Noob question: Bitcoin denominations

[TheAndy500]

0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?

[sticklee]

Its never a contant value. As the market fluctuates, so does the price of each coin. Right now bitcoin is hovering around $100 a coin, so .25btc is about $25usd.

[TheAndy500]

I mean the terminology.  Like 1/100th of a dollar is a penny. 

[themagicdrake]

I'm thinking metric units are the current preferred nomenclature. I've seen those used before.
The smallest unit of the Bitcoin currency (1/100,000,000) has been named "satoshi".

[Steve132]

> 0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?

Basically, metric prefixes are used. (mega = 1000000,kilo=1000,centi=1/100,milli=1/1000, micro=1/1000000),

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#What_do_I_call_the_various_denominations_of_bitcoin.3F

From that page:

1 BTC = 1 bitcoin
0.01 BTC = 1 cBTC = 1 centibitcoin (also referred to as bitcent)
0.001 BTC = 1 mBTC = 1 millibitcoin (also referred to as mbit (pronounced em-bit) or millibit or even bitmill)
0.000 001 BTC = 1 μBTC = 1 microbitcoin (also referred to as ubit (pronounced yu-bit) or microbit)
One exception is the "satoshi" which is smallest denomination currently possible
0.000 000 01 BTC = 1 satoshi (pronounced sa-toh-shee)

[DeathAndTaxes]

Steve132 got it but I would point out nobody really uses 1/100th as a terminology.

As a practical example 0.25 BTC is 0.25 BTC or 250 mBTC.

[fishy]

Steve132 got it but I would point out nobody really uses 1/100th as a terminology.

As a practical example 0.25 BTC is 0.25 BTC or 250 mBTC.

0.25 BTC is what most people use.

[DannyHamilton]

Steve132 got it but I would point out nobody really uses 1/100th as a terminology.

As a practical example 0.25 BTC is 0.25 BTC or 250 mBTC.

0.25 BTC is what most people use.

I sort of doubt that millibitcoins will ever catch on.  For most people it's just as easy to write and understand 0.01 BTC as 10 mBTC.  I suspect that the leading zeros will get messy enough though when we approach the tens or hundreds of microbitcoin in everyday purchases to drive the adoption of the µBTC.  It just seems easier to deal with 12 µBTC than 0.000012 BTC

[Killiz]

0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?

roughly 25 items from here

[naphto]

mBTC will be used if the price of btc increase a little bit

[stas]

the sooner the better

[legitnick]

0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?

Go to Preev.com , its a great bitcoin converter.

[DannyHamilton]

0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?

Go to Preev.com , its a great bitcoin converter.

But useless to this conversation.

I mean the terminology.  Like 1/100th of a dollar is a penny. 

The OP is looking for a "name" for 0.25 bitcoin.

In the same way that 0.25 dollars is called a "quarter", 0.10 dollars is called a "dime", 0.05 dollars is called a "nickle", and 0.01 dollars is called a "penny", and any increment of pennies are called "cents".

I suppose you could call 0.50 BTC a "half-bitcoin", 0.25 BTC a "quarter-bitcoin" or a "fourth-of-a-bitcoin", 0.10 BTC a "tenth-of-a-bitcoin", 0.05 BTC a "twentieth-of-a-bitcoin", and 0.01 BTC a "hundredth-of-a-bitcoin".  But other than the half-bitcoin that all feels a bit silly.

I suspect people will stick with referring to 0.25 BTC as "point twenty-five bitcoin" for quite a while.  When average prices of everyday things begin all having two or more leading zeros, you *might* see people referring to values like 0.00125 BTC as "one point two five (or one and a quarter) millibitcoin" (or millibits, or millies, or millys or millis, or mils, or whatever slang develops organically), but it's quite likely that people will simply skip the millibitcoin designation and go straight to referring to the value as "twelve hundred fifty microbitcoin" (or microbits, or micros, or mikes, or mikeys, or micks, or whatever slang develops organically).