.

[jzcjca00]

I recently did some research on Bitcoin units, and it seems that many Bitcoin users don't like naming every factor of 10.  The BitDime and BitCent are not popular names, perhaps partly because they are just USD units with "Bit" added as a prefix.  This is a global currency, so we need to listen to the opinions of those whose first language is not English.

The most popular subdivisions seem to be:

.001 BTC = 1 mBTC = 1 millibitcoin, a few have suggested nick naming it "BitMil".

.000001 BTC = 1 uBTC = 1 microbitcoin, a few have suggested nick naming it "BitMicro".

.00000001 BTC = 1 Satoshi.

I personally wish the original protocol had used 9 decimal places, because I like the name "nano" for the smallest unit.  It just sounds cool to me.  Maybe someday it will.

I recently started tracking my holdings in Quicken using their multi-currency feature.  They allow you to add currencies not in their list.  I set it up using BTC, but that didn't work when I needed to enter a transaction fee of BTC 0.0005.  Quicken only uses two digits past the decimal.

So now I'm tracking things in mBTC.  They required a 3-character code, so I used MBC.  It's working great so far, as the typical transaction fee is 0.5 MBC.  I'm looking forward to the day when I have to switch to UBC, not because some jerk sent me 1 Satoshi, but because ill be very rich when we get to that point!

[myrkul]

I personally wish the original protocol had used 9 decimal places, because I like the name "nano" for the smallest unit.  It just sounds cool to me.  Maybe someday it will.

Sorry. Computers think in groups of 8. Just the way life is.

[Aozora21]

I recently did some research on Bitcoin units, and it seems that many Bitcoin users don't like naming every factor of 10.  The BitDime and BitCent are not popular names, perhaps partly because they are just USD units with "Bit" added as a prefix.  This is a global currency, so we need to listen to the opinions of those whose first language is not English.

The most popular subdivisions seem to be:

.001 BTC = 1 mBTC = 1 millibitcoin, a few have suggested nick naming it "BitMil".

.000001 BTC = 1 uBTC = 1 microbitcoin, a few have suggested nick naming it "BitMicro".

.00000001 BTC = 1 Satoshi.

I personally wish the original protocol had used 9 decimal places, because I like the name "nano" for the smallest unit.  It just sounds cool to me.  Maybe someday it will.

I recently started tracking my holdings in Quicken using their multi-currency feature.  They allow you to add currencies not in their list.  I set it up using BTC, but that didn't work when I needed to enter a transaction fee of BTC 0.0005.  Quicken only uses two digits past the decimal.

So now I'm tracking things in mBTC.  They required a 3-character code, so I used MBC.  It's working great so far, as the typical transaction fee is 0.5 MBC.  I'm looking forward to the day when I have to switch to UBC, not because some jerk sent me 1 Satoshi, but because ill be very rich when we get to that point!

i wonder how long it would be before we get there

[jzcjca00]

i wonder how long it would be before we get there

Hard to make an accurate prediction, as it basically depends on crowd think, and too many events we have no control over.

In one scenario I've imagined, the citizens of some country with a long history of unstable currency, like Argentina for example, decide to ignore the official currency and use Bitcoin.  Then maybe people from some other countries join in when their currency experiences hyperinflation.  Maybe we get some positive press about a thriving economy in various places where people are refusing to use the official national currency.

Maybe people everywhere start thinking of Bitcoin as a backup currency for when their national currency fails.

Then maybe the Eurozone collapses, and one or two countries just decide to do away with central banks and their old currencies, and just make Bitcoin their official currency.

As with the adoption of the metric system, the U.S. may be the last country stupidly clinging to their dollar when everyone else has already switched over.

That's just one possible scenario.

[Anon136]

I think it should just skip right to milliBTC (mBTC).  Now, one mBTC is trading around 9.2 US cents.  I think this is a fine trading unit.

+1, get ahead of the curve dont follow behind it.

[herzmeister]

microbits sounds nifty.

also used in some scifi/cyber-/cypherpunk novels afai remember. Quite prophetic.

[Transisto]

I think you're thinking too much, one thing at a time...

The renaming is already planned for when 1 satoshi = 1$