Bitcoin needs a brand, an unique simbolism, that symbol is really ambiguous and it can lead to confuse people and to make people doesn't know what you are talking about
I think this: BTC will be the definite symbol
Topic: 20.99~ The tilde as a candidate for the currency symbol for bits or bitcoin (Read 1463 times)
April 13, 2015, 11:21:52 AM
April 13, 2015, 09:42:10 AM
Problem with your proposal: The possible interpretation is too broad. Nobody knows which currency you mean when using "~". This means you could use "~" when describing any (abstract) form of money, but not a specific currency.
That said, I also think that "BTC" and the "B-with-legs"-symbol are already too widespread to be abolished as currency descriptors of Bitcoin.
ya.ya.yo!
Agree, too much possible interpretation. 10B would be better than 10~ : P That said, I also think that "BTC" and the "B-with-legs"-symbol are already too widespread to be abolished as currency descriptors of Bitcoin.
ya.ya.yo!
April 13, 2015, 09:40:35 AM
I prefer BTC with 2 lines horizontal or vertical to a B anytime over ~,~ looks and and can be used way to generally, as far as typing BTC it on a keyboard is concerned it can always be used from an editor, uploaded or simply copy and pasted
April 13, 2015, 01:04:11 AM
I say BTC or ฿ for BTC, and ƀ for bits (millionth of a BTC). Several wallets, including breadwallet (the best and most popular wallet on iOS) already use this.
Agreed. We already have several good symbols and if you can't use them just write 'bits' or 'btc'.
April 12, 2015, 04:08:22 PM
Why not creating a custom symbol? we created the custom BTC symbol anyway.
April 12, 2015, 12:29:02 PM
I also use tilde for approximation, and would find the use of it for an exact currency value confusing/offsetting based on that.
April 12, 2015, 12:22:23 PM
How about △? The pyramid symbol (U+25B3). 
Delta? It's not Ditcoin.
April 12, 2015, 10:02:38 AM
How about △? The pyramid symbol (U+25B3).
You have to think that people would need to manually type the whole thing to get the symbol. A symbol that is inmediate in universal keyboards is better than some weird one. Or lets just call it uBTC. 
April 12, 2015, 05:49:18 AM
How about △? The pyramid symbol (U+25B3).
April 12, 2015, 02:23:18 AM
I don't support it. It's confusing. Let's just use a small b for bits.
Or ƀ which is a regular unicode symbol (U+0180) and nicely fits with the common cent symbol ¢ for fiat.I say BTC or ฿ for BTC, and ƀ for bits (millionth of a BTC). Several wallets, including breadwallet (the best and most popular wallet on iOS) already use this.
April 11, 2015, 09:55:31 PM
Also, regarding “approximately equal”, I don't want to spend “approx. 20.99”, but rather “exactly 20.99”.
Yeah exactly, the tilde already has a well known meaning.
Repurposing it for Bitcoin would be potentially more confusing than Bitcoin itself.
April 11, 2015, 09:48:45 PM
There are certain people who refer to the use of ~ when it comes to expressing approximation so probably there might be confusion here.
I am one of these people. I use the tilde character when I am expressing an approximation of a number.
I think a "B" (or the B with a line through it when this symbol is available) or "BTC" is just fine for expressing bitcoin.
I understand your desire to create a symbol for bits though. And I agree that would be nice. But may just come down to another short series of characters like "BTC"
April 11, 2015, 12:32:19 PM
I'm just saying the concept of "approximately equal to" already associated with the tilde would make for an easy transition into thinking of the tilde as a currency symbol.
Easy transition? I just don't see it how to jump from these meanings:
Approximation => ???? => Currency
What is the relationship?
April 11, 2015, 12:01:07 PM
Bad idea, the ~ already has several other meanings in various contexts.
I'd say BTC whenever possible. Which is most of the time, including all websites: FontAwesome allows you to very easily use the BTC symbol as text anywhere.
Otherwise, ฿ is just fine. Confusion with Thai Baht is a total non-issue. Just like $ is used for Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong, Namibia, Belize, American, Suriname, or Taiwanese Dollars, yet nobody cares.
Keyboard? I currently live in the UK and there is no £ symbol on my keyboard. I know plenty of Europeans who have no € on their keyboard, and even ones that do yet still don't know how to type it (they just menu options in their word editors > insert special symbol, etc).
And otherwise there's also "BTC".
I'd say BTC whenever possible. Which is most of the time, including all websites: FontAwesome allows you to very easily use the BTC symbol as text anywhere.
Otherwise, ฿ is just fine. Confusion with Thai Baht is a total non-issue. Just like $ is used for Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong, Namibia, Belize, American, Suriname, or Taiwanese Dollars, yet nobody cares.
Keyboard? I currently live in the UK and there is no £ symbol on my keyboard. I know plenty of Europeans who have no € on their keyboard, and even ones that do yet still don't know how to type it (they just menu options in their word editors > insert special symbol, etc).
And otherwise there's also "BTC".
April 11, 2015, 11:37:24 AM
The tilde seems like a vague symbol for me. What's wrong with a symbol that includes the letter B?
Nothing, except that these symbols aren't readily available on a keyboard. The tilde is accessible on any keyboard, even phone right now.
April 11, 2015, 11:33:50 AM
Using special characters might be insecure because they are often used in computer programming languages.
In the C++ programming language ~ is the destructor. It gets called when you destroy (reaching end of scope, or calling delete to a pointer to) the instance of the object. Even worse, it's also called bitwise negation (complement), as in the following contexts/examples:
int a = ~100;
int b = ~a;
Output:
-101
100
Hackers would love it if ~ stood for Bitcoin.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5343437/meaning-of-tilde-symbol-in-c
In the C++ programming language ~ is the destructor. It gets called when you destroy (reaching end of scope, or calling delete to a pointer to) the instance of the object. Even worse, it's also called bitwise negation (complement), as in the following contexts/examples:
int a = ~100;
int b = ~a;
Output:
-101
100
Hackers would love it if ~ stood for Bitcoin.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5343437/meaning-of-tilde-symbol-in-c
Interesting, thanks for the insightful feedback. I must admit I don't entirely understand what you are saying, but I get that the tilde could cause problems since it is used in programming languages.
April 11, 2015, 11:27:49 AM
Also, regarding “approximately equal”, I don't want to spend “approx. 20.99”, but rather “exactly 20.99”.
I didn't mean for the definition to be taken literally. I'm just saying the concept of "approximately equal to" already associated with the tilde would make for an easy transition into thinking of the tilde as a currency symbol. The tilde means "approximately equal" when it is between two entities like this: a~b. I think it could take on its own meaning as a currency symbol if it just trails a number like this: 20.99~.
April 11, 2015, 09:50:13 AM
Using special characters might be insecure because they are often used in computer programming languages.
In the C++ programming language ~ is the destructor. It gets called when you destroy (reaching end of scope, or calling delete to a pointer to) the instance of the object. Even worse, it's also called bitwise negation (complement), as in the following contexts/examples:
int a = ~100;
int b = ~a;
Output:
-101
100
Hackers would love it if ~ stood for Bitcoin.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5343437/meaning-of-tilde-symbol-in-c
In the C++ programming language ~ is the destructor. It gets called when you destroy (reaching end of scope, or calling delete to a pointer to) the instance of the object. Even worse, it's also called bitwise negation (complement), as in the following contexts/examples:
int a = ~100;
int b = ~a;
Output:
-101
100
Hackers would love it if ~ stood for Bitcoin.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5343437/meaning-of-tilde-symbol-in-c
April 11, 2015, 08:58:47 AM
I'm kind of reserved when using the tilde (~) symbol. There are certain people who refer to the use of ~ when it comes to expressing approximation so probably there might be confusion here. Anyway, since I can see $ on my laptop keyboard, on my android phone, the euro and pound symbol is also there, so probably if btc somehow managed to reached mainstream adoption we ought to find the BTC becoming a standard symbol.
April 11, 2015, 08:34:18 AM
Also, regarding “approximately equal”, I don't want to spend “approx. 20.99”, but rather “exactly 20.99”.
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