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BIP177: bitcoins => bitcoin #1856

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BIP177: bitcoins => bitcoin #1856

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bitcoins => bitcoin
moneyball May 21, 2025
ceead6f
Addressed feedback to treat bitcoin as uncountable noun
moneyball Jun 4, 2025
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20 changes: 11 additions & 9 deletions bip-0177.mediawiki
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Expand Up @@ -28,7 +28,9 @@ By redefining the base unit as "one bitcoin," this BIP aligns user perception wi

* Internally, the base units remain unchanged.
* Historically, 1 bitcoin = 100,000,000 base units. Under this proposal, "1 bitcoin" equals one base unit.
* What was previously referred to as "1 bitcoin" now corresponds to 100 million bitcoins under the new definition.
* What was previously referred to as "1 bitcoin" now corresponds to 100 million bitcoin under the new definition.
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Perhaps consider whether to explicitly state in this draft that "bitcoin" be preferred to "bitcoins"

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As mentioned in my comment, I don't think this BIP needs to take a stance beyond just adopting its preferred usage.

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A possible outcome if it isn't explicit, is people opening pull requests to fix the grammar.


NOTE: This BIP adopts the convention of treating "bitcoin" as an uncountable noun.

'''Terminology:'''

Expand All @@ -39,22 +41,22 @@ By redefining the base unit as "one bitcoin," this BIP aligns user perception wi
'''Display and Formatting:'''

* Applications SHOULD allow users to toggle between the legacy BTC format (1 BTC = 100,000,000 base units) and the new integral format (1 bitcoin = 1 base unit).
* Use of the ₿ symbol MAY be used to represent base-unit bitcoins but is OPTIONAL.
* Use of the ₿ symbol MAY be used to represent base-unit bitcoin but is OPTIONAL.

Example 1:

* Old display: <code>0.00010000 bitcoin</code>
* New display: <code>₿10,000</code> or <code>10,000 bitcoins</code> or <code>0.00010000 BTC</code>
* New display: <code>₿10,000</code> or <code>10,000 bitcoin</code> or <code>0.00010000 BTC</code>

Example 2:

* Old display: <code>10.23486 bitcoin</code>
* New display: <code>₿1,023,486,000</code> or <code>1,023,486,000 bitcoins</code> or <code>10.23486 BTC</code>
* New display: <code>₿1,023,486,000</code> or <code>1,023,486,000 bitcoin</code> or <code>10.23486 BTC</code>

Example 3:

* Old display: <code>0.345 BTC</code>
* New display: No changes required or <code>₿34,500,000</code> or <code>34,500,000 bitcoins</code>
* New display: No changes required or <code>₿34,500,000</code> or <code>34,500,000 bitcoin</code>

NOTE: Traditional number display abbreviations, like <code>2.5M</code> for millions, are also optional.

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -134,10 +136,10 @@ Some wallets, such as Bitkit, have successfully adopted integer-only displays, d

===Test Vectors===

* Old: <code>1.00000000 Bitcoin</code> → New: <code>₿100,000,000</code> (or <code>100,000,000 bitcoins</code>)
* Old: <code>0.00010000 Bitcoin</code> → New: <code>₿10,000</code> (or <code>10,000 bitcoins</code>)
* Old: <code>0.00500000 Bitcoin</code> → New: <code>₿500,000</code> (or <code>500,000 bitcoins</code>)
* Old: <code>0.005 BTC</code> → New: <code>0.005 BTC</code> (or <code>₿500,000</code> or <code>500,000 bitcoins</code>)
* Old: <code>1.00000000 Bitcoin</code> → New: <code>₿100,000,000</code> (or <code>100,000,000 bitcoin</code>)
* Old: <code>0.00010000 Bitcoin</code> → New: <code>₿10,000</code> (or <code>10,000 bitcoin</code>)
* Old: <code>0.00500000 Bitcoin</code> → New: <code>₿500,000</code> (or <code>500,000 bitcoin</code>)
* Old: <code>0.005 BTC</code> → New: <code>0.005 BTC</code> (or <code>₿500,000</code> or <code>500,000 bitcoin</code>)

All formerly fractional representations now directly correspond to whole-number multiples of the base unit.

Expand Down