Blockstream CEO Adam Back proposes radical reform in the world’s first cryptocurrency. He considers it appropriate to start actively using the concept of «bits», which will be equal to a hundred satoshi – the smallest indivisible parts of Bitcoin.
Beck tweeted his suggestion and noted that the abbreviation for «satsa» was a little confusing, while «bitsy» sounded much more organic. Despite the relative radicalism of the idea, the proposal was warmly received in the cryptocurrency community.
As a reminder, satoshi is the smallest indivisible part of bitcoin, which is 0.00000001 BTC. Accordingly, you will not be able to buy less than this amount or carry out an operation for a smaller amount of cryptocurrency. At the current BTC rate of $ 19,172, one satoshi is valued at 0.0191 cents. And it is very inconvenient to use such numbers for calculations in today’s life, because such amounts practically do not occur.
Note that Satoshi is one of the most common myths in the cryptocurrency niche among beginners. And although Bitcoin has been around for over eleven years, many novice investors still think that the minimum volume of the first cryptocurrency to acquire is 1 BTC. Therefore, they consider the coin too expensive and refuse to invest in it, because they cannot afford to buy a whole bitcoin. Read more about other myths in a separate article.
Bits in Bitcoin: what is the essence of change?
Note that the idea of bits in Bitcoin is not new: before that, they were proposed to be introduced back in 2014 to reduce confusion due to the sharp rise in the value of the cryptocurrency. This is how Beck argues his idea.
Bitcoin is too expensive, but there are too many satoshi and they are already very cheap, which can be misleading.
And indeed it is. As confirmation of the inconvenience of using satoshi, we can recall the recent tweet of Bitcoin billionaire Tyler Winklevoss. He noted that «10 years ago one dollar was worth 418,760,469 satoshi, and today the dollar is valued at 5,207 satoshi.» Thus, he made it clear that people should contact cryptocurrency and invest for the long term, not paying attention to short-term fluctuations in the exchange rate. Obviously, it would be much easier to translate these sums into bits.
He also noted that if the price of Bitcoin reaches the $ 1 million mark, 1 bit will only cost $ 1. That is, in a sense, it will be easier for ordinary people to navigate the divisions of the parts of Bitcoin: to perceive bits as «dollars» and satoshi as «cents».
Beck’s idea was supported by Bitcoin fan David Burkett. Here is his line, quoted by Decrypt.
I cannot but agree with this. Satoshi always seemed too insignificant to be included in the calculations. Dividing a coin by 100 million is also much less natural than dividing by 1 million.
Another fan of the first cryptocurrency, Arthur Morgan, also expressed his support on this issue.
I totally agree with you. We should use more bits. After the impending bull market ends, exchanges can denominate the BTC price per bit.
Note that this is a rather radical change in the perception of the main cryptocurrency and its image. Some people may not like them, but they will definitely be more understandable for those who are far from the cryptocurrency market. And this is essential for the successful adoption of Bitcoin around the world.
We believe that the term «bits» should become more popular. In the future, cryptocurrencies will become much more famous, which means that settlements in them will occur more often. Accordingly, you need to prepare for this so that all participants in the transactions can conveniently determine the amounts. This will be especially true in case of an increase in the BTC rate.
