Topic: Bitcoins are so large.. - page 2. (Read 4760 times)
I wouldn't mind using mili and micro but I'd prefer moving the decimal place to the right once the exchange rate gets too high to spare people from having to deal with tiny numbers.
people arnt really used to talking about milli/micro/nano, especially when dealing with money..
Everyone (except possibly some people in Liberia and the USA) knows the difference between a meter and a millimeter or a liter and a milliliter. Understanding bitcoins and millibitcoins will be just the same and going from there to microbitcoins is pretty straightforward.
That's because there are no other deflationary currencies. They all decrease in value over time, some more slowly than others.
Some countries have removed zeros from the end of bank notes and coins, but I've never heard of adding them
Let's first see whether it stays this high.
Some countries have removed zeros from the end of bank notes and coins, but I've never heard of adding them
Let's first see whether it stays this high.
I suspect when typical transactions start to be less than 1 BTC (i.e. 1 BTC ~= $100), then there will be a lot of support for the idea of moving to microbitcoins. Dealing with quantities less than one hundredth is a pain, but so is dealing with quantities of over a million.
there are many currencies that deal in high numbers (jpy? krw? zwd (extreme)?)
but I don't really know of any that go below 1/100th of the currency's basic unit.
with cash it's easy to see a trillion dollar note vs a billion dollar note, but with online transactions the UI should help with the zeros. (eg commas, 'read' the amount, etc.)
the largest possible number base you would have to deal with is a quadrillion which is used to describe all the bitcoins in the universe..
I suspect when typical transactions start to be less than 1 BTC (i.e. 1 BTC ~= $100), then there will be a lot of support for the idea of moving to microbitcoins. Dealing with quantities less than one hundredth is a pain, but so is dealing with quantities of over a million.
Why not have 1 btc as 0.00000001current btcs?
less than one year ago it cost 10,000 bitcoins to order pizza. assuming that was a $40 order that meant 1 btc = $0.004 at the time.
it is easy at this point to wish for a smaller value per bitcoin but that value might never have gotten here if 1 btc = $0.0000004 at the time.
when the decimals gets to be a problem we can start using mbtc units. for example, today 1 mbtc = 0.5 cents each
(or $0.005, assuming a btc equals about $5)
even if btc was 0.00000001 current btcs, a 10k btc would be.. 10^12 or 1trillion btc.
numbers & currencies are easier to talk about in large numbers than small ones like 0.xxxxxx.
people arnt really used to talking about milli/micro/nano, especially when dealing with money..
Why not have 1 btc as 0.00000001current btcs?
less than one year ago it cost 10,000 bitcoins to order pizza. assuming that was a $40 order that meant 1 btc = $0.004 at the time.
it is easy at this point to wish for a smaller value per bitcoin but that value might never have gotten here if 1 btc = $0.0000004 at the time.
when the decimals gets to be a problem we can start using mbtc units. for example, today 1 mbtc = 0.5 cents each
(or $0.005, assuming a btc equals about $5)
Why not have 1 btc as 0.00000001current btcs?
(or 0.000001btc, allowing for 1 btc to be split into 100..?)
It makes a 50btc block reward 5,000,000,000 btc (or 50,000,000.00btc) reward sound much better
This means if some addon/patch is done to create more divisible bitcoins we could then use the 0.xxxxxx?
2.1 x 10^15 doesn't actually sound like that many bitcoins if you compare it to USD M2 in pennies.
If such a change is made later it might be quite confusing, but as the user base isn't that large right now, why not plan something like this to hapen after a certain date so everyone is aware and is ready for it?
Some extra notes (13/may/11):
Some examples assuming 6usd per btc and XE market rates...
Pronouncing values below 0 in the english language can get interesting...
a number like 1,543,234 can be read: one million five hundred fourty three thousand two hundred thirty four.
whilst a number like 0.1543234 is read: zero point one five four three two three four.
On the face of things current BTC looks shorter and easier, but it sounds very drone and as a listener it is very difficult to tell what value the number is.
(going to make a table of pros & cons here..)
(or 0.000001btc, allowing for 1 btc to be split into 100..?)
It makes a 50btc block reward 5,000,000,000 btc (or 50,000,000.00btc) reward sound much better
This means if some addon/patch is done to create more divisible bitcoins we could then use the 0.xxxxxx?
2.1 x 10^15 doesn't actually sound like that many bitcoins if you compare it to USD M2 in pennies.
If such a change is made later it might be quite confusing, but as the user base isn't that large right now, why not plan something like this to hapen after a certain date so everyone is aware and is ready for it?
Some extra notes (13/may/11):
| x | | Current Bitcoins | | | Bitcoins+8 (aka satoshis) | |
| 'Total BTC': | 21million | 21quadrillion |
| 100USD in BTC: | 16.66666667 | 1,666,666,667 |
| 1USD in BTC: | 0.16666667 | 16,666,667 |
| 1UScent in BTC: | 0.00166667 | 166,667 |
| 1EUR in BTC: | 0.23809524 | 23,809,524 |
| 1JPY in BTC: | 0.00206271 | 206,271 |
| 1KRW in BTC: | 0.00015319 | 15,319 |
| 1VND in BTC: | 0.00000817 | 817 |
Pronouncing values below 0 in the english language can get interesting...
a number like 1,543,234 can be read: one million five hundred fourty three thousand two hundred thirty four.
whilst a number like 0.1543234 is read: zero point one five four three two three four.
On the face of things current BTC looks shorter and easier, but it sounds very drone and as a listener it is very difficult to tell what value the number is.
(going to make a table of pros & cons here..)
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