Bitcoin Units Proposal

[ZephramC]

People who don't understand this simple concept shouldn't be speculating on Bitcoin anyway.

Their ignorance acts as a great natural barrier in this case.

Don't lure the gullible. It's immoral and counterproductive in the long-term.

This. People should do the math or at least know that bitcoins are very well divisible.

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[Ibian]

I will never buy gold because I can not afford a full bar.

[DeathAndTaxes]

I will never buy gold because I can not afford a full bar.

Forget a full bar, I will never buy because I can't afford a full ton.  Everyone knows a full bar is just a fractional ton and who buys a fraction of anything.

[the_poet]

When we speak about 1 bitcoin costing $560 dollars many people are immediately turned away from the idea of investing in it simply due to "I have to pay 560 bucks just to own 1!!! wow I can't afford that" type of scenario. To attract more investors I propose that when we speak about bitcoins or when we put a price tag on goods/services that we talk about milibits (0.001 bitcoins). Each milibit right now would currently be worth $0.56 (56 cents) and thus people could buy into bitcoin and own 170+ milibits for $100. On the flip side people don't want to spend $100 on 0.17 bitcoins (talking to the general population I've even come to find that people didn't even know that a person could own fractions of a bitcoin).

I know it's just a psychological game, but I think it has some merit when it comes to the general public.

I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about the topic. Feel free to leave comments/suggestions below

I have been saying it forever: it's psychology 101. People will buy much more happily whole things rather than small fractions.

[cbeast]

Bitcoin is a liquid commodity like water. America still uses gallons, quarts, cups, ounces, etc. for a reason. We don't like your easily divisible units of liters. We need arbitrary amounts that make no sense.

[ning]

I think people who seriously want to get involved would inevitably try to grasp the idea of the value of a full coin. So it might take sometime for people to make the mental shift from using large integers to decimal digits. Our brains are so flexible, and we don't necessarily have to push things too hard.

[the_poet]

When we speak about 1 bitcoin costing $560 dollars many people are immediately turned away from the idea of investing in it simply due to "I have to pay 560 bucks just to own 1!!! wow I can't afford that" type of scenario. To attract more investors I propose that when we speak about bitcoins or when we put a price tag on goods/services that we talk about milibits (0.001 bitcoins). Each milibit right now would currently be worth $0.56 (56 cents) and thus people could buy into bitcoin and own 170+ milibits for $100. On the flip side people don't want to spend $100 on 0.17 bitcoins (talking to the general population I've even come to find that people didn't even know that a person could own fractions of a bitcoin).

I know it's just a psychological game, but I think it has some merit when it comes to the general public.

I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about the topic. Feel free to leave comments/suggestions below

I have been saying it forever: it's psychology 101. People will buy much more happily whole things rather than small fractions.

Not to mention it's difficult for many people to deal with decimals. It would be like a balance displaying people's weight in tonnes or if your height was measured in miles: they're both too big for most uses. The same goes for Bitcoin.

How is this difficult to understand?

[Valerian77]

It would be good to measure Btcoin finally in Satoshi. It seems that it will take some time until 100 Satoshi equal 1 USD.

But frankly said the real Bitcoin unit is Satoshi. Even now 1 USD is above 200,000 Satoshi it may not be far that 1 USD = 100,000 Satoshi. And for any investor who thinks about Bitcoin the imagination of buying lots of Satoshis may be much more attractive than buying a small part of a Bitcoin.

Secondly the everlasting discussion about the final unit may have a temporary end. And everybody gets a real picture on what he has instead of thinking in fractions of Bitcoin units all the time.

[cbeast]

When we speak about 1 bitcoin costing $560 dollars many people are immediately turned away from the idea of investing in it simply due to "I have to pay 560 bucks just to own 1!!! wow I can't afford that" type of scenario. To attract more investors I propose that when we speak about bitcoins or when we put a price tag on goods/services that we talk about milibits (0.001 bitcoins). Each milibit right now would currently be worth $0.56 (56 cents) and thus people could buy into bitcoin and own 170+ milibits for $100. On the flip side people don't want to spend $100 on 0.17 bitcoins (talking to the general population I've even come to find that people didn't even know that a person could own fractions of a bitcoin).

I know it's just a psychological game, but I think it has some merit when it comes to the general public.

I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about the topic. Feel free to leave comments/suggestions below

I have been saying it forever: it's psychology 101. People will buy much more happily whole things rather than small fractions.

If you've ever raised children you know you can get them to eat or drink several small portions rather than one large. Simple folks may more easily buy nice round numbers of small units.

[the_poet]

When we speak about 1 bitcoin costing $560 dollars many people are immediately turned away from the idea of investing in it simply due to "I have to pay 560 bucks just to own 1!!! wow I can't afford that" type of scenario. To attract more investors I propose that when we speak about bitcoins or when we put a price tag on goods/services that we talk about milibits (0.001 bitcoins). Each milibit right now would currently be worth $0.56 (56 cents) and thus people could buy into bitcoin and own 170+ milibits for $100. On the flip side people don't want to spend $100 on 0.17 bitcoins (talking to the general population I've even come to find that people didn't even know that a person could own fractions of a bitcoin).

I know it's just a psychological game, but I think it has some merit when it comes to the general public.

I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about the topic. Feel free to leave comments/suggestions below

I have been saying it forever: it's psychology 101. People will buy much more happily whole things rather than small fractions.

If you've ever raised children you know you can get them to eat or drink several small portions rather than one large. Simple folks may more easily buy nice round numbers of small units.

The same applies to money: you have a $10 bill, then you spend $1 and receive $9 in coins = you feel like your original $10 is gone.

The community is still treating Bitcoin like it's worth less than a penny. It's $640, hardly a handy money unit in everyday life.

[RUEHL]

True, the price is a physiological barrier to entry.  I've also wondered about this being problematic, and it also encourages hoarding. 

However, with the fractional reserve the Fed will keep printing money in the future the price will again see a divergence.

Tuff question...

[ZephramC]

Watch Dogecoin and watch 42 Coin. Are their exterme (un)divisibily relevant for adoption (among thinking and calculating people above basic school)? I think not.

[leopard2]

mainstream = lots of idiots

idiots can't cope with lots of zeros after the decimal mark

so yes I do think a split would definitely help Bitcoin; 1:10 or 1:100 would make sense.

is that possible at all?

[DeathAndTaxes]

is that possible at all?

Nope.  You can price things in mBTC (mbits, millies, milliebits, etc) or satoshis if you like.

[lyth0s]

mainstream = lots of idiots

<b>idiots can't cope with lots of zeros after the decimal mark</b>

so yes I do think a split would definitely help Bitcoin; 1:10 or 1:100 would make sense.

is that possible at all?

I agree, the general population can not deal with too many zeros after the decimal point, however they can deal with 1,000,000. I'd like to also re-emphasize my original point that the general population are not "proud" owners of 0.05 bitcoins....but 50 milibits/millies etc is a different story...

I give bitcoinity.com credit for starting the change that I know we need... http://bitcoinity.org/markets 

0.62USD/mBTC