Good news! Gavin Andresen: I think everybody should switch to talking in "bits"

[TheButterZone]

Redundant topics, ugh... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=830600.0

I'd like to propose 1 XST = 1 satoshi.

I concur. There should be only two currency codes, and at the extremes, no half measures to confuse the fuck out of average people. The largest unit, 1 BTC=XBT, and the smallest subunit, 1 satoshi/0.00000001 BTC=XST.

We need to lock in the smallest subunit, the furthest point of divisibility. If 1 XST ends up being exchanged to $0.01 USD, then 1 XBT will be equal to $1,000,000 USD.

Clients should allow setting XBT or XST as the default display (with appropriate warnings), and pricing can be displayed both ways in the global marketplace. No changes in the way TXs are constructed in the background would be necessary.

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[BitMos]

And what do you mean, 'so what'? That your own opinion counts for more than his? (That's what it sounds like). You think you can so easily dismiss his opinion? I got news for you, compared to him no one cares what you think.

The cool thing is that free people don't have to care what Gavin thinks if they don't want to.

it will be satoshi.

[Velkro]

So what?

Gavin is an expert on technology, not language.

Sadly agree, im not convinced to bits yet... maybe its too fast

[spooderman]

I would like this too. Let's do it. It needs a few key players to switch over, all the exchanges mainly, then XE and then most of us.

And SR

[Walter Rothbard]

So what?

Gavin is an expert on technology, not language.


https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority

Nice try, but you need to brush up a bit. Gavin is one of the top thought leaders in the Bitcoin space; as well as Chief Scientist, he's also a published writer and entrepreneur.

Wow, Gavin gave himself a title. I'm sorry, but if this means anything it is that Gavin seems to be in need of admiration.
Frankly, I don't understand the hype about Gavin. There are other developers as well, who are not member of a highly questionable organization (The Bitcoin Foundation), don't receive pay, but still contribute significantly.

We don't need provisions on how to call Bitcoin's smaller units. Names will emerge naturally. I can't see any advantage of introducing "bits", because we already have Satoshi as a name for the smallest unit.

ya.ya.yo!

Well I do admire Gavin, actually, but I'm still not interested in using "bit" as a unit at this time.  I'm content transacting in fractions of a Bitcoin - it's very analogous to a world where we might transact in milligrams of gold or something.

[ANTIcentralized]

So what?

Gavin is an expert on technology, not language.


https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority

Nice try, but you need to brush up a bit. Gavin is one of the top thought leaders in the Bitcoin space; as well as Chief Scientist, he's also a published writer and entrepreneur.

Wow, Gavin gave himself a title. I'm sorry, but if this means anything it is that Gavin seems to be in need of admiration.
Frankly, I don't understand the hype about Gavin. There are other developers as well, who are not member of a highly questionable organization (The Bitcoin Foundation), don't receive pay, but still contribute significantly.

We don't need provisions on how to call Bitcoin's smaller units. Names will emerge naturally. I can't see any advantage of introducing "bits", because we already have Satoshi as a name for the smallest unit.

ya.ya.yo!

We will not be measuring the amount of bitcoin being transacted in terms of satoshi anytime soon. Another issue is that using Satoshi, makes satoshi (the creator of bitcoin) into a profit that he does not appear to want and creates a liability for bitcoin in general in the event that he is ever doxxed.

[thms]

So what?

Gavin is an expert on technology, not language.

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority

OP is the perfect example of the "appeal to authority" fallacy. Gavin is writing code, so his opinion about the best name is just the same as anyone else's.

I agree we have to name a new unit but definately not bits.

The term Bits is hated by about 50% of the community.

[101111]

The term Bits is hated by about 50% of the community.

That's just pure BS.

There'll never be universal agreement over the name.

We need to move forward.

[BitMos]

Well I do admire Gavin, actually...  transact in milligrams...

from trustless to personality cult, sleepy road... and frankly ounce, grams, what ever you want, as long as the weight is the same... the name doesn't change the weight. and it's btc, not xtc, stc... but who cares:D

[teukon]

With all due respect to Gavin, I very much disagree.  Even with his support I expect there will be significant resistance to the "bits" movement for a long time to come.  I've written about the merits and demerits of "bits" in several places but allow me to relay my key point:

• "mikes" is just like "bits" but it is much older and is backwards compatible with the unit "bitcoin".

I've heard no good, logical counter to "mikes" over "bits" up until now.  I can think of one myself, that "bits" is currently more popular than "mikes", but I do not feel that the current lead of "bits" is yet sufficient to pay for its drawbacks.  If "bits" continues to gain in popularity and support, then my support will eventually follow naturally.  I have tremendous respect for network effects and, after all, language is for communicating.

[Elwar]

I would be willing to start using bits. I hear far too often..."I don't have enough money to buy any bitcoins"

[madmat]

I would be willing to start using bits. I hear far too often..."I don't have enough money to buy any bitcoins"

This image is great and worth a lot of explanations. Keep displaying it everywhere you can.

[TheButterZone]

Fuck's sake... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_%28money%29

[BitmoreCoin]

We need a coin to come out with bits and see how it goes.

[TheButterZone]

We need a coin to come out with bits and see how it goes.

Yeah. Call it bitscoin.

[Elwar]

It might be better to come up with a sliding scale based on the amount being discussed.

If I have $5 I don't say I have 500 cents. But if I have 50 cents I don't say I have .5 dollars.

So when discussing something like .1 bitcoins you might say you have 100 mBTC and if you have .1 mBTC you have 100 bits.

[turvarya]

It might be better to come up with a sliding scale based on the amount being discussed.

If I have $5 I don't say I have 500 cents. But if I have 50 cents I don't say I have .5 dollars.

So when discussing something like .1 bitcoins you might say you have 100 mBTC and if you have .1 mBTC you have 100 bits.

The obvious problem here is, that you have 3 words (bitcoin, mBTC, bits) where you just have 2 words in order currencies(dollar, cent). For a not techie person, that is a big turn off.
Another Problem is, that Bitcoins are just too expensive. If you are from USA or an EUR-country, you are just not used to exchange 1 USD/EUR for some cents in another currency. So from a psychological aspect, we should just stop using BTC when we are speaking to the mainstream. (Yeah I know, that is not really going to happen)

[spooderman]

It might be better to come up with a sliding scale based on the amount being discussed.

If I have $5 I don't say I have 500 cents. But if I have 50 cents I don't say I have .5 dollars.

So when discussing something like .1 bitcoins you might say you have 100 mBTC and if you have .1 mBTC you have 100 bits.

The obvious problem here is, that you have 3 words (bitcoin, mBTC, bits) where you just have 2 words in order currencies(dollar, cent). For a not techie person, that is a big turn off.
Another Problem is, that Bitcoins are just too expensive. If you are from USA or an EUR-country, you are just not used to exchange 1 USD/EUR for some cents in another currency. So from a psychological aspect, we should just stop using BTC when we are speaking to the mainstream. (Yeah I know, that is not really going to happen)

yes but on the other hand, that does speak to bitcoins massive superiority as a currency. It ISN'T like the other currencies that are worth relatively similar amounts to the USD.

[teukon]

The obvious problem here is, that you have 3 words (bitcoin, mBTC, bits) where you just have 2 words in order currencies(dollar, cent). For a not techie person, that is a big turn off.

Far from disagreeing with you, I just want to highlight that mBTC is not a word.  It seems people use it as if it were a word quite frequently and I'm wondering how many bitcoiners are reading this in their heads as "em-bee-tee-cee" *shudder*.  Here's a table of what are presently the most common and least controversial terms.

Name	Long symbol	Value
bitcoin	BTC	1 BTC
millibitcoin	mBTC	0.001 BTC
		0.000 001 BTC
satoshi		0.000 000 01 BTC

Notably: "XBT", "bit", and "uBTC" are quite common but can spark disagreements; "SAT" is not controversial but somewhat uncommon; "millibit" suffers slightly with respect to both metrics.

[jabo38]

The 100 Satoshi unit needs to be the main unit, but "bits" is kind of a poor name.  It really lack originality.  mBTC is also just as weak. 

But yes, the whole community needs to move away from using the word Bitcoins to describe the currency.  "Bitcoin" can still be the software and the platform, but the currency needs a different name and that name should start at 100 Satoshi.