📅 Original date posted:2017-12-14
📝 Original message:On 13 December 2017 at 22:36, David A. Harding via bitcoin-dev
<bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> - Microbitcoins is not a homonym for any other word in English (and
> probably not in any other language), whereas "bit" and "bits" have
> more than a dozen homonyms in English---some of which are quite common
> in general currency usage, Bitcoin currency usage, or Bitcoin
> technical usage.
Reposting /u/BashCo's post on reddit here, for visibility:
---8<---------------------------------------------------------------
> Before anyone says 'bits' are too confusing because it's a computer science term, here's a list of homonyms [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_true_homonyms] that you use every day. Homonyms are fine because our brains are able to interpret language based on context, so it's a non-argument. Also, the term 'bits' was used in reference to money long before 'bits and bytes' came along, and even before the metric system itself.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_(money)
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_colonial_real
> 'Bits' are superior to mBTC partly because we'll need to transition to bits eventually anyways (one transition is easier than two), but more importantly, bits have two decimal places, matching the format of dozens of other major currencies.
> No other currency has 8 decimal places, or even 4 decimal places. Most of them have 2. Dollars and cents, Bits and satoshis.
> If people actually want this to happen, then they need to train their own brains by switching their wallets and exchange settings to bits. The shift will probably happen eventually, although the major Bitcoin denomination probably isn't going anywhere any time soon, even if the majority of people use 'bits' as a matter of habit.
> 99.99 bits is currently equal to $1.63 USD.
---8<---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> - Microbitcoins trains users to understand SI prefixes, allowing them to
> easily migrate from one prefix to the next. This will be important
> when bitcoin prices rise to $10M USD[1] and the bits denomination has
> the same problems the millibitcoin denomination has now, but it's also
> useful in the short term when interacting with users who make very
> large payments (bitcoin-scale) or very small payments
> (nanobitcoin-scale).[2] Maybe a table of scale can emphasize this
> point:
>
> Wrong (IMO): Right (IMO):
> --------------- --------------
> BTC BTC
> mBTC mBTC
> bits µBTC
> nBTC nBTC
>
I wouldn't expect people to type out µBTC. I think the best you can
hope for here is uBTC. As for saying "microbitcoins", I can virtually
guarantee that this will be abbreviated to "microbits" and/or
eventually "bits" anyway. Bits and sats.
> [1] A rise in price to $10M doesn't require huge levels of growth---it
> only requires time under the assumption that a percentage of bitcoins will
> be lost every year due to wallet mishaps, failure to inherit bitcoins,
> and other issues that remove bitcoins from circulation. In other words,
> it's important to remember that Bitcoin is expected to become a
> deflationary currency and plan accordingly.
>
> [2] Although Bitcoin does not currently support committed
> nanobitcoin-scale payments in the block chain, it can be supported in a
> variety of ways by offchain systems---including (it is hypothesized)
> trustless systems based on probabilistic payments.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Dave
>
> _______________________________________________
> bitcoin-dev mailing list
> bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org
> https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev
>
Marcel Jamin [ARCHIVE] /
npub14j…vk3rk
2023-06-07 18:08:42
in reply to nevent1q…e0fg
Author Public Key
npub14jegtpz2t9nfnefqqr0q4te9353e4k4x5y2528qf235ruluzsaes8vk3rkPublished at
2023-06-07 18:08:42Event JSON
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"content": "📅 Original date posted:2017-12-14\n📝 Original message:On 13 December 2017 at 22:36, David A. Harding via bitcoin-dev\n\u003cbitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org\u003e wrote:\n\u003e - Microbitcoins is not a homonym for any other word in English (and\n\u003e probably not in any other language), whereas \"bit\" and \"bits\" have\n\u003e more than a dozen homonyms in English---some of which are quite common\n\u003e in general currency usage, Bitcoin currency usage, or Bitcoin\n\u003e technical usage.\n\nReposting /u/BashCo's post on reddit here, for visibility:\n\n---8\u003c---------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\u003e Before anyone says 'bits' are too confusing because it's a computer science term, here's a list of homonyms [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_true_homonyms] that you use every day. Homonyms are fine because our brains are able to interpret language based on context, so it's a non-argument. Also, the term 'bits' was used in reference to money long before 'bits and bytes' came along, and even before the metric system itself.\n\n\u003e https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_(money)\n\n\u003e https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_colonial_real\n\n\u003e 'Bits' are superior to mBTC partly because we'll need to transition to bits eventually anyways (one transition is easier than two), but more importantly, bits have two decimal places, matching the format of dozens of other major currencies.\n\n\u003e No other currency has 8 decimal places, or even 4 decimal places. Most of them have 2. Dollars and cents, Bits and satoshis.\n\n\u003e If people actually want this to happen, then they need to train their own brains by switching their wallets and exchange settings to bits. The shift will probably happen eventually, although the major Bitcoin denomination probably isn't going anywhere any time soon, even if the majority of people use 'bits' as a matter of habit.\n\n\u003e 99.99 bits is currently equal to $1.63 USD.\n\n---8\u003c---------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\u003e\n\u003e - Microbitcoins trains users to understand SI prefixes, allowing them to\n\u003e easily migrate from one prefix to the next. This will be important\n\u003e when bitcoin prices rise to $10M USD[1] and the bits denomination has\n\u003e the same problems the millibitcoin denomination has now, but it's also\n\u003e useful in the short term when interacting with users who make very\n\u003e large payments (bitcoin-scale) or very small payments\n\u003e (nanobitcoin-scale).[2] Maybe a table of scale can emphasize this\n\u003e point:\n\u003e\n\u003e Wrong (IMO): Right (IMO):\n\u003e --------------- --------------\n\u003e BTC BTC\n\u003e mBTC mBTC\n\u003e bits µBTC\n\u003e nBTC nBTC\n\u003e\n\nI wouldn't expect people to type out µBTC. I think the best you can\nhope for here is uBTC. As for saying \"microbitcoins\", I can virtually\nguarantee that this will be abbreviated to \"microbits\" and/or\neventually \"bits\" anyway. Bits and sats.\n\n\u003e [1] A rise in price to $10M doesn't require huge levels of growth---it\n\u003e only requires time under the assumption that a percentage of bitcoins will\n\u003e be lost every year due to wallet mishaps, failure to inherit bitcoins,\n\u003e and other issues that remove bitcoins from circulation. In other words,\n\u003e it's important to remember that Bitcoin is expected to become a\n\u003e deflationary currency and plan accordingly.\n\u003e\n\u003e [2] Although Bitcoin does not currently support committed\n\u003e nanobitcoin-scale payments in the block chain, it can be supported in a\n\u003e variety of ways by offchain systems---including (it is hypothesized)\n\u003e trustless systems based on probabilistic payments.\n\u003e\n\u003e Thanks,\n\u003e\n\u003e -Dave\n\u003e\n\u003e _______________________________________________\n\u003e bitcoin-dev mailing list\n\u003e bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org\n\u003e https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev\n\u003e",
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