Bitcoin will not be adopted because it has.. too many decimal places?

[Enjorlas]

I am newish to Bitcoin. I am wondering what your thoughts are on this. The average person doesn't have the time to calculate Bitcoin value out to the millionth decimal place. Would this be a problem for widespread adoption?

[1713875873]

1713875873

[Bytas]

I am newish to Bitcoin. I am wondering what your thoughts are on this. The average person doesn't have the time to calculate Bitcoin value out to the millionth decimal place. Would this be a problem for widespread adoption?

Good thing about bitcoinwallets is that they do all the calculation for you.

[litecoinlady]

I am newish to Bitcoin. I am wondering what your thoughts are on this. The average person doesn't have the time to calculate Bitcoin value out to the millionth decimal place. Would this be a problem for widespread adoption?

No, not what I think it would be. Besides that if you want to see the current value of the bitcoin, try searching on Google. It would help you out.  

[rexxarofmoknathal]

Wouldn't simply using satoshis as a base value resolve this issue?

[pedrog]

There has been some discussion about this, yes, many people have problems with math.

There is a proposal for the base unit to be 'bit', where 1 bit equals 100 satoshis or 0.000001 BTC, but like previous poster said, wallets can just show the desired fiat value of bitcoin holdings.

[paradoxal420]

I'm having trouble understanding what you mean.
I mean, you don't go to the store and have them expect you to figure out the price of the product, taxes and exact change by yourself.. you know?
Why would it work any differently with Bitcoin?

If you're doing a friend to friend transaction most wallets tell you the price or you can look up the exchange rate yourself.

[Enjorlas]

I'm having trouble understanding what you mean.
I mean, you don't go to the store and have them expect you to figure out the price of the product, taxes and exact change by yourself.. you know?
Why would it work any differently with Bitcoin?

If you're doing a friend to friend transaction most wallets tell you the price or you can look up the exchange rate yourself.

For example, what if you were in a Coffee shop, and the cup of coffee costed .000125 BTC

The average person would not want to waste time squinting at the decimal places and figuring up how much it actually is. Of course this is just my assumption that ordinary people would not want to do the math in their head all the time. I am decently intelligent and even I have to stop and think about it sometimes.

[randy8777]

once the change to 'bits' is implemented this won't be a problem anymore.
and by scanning qr code with your smartphone problem is as good as solved.

[12345mm]

(the actual purpose of the eight decimal places is a psychological one , not a technical one - people are used to dealing with pennies / 1 cent coins as the last decimal places on their currency - so when people see 2.56743721 they are psychologically trained to attribute a penny value to the 1 at the end , despite the utter ridiculousness of doing this for eight decimal places , because that's how they've always done it in every other currency they've ever used - basically this is the ultimate "trick" of bitcoin , built directly into it , that allows the stupid to place extremely high potential value on it , in this example 1M per bitcoin allows penny value per 1 satoshi at the end , much like all fiat money works today , and would attribute a value of $2,567,437.21 to the value 2.56743721 ... even though this isn't the case , obviously , that's what your brain is *trained* to want to consider correct , that that # at the end has to have value - buuuuut what if i told you I had a currency with 16 decimal places ! it can be expressed as 0.1234567812345678 - psychologically you want to attribute *some* value to the # at the end , the 8 , even though it's literally 10,000,000X less valuable than a satoshi - in the same way you want to attribute *some* value to the satoshi at the end of the bitcoin number you have , even though it's far far less valuable than a penny ... this is why we have delusionals here that genuinely think 1M per bitcoin is going to happen ... they've been psychologically tricked into thinking the digit at the end of the eight decimal places should have real tangible useful value ... )

[litecoinlady]

Best wallet that display in bits is Xapo.

[odolvlobo]

I am newish to Bitcoin. I am wondering what your thoughts are on this. The average person doesn't have the time to calculate Bitcoin value out to the millionth decimal place. Would this be a problem for widespread adoption?

It is only nomenclature. If it is a problem, it will be fixed by people inventing words and customs. Already some people use 1 millibitcoin to mean 0.001 BTC, and 1 bit or 1 microbitcoin to mean 0.000001 BTC.

[Meuh6879]

P2P is always smart ... you can view somes choices after a long long time after the start.
Like the 100 000 USD per BTC.  

[sabreok]

If Bitcoin reaches widespread adoption, the value per will go through the roof-- maybe even $100,000 - $1,000,000 USD per BTC.

If a Bitcoin reaches $1M, "Bits" (μBTC is the technical term) would be the normal denomination-- whereas 1.00 Bit = $1.00 USD.
1/100 of a Bit is a Satoshi, which would be like cents in USD. I can definitely picture people referring to the system as "Bitcoin", yet the normal denomination being called "Bits".

Since $1M USD = 1 BTC is pretty fantastical, this wouldn't be for a long time (if ever).
For now, I just refer to values in mBTC (1 BTC = 1000 mBTC).

I totally get what you mean-- having decimals will scare off a lot of potential Bitcoin users.

[DannyHamilton]

The amount "1 bitcoin" is a name for a large quantity of units, in the same way that "1 million bucks" is a name for a large quantity of dollars.

You wouldn't go to a coffee shop and expect that they would quote the price as "0.0000005 million dollars" would you?

The base unit in the bitcoin system is frequently called a "satoshi".  Therefore, your "0.000125 BTC" could much more conveniently be quoted as "12500" Satoshi.

If you like to have a few decimals so that it looks more like the "dollars and cents" that most Americans are accustomed to, then you can use nicknames that are associated with typical metric system units.

0.001 BTC is a millibitcoin (Call it a millibit, or a milli, or a millie, or a mil, or whatever you like).
0.000001 BTC is a microbitcoin (Call it a microbit, or a micro, or a mike, or a mick, or whatever you like)
0.000000001 BTC is a nanobitcoin (Call it a nanobit, or a nano, or a nan, or a nanny, or whatever you like)

So, your 0.000125 BTC could very easily be called "125.00 microbits" or "0.125 millibits".

[calme]

I like the term "bits" and hate the term "satoshi." I think we should use bits as the standard.

A "kilo" equals one thousand bits. Kilo is a good word b/c it's short and would be a fun way to describe your money.

[Q7]

I don't think that is going to be an issue. Although there are decimal places, we have unit of measurement such as mbtc, ubtc and bits although the more commonly used right now is mbtc. I don't see that as becoming a barrier that will prevent adoption because only a few people thought it will be confusing. Fact is, it's just numbers.

[franky1]

to answer the question..

what if the world only dealt with tonnes of gold
what if the world only dealt with 100 dollar bank notes
what if the world only dealt with barrels of oil
what if the world only dealt with whole bitcoins

.. well they dont

the world has grams, ounces of gold measure
the world has dollars and cents measures of fiat
the world has litres and gallons of oil measure
the world has bits and satoshi's of bitcoin measure.

For example, what if you were in a Coffee shop, and the cup of coffee costed .000125 BTC

so to answer your example
coffee = 12500 satoshi's          (1sat=0.00000001 bitcoin)
coffee = 125 bits                      (1bit=0.00000100 bitcoin)

[calme]

If they try to sell me coffee for BTC, I will smack them around and say that bits is the better way to measure it.

[rexxarofmoknathal]

The amount "1 bitcoin" is a name for a large quantity of units, in the same way that "1 million bucks" is a name for a large quantity of dollars.

You wouldn't go to a coffee shop and expect that they would quote the price as "0.0000005 million dollars" would you?

The base unit in the bitcoin system is frequently called a "satoshi".  Therefore, your "0.000125 BTC" could much more conveniently be quoted as "12500" Satoshi.

If you like to have a few decimals so that it looks more like the "dollars and cents" that most Americans are accustomed to, then you can use nicknames that are associated with typical metric system units.

0.001 BTC is a millibitcoin (Call it a millibit, or a milli, or a millie, or a mil, or whatever you like).
0.000001 BTC is a microbitcoin (Call it a microbit, or a micro, or a mike, or a mick, or whatever you like)
0.000000001 BTC is a nanobitcoin (Call it a nanobit, or a nano, or a nan, or a nanny, or whatever you like)

So, your 0.000125 BTC could very easily be called "125.00 microbits" or "0.125 millibits".

Is the division of bitcoin fixed, or can it be adjusted in the future, allowing it to be divided into even smaller parts than currently possible if needed?

[calme]

8 decimal places with hard fork required otherwise.