Who decides to break up BTC into smaller pieces?

[beetcoin]

since there is no central authority, who would it be that decides when all of the exchanges should use mBTC/satoshis as opposed to BTC?

is it the bitcoin-qt developers? and at what level will this likely occur?

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[DeathAndTaxes]

Nobody.  Everybody.

For your own wallet you probably can right now if you want to you can right now.  The QT client can show your balance in mBTC, uBTC, satoshis, etc.  Switch it to mBTC, tell your friends the Bitcoin price in mBTC (still under a dollar).  If tomorrow MtGox wanted to change their quotes to show prices in mBTC they could and nobody could stop them or maybe they won't for 15 years.   I have seen a few stores which price in mBTC, some can switch, some are only BTC.

[beetcoin]

since there is no central authority, who would it be that decides when all of the exchanges should use mBTC/satoshis as opposed to BTC?

is it the bitcoin-qt developers? and at what level will this likely occur?

The exchanges based on market demand.

i assume this is like splitting a stock.. i don't know how it all works, but it'd be for psychological reasons mainly (and plus computation)... so how do they decide when it is a feasible option?

[DeathAndTaxes]

since there is no central authority, who would it be that decides when all of the exchanges should use mBTC/satoshis as opposed to BTC?

is it the bitcoin-qt developers? and at what level will this likely occur?

The exchanges based on market demand.

i assume this is like splitting a stock.. i don't know how it all works, but it'd be for psychological reasons mainly (and plus computation)... so how do they decide when it is a feasible option?

It isn't like a stock split.  It is more like deciding to show dimensions in meters, centimeters, or millimeters.  They are equivalent.    Nobody needs to tell you when to use 6 mm instead of 0.006 m, nobody could stop you if they wanted to.

[keatonatron]

since there is no central authority, who would it be that decides when all of the exchanges should use mBTC/satoshis as opposed to BTC?

is it the bitcoin-qt developers? and at what level will this likely occur?

The exchanges based on market demand.

i assume this is like splitting a stock.. i don't know how it all works, but it'd be for psychological reasons mainly (and plus computation)... so how do they decide when it is a feasible option?

It isn't like a stock split.  It is more like deciding to show dimensions in meters, centimeters, or millimeters.  They are equivalent. 

This. Underneath it all, the bitcoin network deals in Satoshis. On the surface, we set our software to display 100000000 Satoshis as 1 Bitcoin just to make the large numbers easier to manage. It's completely relative, like saying $600,000 vs $0.6 Million.

[Rupture]

No one is forced to use a certain unit

[Elwar]

Many gambling sites have already switched. My site will display everything in mBTC. You can choose to refer to it solely as mBTC from now on, that is your choice.

[justusranvier]

I'm starting to favor µBTC just because it sounds nicer to have millions of a something than thousands of a something.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I'm starting to favor µBTC just because it sounds nicer to have millions of a something than thousands of a something.

I saw a video of a bald-headed guy today declaring that there's a hundred thousand gazillion bitcoins, an infinite number. Maybe I should have paid attention that day in class when my teacher taught such a thing instead of working on my history homework, incorrectly assuming he was covering a chapter I read three months prior.

Quick aside, related to above. One night, at around 11PM, my mother asked why I was still doing my homework. I told her it wasn't homework and that I was several chapters ahead. She immediately sent me to bed, but unbeknown to her, I was still doing equations in my head up to falling asleep. Damn, I miss school!

Luckily, there weren't any classes on how to become TMIBTCITW, otherwise I would have had competition.