Support Bitcoin currency sign in Unicode

[Pander]

Hi all,

Please help in requesting Unicode Consortium to support Bitcoin currency sign. If a Unicode has been assigned, free and open fonts can start implementing their own glyphs for the Bitcoin currency sign.

I have made a request two months ago, but haven't heard since from the Unicode Consortium. Perhaps some extra (digital) requests can motivate them more to start supporting the Bitcoin currency sign.

See the following procedure:
  http://www.unicode.org/pending/proposals.html
to fill out:
  http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/summaryform.html
with the help of:
  http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/principles.html

Below are details of what to include in the request:

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/4906/83750806.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4017/99838698.jpg

Composite sequences, inspired by euro composite sequences:

b=    (b + equal sign)
B=    (B + equal sign)
=b    (equal sign + b)
=B    (equal sign + B)

Please contact me in a personal message to send you the .SVG with the glyph as the upload folder of this forum is full.

[db]

Most currencies don't have a character. For good reasons. They pollute the character zoo and bring all sorts of trouble for no real benefit.

[Pander]

Already a many currency signs exist, see http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U20A0.pdf plus the 20 that are in other Unicode ranges. Even https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Currency_sign is listing over one hundred currency signs. Bitcoin has a currency sign and as the currency matures, this might as well be supported by Unicoded, I think.

[db]

Alphabets have this nice feature that you can take standard characters and string them together and in that way represent a multitude of new concepts without making a new character for each one! Like this: "BTC". Most of the 100+ "currency signs" are indeed made that way.

Bitcoin is doing a lot of things right and has less of a silly nationalist pride problem than most other currency creators so why not do this right too?

And if some people feel they absolutely must use such a character why not use the already existing "฿" just like tens of different currencies use the "$"?

(The Bitcoin logo, looking like the "฿", is another thing and a good thing.)

[error]

What I really want is for my ฿loody keyboard to give me a way to type ฿.

[Pander]

You can configure X.org/GNOME to generate a Thai Bath sign for a 'B' and '|' with your compose key. But note that that is Bath and not Bitcoin so I would not recommend that and put effort in getting support for the actual Bitcoin currency sign.

Once Unicode has assigned a code for Bitcoin, a B with two bars van be generated via the proposed compose key combinations mentioned earlier.

[kseistrup]

What I really want is for my ฿loody keyboard to give me a way to type ฿.

Under Linux you can

Code:

$ xmodmap -e "keycode 56 = b B b B rightdoublequotemark U0E3F"

to have ฿ on Alt+Shift+B. 

Cheers,

[db]

What I really want is for my ฿loody keyboard to give me a way to type ฿.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode_input

[db]

Once Unicode has assigned a code for Bitcoin, a B with two bars van be generated via the proposed compose key combinations mentioned earlier.

Not until every font on every computer in the world is updated.

[Pander]

that too indeed

[gigabytecoin]

Hi all,

Please help in requesting Unicode Consortium to support Bitcoin currency sign. If a Unicode has been assigned, free and open fonts can start implementing their own glyphs for the Bitcoin currency sign.

I have made a request two months ago, but haven't heard since from the Unicode Consortium. Perhaps some extra (digital) requests can motivate them more to start supporting the Bitcoin currency sign.

See the following procedure:
  http://www.unicode.org/pending/proposals.html
to fill out:
  http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/summaryform.html
with the help of:
  http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/principles.html

Below are details of what to include in the request:

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/4906/83750806.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4017/99838698.jpg

Composite sequences, inspired by euro composite sequences:

b=    (b + equal sign)
B=    (B + equal sign)
=b    (equal sign + b)
=B    (equal sign + B)

Please contact me in a personal message to send you the .SVG with the glyph as the upload folder of this forum is full.

That would bring us one step closer to becoming a universally recognized currency. I concur!

[Pander]

Hi all,

I just got the following answer from the Unicode Consortium:

Subject: UTC response on Bitcoin logo, L2/11-129

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in Unicode.

At last week's UTC meeting, the committee reviewed your proposal and decided not to encode the Bitcoin symbol at this time.

The committee felt that use of the symbol as an element in running text had not been demonstrated in the proposal. It is used as an image or logo.

The symbol also appears to be used as a Bitcoin logo, and there may also be intellectual property considerations.

Regards
    Rick McGowan
    Unicode, Inc.

So, can someone from the core developers provide me with the license of the bitcoin currency symbol and with several examples of running text so I can resubmit the application?

Thanks,

Pander

[foo]

Most currencies don't have a character. For good reasons. They pollute the character zoo and bring all sorts of trouble for no real benefit.

+1

[joulesbeef]

What I really want is for my ฿loody keyboard to give me a way to type ฿.

rather than replace your B with the ฿ you should use a string replacement tool.

I use smart type assistant.. you can set up 'BBB' to change to '฿'
you will get so used to it, you wont even noticed you hit more than one key to make a '฿'

[J.P. Larocque]

This is premature.  Let the community and/or project leadership come to a consensus on what the symbol should be.  After the project leadership vets the symbol, then submit it to Unicode.  I think Unicode is probably meant to reflect established usage, not define new usage.

I'm personally partial to sticking with "BTC", then getting it accepted as an ISO currency code, and skipping the shorter/cultural symbol.

[julz]

Please don't hijack this thread with the Thai Baht symbol ฿

There are plenty of other threads where people support raping the standards by using this symbol.. but I'll go out on a limb here and say that discussion of how to misuse ฿ for bitcoin purposes probably wasn't the intention of the OP.

[TraderTimm]

I think it is a poor idea to use the Baht symbol. It would reflect poorly upon us if we made it so. I'm sure there are better ways to come up with our own symbol.

Even a BTC Friendly fontset would be better, if you wanted to use the typical "B" with the two vertical strokes, it would be part of that mapping. I guess we just need a CC licensed fontset to further that end. Any typographers willing to produce one?

[wareen]

Even a BTC Friendly fontset would be better, if you wanted to use the typical "B" with the two vertical strokes, it would be part of that mapping. I guess we just need a CC licensed fontset to further that end. Any typographers willing to produce one?

I'm no typographer or graphic designer at all but I'm currently working on a few novel Bitcoin font symbols (mainly based on the #-B combination from RylandAlmanza which has much appeal IMHO). It is tricky to get them render nicely with small font sizes but once they're finished I'm going to start a poll to get some opinions.

Previous polls have shown people prefer the Baht symbol as an immediate solution (read: one that you can actually type right now) but there are many good reasons why this is a bad decision for the long term.

I do think we can afford the luxury of a unique and novel symbol - I'm sure that getting it into a Unicode revision and convincing the authors of some popular typesets to include it will take a long time but then again I don't think we're in a big hurry.

[Pander]

Good that a part of the commuinity is in favour of using the actual bitcoin sign.

The request for a Unicode for the bitcoin sign is halted at the Unicode Consortium until the community can provide the following:

• statement that the bitcoin logo/glyph is open/free (e.g. that it has the MIT License like the software)
• collection of examples of actual use in publications or handwritten texts of the bitcoin glyph (please send me digitals scans / photographs)

If the community can provide me what is listed above, I can resubmit the proposal at the Unicode Consortium to get a Unicode assigned. Please ask some of you community friends if they can help out too. Please post links of the scans or photos, e.g. via http://imageshack.us/

[julz]

Good that a part of the commuinity is in favour of using the actual bitcoin sign.

The request for a Unicode for the bitcoin sign is halted at the Unicode Consortium until the community can provide the following:

• statement that the bitcoin logo/glyph is open/free (e.g. that it has the MIT License like the software)

How do we verify that it is? Do you know the origin of the symbol?

• collection of examples of actual use in publications or handwritten texts of the bitcoin glyph (please send me digitals scans / photographs)

If the community can provide me what is listed above, I can resubmit the proposal at the Unicode Consortium to get a Unicode assigned. Please ask some of you community friends if they can help out too. Please post links of the scans or photos, e.g. via http://imageshack.us/

On the one hand - it's great to see you making the effort to do this properly.. Moving forward on this might help quash the ridiculous baht misuse going on.

On the other hand.. wareen mentioned the  "#-B combination from RylandAlmanza"  -  have you seen what he's talking about?
It would make an impressive looking glyph and might be easier to verify that it falls under the appropriate license.
However.. to move forward with that, we'd presumably have to get it out there and adopted by the community first, and there's no indication as yet that it would be preferred over the double-stroke B anyway.