Switching to mBTC and its psychological impact

[sergiorus]

At which price do you think the world, and particularly exchange trading will switch to mBTC?

I think even now it would be psychologically easier for new people to get unboarded (especially the youth). BTC is way too inaffordable for many. Some student with $750 in BTC would have to use magnifying glass to count the zeroes in their BTC holding's number. With mBTC they would know that they hold roughly a dozen and the decimals aren't even that important.

I think no one would argue that in case of persistent repricing upside we *would have to* switch to mBTC eventually. So why wait? Why not initiate it slowly now?

[_act_]

On many noncustodial wallets, you can switch to mBTC. Just like on Electrum, you can choose BTC, mBTC, bits or sats.

I still prefer BTC among all of them.

No much zeros for anyone having $750 that you mentioned. It is 0.01 BTC if bitcoin is at $75000.

With $75, that is 0.001 BTC.

[Sticky Bomb]

I think no one would argue that in case of persistent repricing upside we *would have to* switch to mBTC eventually. So why wait? Why not initiate it slowly now?

If you want to switch to mBTC you can do it yourself without involving everybody, some non custodial wallets like Electrum have the features to display your bitcoin balance in mBTC. The standard is BTC and switching to mBTC doesn't make much difference and can even be confusing when we talk about the important features like total supply, we now go from 21 million BTC  to calling it 21 billion mBTC... Sounds absurd and confusing

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

At which price do you think the world, and particularly exchange trading will switch to mBTC?

I have to be honest that I have never known and used any exchanges with unit like mBTC.

I know about this unit.
[Did you know?] Bitcoin Table of Units
Bitcoin units.

I used to change the Bitcoin unit in my non custodial wallet to mBTC but I feel not familiar with it, and weeks later I changed it back to BTC unit.

I think no one would argue that in case of persistent repricing upside we *would have to* switch to mBTC eventually. So why wait? Why not initiate it slowly now?

I don't know why you feel like this practice can cause psychological impact?

This unit does not make people having more bitcoin or less, while there is only challenge like how they can get familiar with this unit rather than a default unit, BTC.

[Ruttoshi]

One makes it a whole and that's why there's no need to switch to mbtc because that's in fraction. Anyone that is confused about the number of zeros because he bought Sats should learn how to do the calculations. Moreover, if he's using a noncustodial wallet like Electrum, he can put the fiat to his USD or his local currency to know how much his bitcoin worth in fiat.

However, Electrum wallet by default is in mbtc, so these students or anyone that wants the value of his coins to show in mbtc should use Electrum wallet. I love changing mine from mbtc to BTC in order for me to see the real numbers of zeros after the decimal point.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

At which price do you think the world, and particularly exchange trading will switch to mBTC?

Do you think this will ever be possible to that extent as you thought? mBTC is just a smaller version of BTC; I don't think many people will leave the mainstream adoption of BTC itself for mBTC, just as you may think of the use of pounds and Penny, do you think there will be massive adoption use of penny when many are more in trick to using pounds for their transactions.

[sergiorus]

On many noncustodial wallets, you can switch to mBTC. Just like on Electrum, you can choose BTC, mBTC, bits or sats.

I still prefer BTC among all of them.

No much zeros for anyone having $750 that you mentioned. It is 0.01 BTC if bitcoin is at $75000.

With $75, that is 0.001 BTC.

Of course I hyperbolised it a bit and good point on the wallets allowing to switch to mBTC but that's not going to be a common practice unless exchanges start trading in mBTC.

I don't know why you feel like this practice can cause psychological impact?

This unit does not make people having more bitcoin or less, while there is only challenge like how they can get familiar with this unit rather than a default unit, BTC.

I don't know what this phenomenon is called but it's certainly a thing among many people.

Every bull run there's a crowd that buys the "cheapest" among top assets (i.e. DOGE, XRP) just so they could own "a lot of it".

But overall to people far from the world of finances and assets it probably feels a bit embarrassing to own a zero dot zero zero something of something.

[notocactus]

mBTC is just a smaller version of BTC

mBTC is a Bitcoin unit, not a Bitcoin version.

bitcoin is only bitcoin, only one version but there are different Bitcoin address types, script types. On testnet, there are different versions of Bitcoin testnet.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_address_prefixes

I don't think many people will leave the mainstream adoption of BTC itself for mBTC, just as you may think of the use of pounds and Penny, do you think there will be massive adoption use of penny when many are more in trick to using pounds for their transactions.

Bitcoin is the blockchain that has technical things to be a good one, and make an accounting revolution. These things make Bitcoin value, and it's important for its adoption with time.
Bitcoin has many units, and mBTC is one of units, that play no role in Bitcoin adoption.

Bitcoin is fungible to satoshi unit, and it makes people more easily to buy it but satoshi or mBTC, they are only units.

[d5000]

I've tried to get accustomed to mBTC. But I've come to the conclusion that it's not worth it. Anyway if Bitcoin's price continues to grow, many people will also need to manage sub-1 mBTC numbers.

My stance at this from today's point of view is that I think there will be only a shift once the satoshi, not the mBTC, becomes a viable unit. All units between the satoshi and the BTC are arbitrary and only add to the confusion (for example, the "bit" that was proposed for 100 satoshis, or was it 1000 sats? I don't remember just to show the point).

So the shift will happen when 1 satoshi comes close to the minimum unit of today's fiat currencies.

In some countries that already happened: 1 Satoshi is currently close to the value of 1 Argentine Peso.

But I think the practice will become more extended once 1 satoshi moves close to the price of 1 US dollar cent. This would be the case if the price rises above 500,000 USD approximately.

Maybe it can start earlier if we could for example start to talk about "ksats" -> kilo sats -> 1000 sats -> 0.00001 BTC.

[Creeper0]

This is not something we have to fight about or need a huge voting system. It's fine to look at it in whatever units you prefer. 1mBTC and 0.001BTC are the same value, the only difference is the calculation.

If you want to look at mBTC, you can use Electrum to convert to mBTC. I do this and it's easier for me to calculate, and I even like to look at it.

In other wallets I keep it converted to BTC. I'm also comfortable with BTC and I don't find it difficult to calculate the value. Anyone can also convert to bits or sats if they want.

[Rashlyowl]

At which price do you think the world, and particularly exchange trading will switch to mBTC?

I think even now it would be psychologically easier for new people to get unboarded (especially the youth). BTC is way too inaffordable for many. Some student with $750 in BTC would have to use magnifying glass to count the zeroes in their BTC holding's number. With mBTC they would know that they hold roughly a dozen and the decimals aren't even that important.

I think no one would argue that in case of persistent repricing upside we *would have to* switch to mBTC eventually. So why wait? Why not initiate it slowly now?

This matter was discussed in Legitimizing Bitcoin as a Currency & Store of Value: Using Discrete Monetary Units to Consolidate Value & Drive Market Growth.



People have a tendency to more easily understand fewer 0s than what we typically see in our BTC portfolios. Drawing from 3 main ideas in the journal, as follows:

(1) BTC needs to be easier to understand.
(2) Using whole numbers can help adoption.
(3) Perception can help market growth.

I can be honest with myself that I feel like I own an asset if I have 1 mBTC, rather than 0.001 BTC. So, when will CEXs adopt all of this?

It doesn't seem to be the case for now, but it could become possible in the future as we see the price of BTC climb even higher.

[m2017]

At which price do you think the world, and particularly exchange trading will switch to mBTC?

It’s obvious, isn’t it? Once bitcoin goes up in value by a factor of 1,000.

I think even now it would be psychologically easier for new people to get unboarded (especially the youth).

There’s no need to make things simpler for these softies - let them adapt, just like the old-school users did (they can’t even count past ten without a calculator as it is).

BTC is way too inaffordable for many.

But this is precisely what serves as a strong incentive to accumulate bitcoin, since it will be even more expensive later on.

Some student with $750 in BTC would have to use magnifying glass to count the zeroes in their BTC holding's number.

Let it calculate in dollars (after conversion). Also, you can always add a prefix, such as milli- or micro-.

With mBTC they would know that they hold roughly a dozen and the decimals aren't even that important.

For those who struggle with fractions or numbers with lots of zeros, just do your calculations in sat. - that way, you definitely won't make a mistake.

I think no one would argue that in case of persistent repricing upside we *would have to* switch to mBTC eventually.

Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long.

So why wait? Why not initiate it slowly now?

Your suggestion comes a bit late, as many wallets, for instance, already offer the option to set up mBTC (electrum).

[Donneski]

There are wallets with the mBTC and smaller units of Bitcoin as optional displays. However, I don't normalising it at this time is necessary. Maybe when Bitcoin price has significantly climbed high in the future we can consider that.

Unless we're arguing that it helps newbies understand their holdings better, then introducing it gradually shouldn't be an issue, but if not, I don't see any reason why we should be attaching so much importance to the unit of measurement at this point.

[Fangtooth]

I'm new to bitcoin  so I'd like to know a little about mBTC.
Is it another version of bitcoin?

Although as far as I know there are no other forms or variants of bitcoin. It's the only cryptocurrency. No replica or copy of it has been created yet.
 So what's the difference between BTC and mBTC?

[Hatchy]

It all depends on how much you can afford to invest. Everyone has different risk preferences and investment capacity. Psychologically, seeing more digits in your Bitcoin balance might make you feel like you own a lot, but we also have to be realistic with ourselves. What you own is still limited to what you can afford to invest. Even if exchanges start displaying Bitcoin balances in mBTC or smaller units, it doesn't mean you're suddenly owning more Bitcoin or increasing the value of your holdings. It's simply a different way of expressing the same amount.

I'm new to bitcoin  so I'd like to know a little about mBTC.
Is it another version of bitcoin?

Here you go...

mBtc is just 0.001 btc in short:

Predefined Values of BTC:
1 Satoshi   = 0.00000001 ฿   
10 Satoshi   = 0.00000010 ฿   
100 Satoshi   = 0.00000100 ฿   = 1 Bit / μBTC (you-bit)(microbitcoin)
1,000 Satoshi   = 0.00001000 ฿   
10,000 Satoshi   = 0.00010000 ฿   
100,000 Satoshi   = 0.00100000 ฿   = 1 mBTC (em-bit)(millibitcoin)
1,000,000 Satoshi   = 0.01000000 ฿   = 1 cBTC (bitcent)
10,000,000 Satoshi   = 0.10000000 ฿   
100,000,000 Satoshi   = 1.00000000 ฿   

You can check it here: http://www.btcsatoshi.com/

Nobody said that you have to use mBTC or μBTC. In fact I don't like that, because I prefer stick to the original bitcoin with no prefix. Operation in mBTC or uBTC values is just confusing for me.

[Yamane_Keto]

payment gateway displays equivalent value in dollars next to the value of bitcoin buyers are lazy to read the value of bitcoin and look at the equivalent value in dollars, that is why mBTC is not added even though it is easier.

[Sunshine1525]

Does tbe display of Bitcoin even matter? So far i can see what am holding in USDT, i don't care the number of zero it has in Bitcoin but how to increase it to a higher figure which is what matters. For someone that's trying to accumulate more Bitcoins i think i should be more focused on accumulation than that.

Youths of this generation are not dumb, well some might be but what stops people from using a convert to know the amount of Bitcoins they're holding in their local currency.

[NeuroticFish]

Does tbe display of Bitcoin even matter?

It does for some. It looks better when one is bragging to have 10000 something than 0.01 something. Or when he's buying.

At which price do you think the world, and particularly exchange trading will switch to mBTC?

I guess that 1 bit or 1 sat per USD would be good candidates, and then maybe the unit will also be even smaller than mBTC.
However, this was discussed many times before and it's more like cheap talk, nobody cares significantly to drive the change. For now, bitcoin sounds much better than milli-bitcoin...

[osasshem]

Electrum wallet uses the mBTC already, as this is how it shows on mine.
$750 is a good sum with little numbers of zeros that will not be too difficult to count, but if around $20 or less, we may say the zeros may be concerning. The mBTC will become more valued when the price of BTC has gone more expensive than it is now, and that will take a long time from now.

[_act_]

But I think the practice will become more extended once 1 satoshi moves close to the price of 1 US dollar cent. This would be the case if the price rises above 500,000 USD approximately.

I think I will prefer 1 bits than to be using sats.

1 bits = 100 sats.

The reason I will prefer using 1 bits is because it is very similar to bitcoin and people can easily use it to know that it is a smaller unit of bitcoin.

But maybe some people can argue that having similar name to bitcoin can make people get confused about it.

I do not know the reason most people like to skip the unit on this forum.