Bitcoin Currency Symbol ฿

[wareen]

There's no ambiguity between the use of ß as a currency symbol with numbers, and the use of it in written German, whether you are using prefix or postfix notation.

There $ure i$n't, but $eriou$ly, how doe$ thi$ $entence look in your eye$ - plea$e be hone$t?

There are good reasons to use an entirely new symbol:

It is from the de-facto standard Bitcoin-logo, has resemblance to other currency symbols but is easily distinguishable from the Thai Baht symbol.

We could submit a proposal to the Unicode Consortium and simply use BTC wherever necessary until there is an official character which is included in standard typesets. It was more or less the same with € and EUR in the beginning of its days.

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[joepie91]

Why can't we have a more imaginative symbol instead of B? And another color instead of gold/orange.

There are several colors that are automatically associated with certain characteristics. For example, gold/yellow and green are often associated with money, value, or worth, whereas blue is often associated with trust (ever wondered why so many banks use blue?). Things like that are actually rather important.

There's no ambiguity between the use of ß as a currency symbol with numbers, and the use of it in written German, whether you are using prefix or postfix notation.

There $ure i$n't, but $eriou$ly, how doe$ thi$ $entence look in your eye$ - plea$e be hone$t?

There are good reasons to use an entirely new symbol:

It is from the de-facto standard Bitcoin-logo, has resemblance to other currency symbols but is easily distinguishable from the Thai Baht symbol.

We could submit a proposal to the Unicode Consortium and simply use BTC wherever necessary until there is an official character which is included in standard typesets. It was more or less the same with € and EUR in the beginning of its days.

Now how would this sentence look in your eyes?
"I am going to buy a can of soda for B1,00 or something like that."

Doesn't look that hard to interpret, right?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Why can't we have a more imaginative symbol instead of B? And another color instead of gold/orange.

There are several colors that are automatically associated with certain characteristics. For example, gold/yellow and green are often associated with money, value, or worth, whereas blue is often associated with trust (ever wondered why so many banks use blue?). Things like that are actually rather important.

I went to bed last night with this darn tread on my mind. I think it was during the R.E.M. (no, M doesn't stand for...) state, I envisioned something like the image below. It does incorporate the letters BC but in their lower case form with a crescent moon shaped c superimposed over the common letter b. I would eliminate the two short stubs that extend to the left of the vertical staff that forms the letter b. I guess I could of rendered it better by going on the great font hunt for the perfect b, but I already did that with the letter c to find just the right curvature that would look good enough to share the image in my mind with this community.

One advantage is that it can be hand written with only two strokes of the pen (or #2 pencil) just like the dollar sign (3 strokes if done the old fashioned way). I created it on a blue background for no particular reason, but now glad I did so that I can attach this post to a quote by joepie91 who pointed out, above, that the color blue is often associated with trust.

Here's my rendition of the Bitcoin symbol, below. Let me know what you think.

[wareen]

Now how would this sentence look in your eyes?
"I am going to buy a can of soda for B1,00 or something like that."

Doesn't look that hard to interpret, right?

Not hard to interpret, no - but a little bit weird and rather unimaginative for a new currency symbol, yes. As I said: I'm not complaining about ambiguity.

I think we really can do better at choosing a currency symbol for something as new and innovative as Bitcoin than just recycling some other heavily used symbol.

[Eri]

There's no ambiguity between the use of ß as a currency symbol with numbers, and the use of it in written German, whether you are using prefix or postfix notation.

There $ure i$n't, but $eriou$ly, how doe$ thi$ $entence look in your eye$ - plea$e be hone$t?

There are good reasons to use an entirely new symbol:

It is from the de-facto standard Bitcoin-logo, has resemblance to other currency symbols but is easily distinguishable from the Thai Baht symbol.

We could submit a proposal to the Unicode Consortium and simply use BTC wherever necessary until there is an official character which is included in standard typesets. It was more or less the same with € and EUR in the beginning of its days.

wont happen because we want a symbol we can use now.

why don't you guys make a new thread for a "symbol to be used in the future" get a bunch of people to submit ideas then have a poll for the best ones, the images themselves /must/ scale to be Small so it can fit in text. none of those giant pictures that don't scale at all. this in a way Really is two separate issues.

[wareen]

wont happen because we want a symbol we can use now.

Again, just use BTC in the meantime - or use an image if you must. I mean, the European Union didn't just use some existing fancy E just because they wanted a symbol really fast. If BTC is going to become a respected currency I think we can afford the time to really think such decisions through.

the images themselves /must/ scale to be Small so it can fit in text. none of those giant pictures that don't scale at all. this in a way Really is two separate issues.

Valid point - designing font symbols is not an easy task and I'm surely not qualified to do this, but I've given it a shot anyway:



I think it works, but of course - an experienced artist will certainly be able to improve.

As for having a separate thread for future symbols - I really don't see the need. There are no separate issues - do you really want a separate currency symbol for every different stage of Bitcoin's development? Again, if you need a symbol now: use BTC, as this seems to be pretty much the consensus. For a single letter symbol we have not reached yet this level of agreement and I'm just trying to contribute my suggestions.

There was at least one other thread with a poll which showed a tendency towards the Baht symbol but it didn't include many seemingly obviously options.

[joepie91]

Now how would this sentence look in your eyes?
"I am going to buy a can of soda for B1,00 or something like that."

Doesn't look that hard to interpret, right?

Not hard to interpret, no - but a little bit weird and rather unimaginative for a new currency symbol, yes. As I said: I'm not complaining about ambiguity.

I think we really can do better at choosing a currency symbol for something as new and innovative as Bitcoin than just recycling some other heavily used symbol.

I think that in terms of people having to get used to aspects of Bitcoin, getting used to the currency symbol is the least of our worries.

[Eri]

@wareen: what i mean is 98% of people seem to want *a* symbol they can type or copy/paste regardless of what it is. i think nearly everyone uses the shorthand BTC, its easier to type. but having a symbol we can use right now kinda helps to make it feel official, at least that is what it kinda seems like to me. so convincing even 1 or 2% does not seem likely. if you make it a separate issue altogether your likely to get better responses and possibly even a consensus on one symbol since it removes the issue 'ease of typing it' and 'being the symbol of another currency'.

[kloinko1n]

[snip>
I agree. What sign to you suggest bitcoin should use?

Here are some suggestions:

ß,Ɓ,ƀ,Ƃ,Ƅ,ƅ,Ƀ,ɮ,β,Ѣ,ẞ


Or perhaps make an entirely new sign?

Great listing!
As the word 'bit' (as in 'bit-coin') is abbreviated into a small 'b' and byte into a capital 'B', it would be logical to use the ƀ, Ƃ or Ѣ, otherwise it could be confused with a 'bytecoin'.
No interference with existing currencies, and outstanding from most of the other currencies by not being a capital. And right so, for being a non-physical currency.

[Ryland R. Taylor-Almanza]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

[MaGNeT]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

I like it

[TiagoTiago]

That's an interesting one

[D.H.]

Let me know what you think.

Looks pretty.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Let me know what you think.

Looks pretty.

Thank you D.H. (but I trust you're just saying that 'cause it's blue)

[drawoc]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

What about something a little more stylized? Like this:

       

[imperi]

How about...

/b/


Just kidding.  

[hsf_context]

How about...

/b/


Just kidding.  

Oh god no! 

lol 

But I agree with RylandAlmanza's idea. But when I write it, it reminds me of a 3 instead of a B.

[indicasteve]

I'm going to go with BTC and ฿ for short on my site until something better in unicode comes along.  But, I might give the user the option to change the symbol in their account profile page....at least this thread provides a multitude of examples for the choices to provide.

[marcus_of_augustus]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

What about something a little more stylized? Like this:

       

yeah good ... more hieroglyphic, cyrillic or asian character feel would be an advantage, global currency and all.

[Anonymous]

How about...

/b/


Just kidding.  

Bitcoin is the final boss of ben bernanke