Original title: "Killing Satoshi Nakamoto's "Satoshi", BIP-177 Starts the Bitcoin Unit War"

Original author: Golem, Odaily Planet Daily

On the evening of May 18, Jack Dorsey, the founder of the social platform X (formerly Twitter), posted a mention of "bip 177", a mysterious string that attracted widespread attention. It is reported that BIP is the abbreviation of "Bitcoin Improvement Proposal", which translates to Bitcoin Improvement Proposal; Instead of a mysterious meme symbol, Jack posted a Bitcoin improvement proposal numbered 177.

BIP-177: Make Bitcoin "More"

BIP-177 was proposed by Synonym CEO John Carvalho and aims to redefine Bitcoin's basic units and representations, without involving modifications to the core consensus protocol. The key points of the proposal are as follows:

· Change the base unit of Bitcoin from "satoshi" to "bitcoin", and deprecate either satoshi or sat;

· The currency code "BTC" is not affected by the change and can continue to be used, 1 BTC = 100, 000, 000 bitcoins;

· The "₿" symbol can be used to represent the base unit of bitcoins, 0.345 BTC= 34, 500, 000 bitcoins=₿ 34, 500, 000;

· The app should allow users to switch between the traditional BTC format and the new integer format.

In short, the BIP-177 proposal aims to "increase" everyone's Bitcoin in terms of display and format, and the total amount of Bitcoin changes from display to 2,100 trillion bitcoins, but does not really change the supply of Bitcoin.

Benefits of BIP-177:

Although it is only a change in display and formatting, John also believes that BIP-177 will have clear benefits:

· Reduced cognitive load

Because of the appreciation of Bitcoin, whether it is daily payments or on-chain use of Bitcoin often appears in decimal form, the cognitive burden of users can be reduced by redefining and displaying the basic unit of Bitcoin (BTC) as "one bitcoin". The interface that only displays integers simplifies mental arithmetic and reduces potential confusion or user error. For example, it is easier to recognise that it is easier to spend 2,000 bitcoins than to spend 0.00002 bitcoins.

· Eliminate unit fear

Currently, the price of a Bitcoin is about $104,000, which can easily trigger fear of units, thinking that the price is too expensive, but it is a bit embarrassing to say that you can only afford 0.1 Bitcoin. At the same time, for newcomers who are new to Bitcoin, the unit price is too high in terms of mere perception, which can easily trigger "ceiling anxiety", believing that the price is too expensive and it is too difficult to continue to rise. If you use the new format, a Bitcoin is only $0.00104, which is easier to rise than the price of 100,000 coins, eliminating unit fear.

· Simplify the user experience

Deprecating the original base unit satoshi simplifies the user experience and removes the artificial decimal format to make users understand that the Bitcoin protocol is essentially counting discrete units. Satoshi is a secondary monetary unit relative to Bitcoin, which increases the complexity of Bitcoin counting, making understanding Bitcoin and Satoshi two problems, and not conducive to the easier spread of Bitcoin.

Voices of opposition

Of course, there are voices of opposition in the community regarding the BIP-177 proposal.

· Destroyed "Satoshi culture"

The strongest opposition to the BIP-177 proposal lies in its proposed abandonment of the basic unit satoshi, named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the "creator of Bitcoin," which creates a cultural barrier.

· It is prone to confusion

It is easy to get confused for users who are used to using BTC as a unit, especially in the process of verbal expression. At the same time, it is also a challenge for Chinese translation, if both BTC and the basic unit bitcoin are translated into Bitcoin, there will be serious confusion in the expression process, affecting consensus.

· Impact on Bitcoin brand perception

This is a huge contradiction, and essentially the reason why Bitcoin can attract attention and get out of the circle is that it is getting more and more expensive. However, if the new format is used, the price perception of a bitcoin will become "inexpensive", which can easily affect the brand perception of bitcoin by newcomers.

"Platoon" work in a bull market?

In fact, in a bull market, as the price and purchasing power of Bitcoin increase, people will start discussing the base unit of Bitcoin. In December 2017, when the price of Bitcoin exceeded $10,000, a community member proposed BIP-176, proposing the introduction of a new Bitcoin unit of bits, with the conversion formula 1 bits= 100 satoshis=0.000001 BTC. The rationale for this proposal is also the same as BIP-177, reducing cognitive burden, making it easier for everyday use, etc. (no wonder the two proposals were compiled together), but the proposal was ultimately not adopted.

Today, the price of one Bitcoin has exceeded $100,000, which is 10 times more expensive than it was 8 years ago, and the purchasing power of Bitcoin has increased significantly again. One Bitcoin in the United States can buy a Tesla Model S Plaid, in China one Bitcoin can easily win a Xiaomi SU 7 Ultra, and in El Salvador one Bitcoin can buy an entire villa property. These purchases are already a luxury for the average person, so it makes sense that people are refocusing on the basic units of Bitcoin and how they are represented. But in essence, such upgrades have no practical effect on the Bitcoin network, and are more like people doing "face-to-face" work in a bull market. If it falls into a bear market again, the value of Bitcoin will decrease, and people may be less concerned about it.

According to BIP-177's projected implementation timeline, even if the proposal is passed, the total process is expected to take 2 years from the introduction of the concept in Phase 1 to the default display of integer formats for mainstream services and media in Phase 2, and finally to the third stage of integer format representation becoming standard. However, the enthusiasm for the implementation of this proposal may also change with market changes. Interestingly, Bitcoin Pizza Festival is just around the corner. Fifteen years ago, someone bought two pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoins, which were worth only $41 at the time, and now those 10,000 BTC are worth more than $1 billion. Today, if BIP-177 passes, people will still have to pay 35,000 bitcoins to buy these two pizzas, so why not another reincarnation.

If it doesn't improve my life, change the indicator unit.

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