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Topic: Its bits - The Coinbase Blog Article (Read 1550 times)

sr. member
Activity: 952
Merit: 281
June 23, 2014, 03:39:32 AM
#22
https://apicoin.io has had this option for a while, as well as being the first api and currently only api that returns bits, mbits, and btcs.
Yup APIcoin have been way ahead of the game with this.  My agency is really happy to be working with them Smiley
legendary
Activity: 1106
Merit: 1005
June 23, 2014, 03:25:54 AM
#21
Despite the frequent and repeated opposition by a vocal minority, this was bound to happen sooner or later (and needed to in order to simplify things for new users).  If people are adamant they don't like the name, feel free to call it something else, but then most people won't be able to tell what you're talking about.  Bits are almost certainly becoming a new standard that the majority will use.

Yes, but exactly because bits has become some kind of meme and very clever propaganda. Many polls were rigged to make believe having 'any' name for uXBT is the same as naming it a 'bit'. These polls and discussion topics were rigged to make bit seem more popular than they were.

By rigging the poll and faking popularity, many people believed in this popularity, making it a self fulfilling prophecy. However there are better options than naming it bit.

Also, there's still many people in support of the metric system, which is in my opinion still the best option. A nickname derived from the metric system would in my opinion be the absolute best and least confusing to newcomers.

This is already a standard practice in other currencies around the world.

Cents: derived from centi (just like percent) meaning 1/100th
Mills: (less used obviously, but used in financial markets and at fuel stations) derived from milli (meaning 1/1000th)
Mikes: (not used yet because no currency supports such small denominations) derived from micro, meaning 1/millionth)

You could even expand it to nanos, picos, femtos etc.

I would not be surprised if in 10 years or so mills and mikes will be as common use in language as cents and dimes.
legendary
Activity: 1106
Merit: 1005
June 23, 2014, 03:18:11 AM
#20
I don't mind having bits as the recognized unit of measurement
The question is how many people will recognize it as a unit of measurement
That said it is an alright for me since they said it is optional.

I like the principle of naming the uXBT but I don't agree with the name chosen.

There have been many discussions about this.
legendary
Activity: 1008
Merit: 1001
Let the chips fall where they may.
June 23, 2014, 12:23:30 AM
#19
It is not hard if you know the conversation rate, but you cannot tell the conversation rate from uBTC to mBTC to BTC without some level of research. It is not the same as converting cm to mm to meters

The only thing you have to know is the metric system.

With "bits" you have to research whether they mean 1BTC, 1µBTC or 10nBTC by calling them up and asking them to quote an unambiguous  unit.
sr. member
Activity: 644
Merit: 260
June 23, 2014, 12:01:19 AM
#18
I think this will just add to confusion as to how much exactly someone is paying or receiving. By having things priced in uBTC or mBTC will make the conversion to these units to BTC (and thus into fiat) very difficult as the conversation rate is not available without some level of research.
Conversion of uBTC or mBTC to BTC is not hard. It's trivial. That's why we're using the metric standards instead of charging in 1/16,384 BTC increments.
Converting into fiat does take a little research or knowledge, but using m/uBTC doesn't make this any harder.
It is not hard if you know the conversation rate, but you cannot tell the conversation rate from uBTC to mBTC to BTC without some level of research. It is not the same as converting cm to mm to meters
sr. member
Activity: 250
Merit: 253
June 22, 2014, 09:29:10 PM
#17
I think this will just add to confusion as to how much exactly someone is paying or receiving. By having things priced in uBTC or mBTC will make the conversion to these units to BTC (and thus into fiat) very difficult as the conversation rate is not available without some level of research.
Conversion of uBTC or mBTC to BTC is not hard. It's trivial. That's why we're using the metric standards instead of charging in 1/16,384 BTC increments.
Converting into fiat does take a little research or knowledge, but using m/uBTC doesn't make this any harder.
sr. member
Activity: 644
Merit: 260
June 22, 2014, 09:12:41 PM
#16
Just noticed a new Article was posted by Coinbase, they are adding an optional "more user-friendly" display of BTC Unit

Quote
We’ve just launched the ability to display bitcoin in “bits” - the smaller, more user-friendly version of bitcoin’s full BTC unit.
Since the dawn of time, a single Bitcoin has been divided into 8 decimal places - into 100,000,000 “Satoshis”. This means that one Satoshi is worth exactly 0.00000001 BTC - not exactly an easy number to deal with.
Recently, a proposal came up to move to “bits”. One bit (or µBTC) is worth 100 satoshis, which means that prices can easily be displayed using two decimal places, as most people are already used to. Another advantage is that bits can be easier to say and understand - for example, $1 USD is currently worth about 0.0017 BTC, or 1,700 bits.

Quote
If you want to enable this option on your Coinbase account, simply head over to your Settings page, and change the “Bitcoin units” option to BIT.

Source: http://blog.coinbase.com/post/89405189782/its-bits

I wonder if they will impose this as the default Unit for new Accounts and if this will be a default Unit for Purchasing on a merchants page who uses Coinbase.


I don't think they will impose this as the default unless the price per BTC gets really high.   When I purchase coins, I have always purchased whole coins...so I think when buying, it is much easier in whole numbers.  I'm sure others feel differently though...

I think this will just add to confusion as to how much exactly someone is paying or receiving. By having things priced in uBTC or mBTC will make the conversion to these units to BTC (and thus into fiat) very difficult as the conversation rate is not available without some level of research.
legendary
Activity: 1540
Merit: 1029
June 21, 2014, 08:54:21 AM
#15
Awesome, thanks for sharing.
legendary
Activity: 3948
Merit: 3191
Leave no FUD unchallenged
June 21, 2014, 08:12:27 AM
#14
Despite the frequent and repeated opposition by a vocal minority, this was bound to happen sooner or later (and needed to in order to simplify things for new users).  If people are adamant they don't like the name, feel free to call it something else, but then most people won't be able to tell what you're talking about.  Bits are almost certainly becoming a new standard that the majority will use.
eid
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
June 21, 2014, 04:07:19 AM
#13
Smart, something many of us have been advocating for a long time now.

There's a huge barrier to understanding bitcoin, in that, you need not possess a whole "1" bitcoin to actually have bitcoin.

By forcing people to bits it totally empowers bitcoin down to the 8th decimal.


I agree with you, the cost of purchasing 1 BTC deterred me for such a very long time, because of this I never did test/ or start too understand this technology and I regret it. When I read anything about Bitcoin or saw stuff about it in IRC, I always thought you could only purchase Coins in whole Units, this stopped me from buying any BTC because they were at 150+ dollars and that was a big investment for me too lose at the time. It was not until a friend got me to mine some Primecoin and a mess of other alts did I start to begin understanding the possibility of the Bitcoin protocol.

This seems a common misconception. I was talking to  a friend of my sister about buying some bitcoin and she said "I can't afford to spend £400 on a bitcoin!"

I wonder how many have turned away from Bitcoin because of this.
legendary
Activity: 1022
Merit: 1000
June 21, 2014, 04:01:56 AM
#12
I'm all for anything that helps people understand and use bitcoins better. 

Early on for me all the decimals were a bit annoying along with the associated notation, e.g. bitcents, mBTC, µBTC, etc.  Now I just think in satoshi and life is much easier. 

So long term I don't see this being an issue, it may even confuse people if they don't fully understand what is being done.  Now that I am familiar with bitcoin, I would never opt to display my holdings in "bits" but no reason not to let people who want to, do so.
legendary
Activity: 2394
Merit: 1216
The revolution will be digital
June 21, 2014, 03:43:50 AM
#11
A rich dude used to have 1000 coins, one day, a rich guy will have thousands bits. boy. ami i dreaming?

Well remember, coinbase is doing this for competition purposes. Bitpay announced it was using bits, and this is just coinbase's way of saying, we see you bitpay.

Are they competing or working together ? They have a lot of common investors ....AFAIK.
member
Activity: 87
Merit: 10
June 21, 2014, 01:46:22 AM
#10
Just noticed a new Article was posted by Coinbase, they are adding an optional "more user-friendly" display of BTC Unit

Quote
We’ve just launched the ability to display bitcoin in “bits” - the smaller, more user-friendly version of bitcoin’s full BTC unit.
Since the dawn of time, a single Bitcoin has been divided into 8 decimal places - into 100,000,000 “Satoshis”. This means that one Satoshi is worth exactly 0.00000001 BTC - not exactly an easy number to deal with.
Recently, a proposal came up to move to “bits”. One bit (or µBTC) is worth 100 satoshis, which means that prices can easily be displayed using two decimal places, as most people are already used to. Another advantage is that bits can be easier to say and understand - for example, $1 USD is currently worth about 0.0017 BTC, or 1,700 bits.

Quote
If you want to enable this option on your Coinbase account, simply head over to your Settings page, and change the “Bitcoin units” option to BIT.

Source: http://blog.coinbase.com/post/89405189782/its-bits

I wonder if they will impose this as the default Unit for new Accounts and if this will be a default Unit for Purchasing on a merchants page who uses Coinbase.


I don't think they will impose this as the default unless the price per BTC gets really high.   When I purchase coins, I have always purchased whole coins...so I think when buying, it is much easier in whole numbers.  I'm sure others feel differently though...

Problem is for the average persons first taste of Bitcoins, they probably don't want to spend over $600.

I like this move, but I probably won't use it.
legendary
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1000
June 21, 2014, 01:07:37 AM
#9
A rich dude used to have 1000 coins, one day, a rich guy will have thousands bits. boy. ami i dreaming?

Well remember, coinbase is doing this for competition purposes. Bitpay announced it was using bits, and this is just coinbase's way of saying, we see you bitpay.
mkc
hero member
Activity: 517
Merit: 501
June 21, 2014, 01:00:50 AM
#8
A rich dude used to have 1000 coins, one day, a rich guy will have thousands bits. boy. ami i dreaming?
legendary
Activity: 2884
Merit: 1115
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
June 21, 2014, 12:56:38 AM
#7
I don't mind having bits as the recognized unit of measurement
The question is how many people will recognize it as a unit of measurement
That said it is an alright for me since they said it is optional.
legendary
Activity: 3598
Merit: 2386
Viva Ut Vivas
June 21, 2014, 12:52:21 AM
#6
So, would 100 bitcoins be considered a Byte?
legendary
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1000
June 21, 2014, 12:46:44 AM
#5
https://apicoin.io has had this option for a while, as well as being the first api and currently only api that returns bits, mbits, and btcs.
legendary
Activity: 1456
Merit: 1001
This is the land of wolves now & you're not a wolf
June 21, 2014, 12:33:45 AM
#4
Just noticed a new Article was posted by Coinbase, they are adding an optional "more user-friendly" display of BTC Unit

Quote
We’ve just launched the ability to display bitcoin in “bits” - the smaller, more user-friendly version of bitcoin’s full BTC unit.
Since the dawn of time, a single Bitcoin has been divided into 8 decimal places - into 100,000,000 “Satoshis”. This means that one Satoshi is worth exactly 0.00000001 BTC - not exactly an easy number to deal with.
Recently, a proposal came up to move to “bits”. One bit (or µBTC) is worth 100 satoshis, which means that prices can easily be displayed using two decimal places, as most people are already used to. Another advantage is that bits can be easier to say and understand - for example, $1 USD is currently worth about 0.0017 BTC, or 1,700 bits.

Quote
If you want to enable this option on your Coinbase account, simply head over to your Settings page, and change the “Bitcoin units” option to BIT.

Source: http://blog.coinbase.com/post/89405189782/its-bits

I wonder if they will impose this as the default Unit for new Accounts and if this will be a default Unit for Purchasing on a merchants page who uses Coinbase.


I don't think they will impose this as the default unless the price per BTC gets really high.   When I purchase coins, I have always purchased whole coins...so I think when buying, it is much easier in whole numbers.  I'm sure others feel differently though...
sr. member
Activity: 381
Merit: 250
June 20, 2014, 09:05:57 PM
#3
Smart, something many of us have been advocating for a long time now.

There's a huge barrier to understanding bitcoin, in that, you need not possess a whole "1" bitcoin to actually have bitcoin.

By forcing people to bits it totally empowers bitcoin down to the 8th decimal.


I agree with you, the cost of purchasing 1 BTC deterred me for such a very long time, because of this I never did test/ or start too understand this technology and I regret it. When I read anything about Bitcoin or saw stuff about it in IRC, I always thought you could only purchase Coins in whole Units, this stopped me from buying any BTC because they were at 150+ dollars and that was a big investment for me too lose at the time. It was not until a friend got me to mine some Primecoin and a mess of other alts did I start to begin understanding the possibility of the Bitcoin protocol.
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