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== Currency code ==
[[File:Btc-sans.png|thumb|128px|The prevailing Bitcoin symbol]]By far the most commonly used symbol for Bitcoin is [[:{{ns:File}}:Btc-sans.png|{{BTC}}]], a capital letter '''B''' with two falling strokes at the top and bottom. This symbol was designed by [[Satoshi Nakamoto]] for the icon of an early version of the [[reference client|original Bitcoin client]], though the very first versions of the Bitcoin client used "BC" instead of any special symbol. Presumably the symbol was intended to look similar to other currency symbols. The symbol represents the currency [[Units|unit]] "bitcoin" (100 million [[Satoshi (unit)|satoshi]]), as well as the Bitcoin network and currency itself. The bitcoin currency unit is also commonly given the informal currency code '''BTC'''.
The [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/ISO_4217 currency code] for Bitcoin is '''BTC'''. However, at the moment it is an [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/ISO_4217#Without_currency_code unofficial code] according to the ISO 4217 standard but the official code according to the Bitcoin community.


A [https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=7205.msg112577 request] has been made at the [http://www.six-group.com/ organization] maintaining the currency codes in the ISO 4217 standard to support BTC. This has been declined mainly on bases that organizations such as [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Reuters Reuters] and [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Bloomberg Bloomberg] are not reporting on the Bitcoin currency. when this changes a request can be resubmitted.
The Bitcoin sign is part of Unicode 10.0 (released June 2017)<ref name="uc">http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode10.0.0/</ref> with code point U+20BF (₿). As of June 2017, font support for the Bitcoin sign is in macOS Sierra, iOS, Android O [https://developer.android.com/preview/download.html beta], Windows 10 [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/d4efb316-79f0-1aa1-9ef3-dcada78f3fa0/get-the-windows-10-creators-update Creators Update] and several Linux releases. After being rejected in 2011,<ref>http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11129-bitcoin.pdf</ref> the Bitcoin sign was accepted for Unicode in November 2015<ref>https://twitter.com/ken_lunde/status/661351862155669506</ref> and first appeared in Unicode 10.0 in 2017.<ref name="uc"/>


== Currency sign ==
Historically, similar looking Unicode symbols such as the Thai Baht (฿) have been used because the Unicode standard at the time had not included a symbol for Bitcoin. The capital letter B with stroke (Ƀ) was also used in contexts where it was likely that using the Baht symbol would cause confusion.


There is no official currency sign for Bitcoin as of December 2010. As an alternative, the BTC currency code can be used. Some existing Unicode symbols have been proposed but also serious work is being done on creating a custom Bitcoin sign with its own official [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Unicode Unicode] that is recognized by the [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Unicode_Consortium Unicode Consortium]. Note that a currency sign is more complex than creating a logo as will be explained below.
== Currency code ==
 
The [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/ISO_4217 ISO 4217 currency code] for Bitcoin is '''XBT'''. However, at the moment it is an [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/ISO_4217#Without_currency_code unofficial code] according to the ISO 4217 standard. The unit name '''BTC''' is also commonly used to represent one bitcoin, but it violates ISO 4217 because it begins with "BT", the country code of Bhutan. Bhutan does not actually use the code BTC for any currency, and XBT has not yet defined which unit it represents (just that it represents ''some'' unit of bitcoin), so the Bitcoin community is likely to continue using mainly BTC as a unit name and currency code for some time.
[[File:Example-unicode-reference-currency-signs.png|256px|thumb|right|Examples of Unicode currency sign reference glyphs]]
 
=== New Unicode symbol ===
 
In some discussions [https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=41.0 41], [https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=369.0 369] and [https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=7215.0 7215] on the bitcoin forum several designs of an official Bitcoin sign have been proposed. This section on the Wiki is intended to streamline the process of arriving at an official Bitcoin currency sign with its own Unicode character code.


==== Goal ====
A [http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-foundation-standardise-bitcoin-symbol-code-next-year/ formal application] by the Financial Standards Working Group of the [[Bitcoin Foundation]] is nearing completion.<sup>[still true?]</sup> This application would request ISO 4217 standard to support XBT.
Having a unique Bitcoin currency sign will allow typographers to add their currency sign design in their fonts. This is similar as implementing support for the euro sign. Each font has its own version of the euro sign that fits with the style observed in the characters in the rest of the fonts of their typefaces. Note that the Unicode Consortium does not endorse Bitcoin in any way by assigning a Unicode character code, however, having a Unicode for the Bitcoin sign will also be good for PR and help having Bitcoin be taken more seriously.


==== Requirements and criteria ====
== Inserting the symbol ==
In lieu of the Bitcoin symbol being included in the Unicode standard and its adoption into typographic fonts, {{BTC}} can be included in many documents by other means.  This section focuses on online publications but the basic concepts apply to all publishing forms.


A reference Bitcoin sign could/should/must be:
==== Image ====
* recognizable as a [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Currency_sign currency sign] such as $ € ¥ £ ¢ (e.g. with one or two vertical or horzontal bars)
The Bitcoin symbol can be inserted as an image, as is done in the opening sentence of this page. The benefit of this method is that any client that can display images in line with text will be able to display the symbol. The down side to this method is that as an image, it does not always degrade as nicely as a font. If using raster image, scaling the image up/down (to fit with surrounding text) may result in pixelation, inappropriate filtering, and other issues typical of raster images.  If using a vector image, scaling concerns do not apply but the display would still not benefit from font-specific rendering features such as [[wikipedia:hinting|hinting]]. Both forms also suffer from client-specific considerations such as whether or not a box will be drawn around the image and the general inability to easily style its display; applying color requires specific CSS, and italicizing would require a CSS skew transform, for example.
* not confusing with existing currency sign such as Thai Bath ฿
* build from recognizable existing characters found on most [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Keyboard_layout#United_States QWERTY keyboards] such as bar |, minus -, hash # and/or capital B referring to currencies and '''B'''itcoin
* easy to use in handwriting
* easy to compose with one or more [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GtkComposeTable#The%20Gtk%20Compose%20Table compose seuquences] that are still free and refer to the elements recognizable in the sign (For example the euro sign can be composed from = and C even though the = and C are not part of how it is pronounced.)
* ''possible'' to implement in [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Serif serif and sans-serif] (Most of the [http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U20A0.pdf Unicode reference implementations] are made with serifs but sans-serif also exist in sans-serif fonts. So a reference implementation in serif to what is found in the PDF is preferred.)
* ''possible'' to implement in regular, italic, bold and bold italic (for sans-serif the italic will simply be a slanted version)
* in [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/SVG SVG] and use this [http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=FVY8W1W3 template] (save as bitcoin-sign-20110719-template.svg) with updated metadata and public domain or similar free/open/libre license


Note that a reference Bitcoin sign will only be used as a reference by the Unicode Consortium and it is up to typographers to implement their version matching the style of their typefaces and fonts.
When using an image in running text on a webpage it's generally a good idea to set the ''alt'' property to an appropriate value.  For example, when depicting amounts you might use ''alt="BTC"''.  Text including the symbol copied and pasted will then remain syntactically correct, replacing the symbol with BTC.


==== Submissions====
Sample HTML code:
<nowiki>
.btc { height:1em; position:relative; top:0.17em; cursor:text; }
  ...
  Please send <img src="btc-sans.png" alt="BTC" class="btc" />0.01 to ...
  Please send <img src="btc-sans.svg" alt="BTC" class="btc" />0.01 to ...</nowiki>


It is possible to submit proposals for a '''reference implementation''' below until (community must determine date). They will be judged by (community must form committee for this). If you have problems submitting your design, ask a friend with knowledge on editing wikipedia for help.
==== Font Awesome icon ====
The Font Awesome collection of icons and symbols also includes the Bitcoin symbol.<ref>http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icon/btc/</ref>


{| class="wikitable sortable"
Sample HTML code:
|-
<nowiki> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.4.0/css/font-awesome.min.css">
! Preview !! Handwritten !! Associations !! Compose sequence(s) !! Designer !! Link to SVG file !! Notes
...
|-
Please send <i class="fa fa-btc"></i>0.01 to ...</nowiki>
| [[File:Bitcoin-proposal-1.png|128px]]
|| [[File:Hashbtc.jpg|128px]]
|| hash (#), numeral three (3)
|| B#, #B, 3#, #3
|| Wareen
|| [http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=MRfcm0Cn Bitcoin-proposal-1.svg]
|| example submission based on original design idea from [https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=41.msg348274#msg348274 RylandAlmanza]
|-
| [[File:Bitcoin-sign-20110719.png|128px]]
|| [[file:Img075.jpg|128px]]
|| double barred dollar sign ($), capital b (B)
|| B|, |B, B=, =B
|| Pander
|| [http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=XYsc9DeS bitcoin-sign-20110719.svg]
|| example submission based on [[File:F33980a445.png]]
|}


=== Existing Unicode symbol ===
==== Font ====
As few fonts include the Bitcoin symbol, a special font was created by [[User:Theymos|Theymos]], originally for the [[BitcoinTalk]] forum.<ref>https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=88647</ref> The font consists of only the Bitcoin symbol ({{BTC}}) used in the glyph for the capital letter B. The text "BTC" can be entered and styled with this font, causing it to be replaced entirely with just the symbol on those systems that support this font, while on other systems the text "BTC" is retained. Similarly, copying and pasting text will still retain "BTC". This method is used on BitcoinTalk and the Bitcoin Wiki.


There is a discussion over [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=369.0 which Unicode symbol might be the best suited] for bitcoin.
Sample HTML code:
<nowiki> @font-face { font-family: BTC; src: url(BTC.ttf); }
...
Please send <span style="font-family:BTC, sans-serif">BTC</span>0.01 to ...</nowiki>


To type Unicode characters, refer to:
==See Also==


* [[Microsoft Windows Unicode Input]]
* [[Promotional graphics]]
* [[How to easily type the circled B symbol on a Mac]]


It has led to the following options:
==References==
<references/>


{| class="wikitable sortable"
[[Category:Introduction]]
|-
! Proposed character !! Description & Pros & Cons !! Unicode name !! Unicode decimal input !! Unicode hex input
|-
| ฿ ||
* Pros: Gives a currency-like look (it is the symbol for an existing currency, the Thai Baht, but other currency symbols often get reused, like the $); displayed correctly on all known OSes
* Cons: It is already used for the Thai currency, and might confuse people
|| THAI CURRENCY SYMBOL BAHT ||  || Alt +0E3F
|-
| Ⓑ ||
*Pros: Similar to current bitcoin.org logo
|| CIRCLED LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B ||  || Alt +24B7
|-
| B⃫ ||
|| LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B + COMBINING LONG DOUBLE SOLIDUS OVERLAY || U+0042 U+20EB
|-
| B⃦ ||
*Pros: Similar to current bitcoin.org logo
|| LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B + COMBINING DOUBLE VERTICAL STROKE OVERLAY || U+0042 U+20E6
|-
| ⓑ ||
*Pros: Small b represent the unit bit in computer where capital B is Byte
* Cons: Small fonts are harder to read
|| CIRCLED LATIN SMALL LETTER B || ||Alt +24D1
|-
|ᴃ|| || LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL BARRED B || ||Alt +1D03
|-
|Ƀ||
*Pros: [http://www.ecogex.com/bitcoin/ See the project Ƀ Another Bitcoin identity]
|| LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B WITH STROKE || ||Alt +0243
|-
|B⃦|| ||  || ||
|-
|␢|| || (Unicode Block: Control Pictures) BLANK SYMBOL (graphic for space) || || Alt +2422
|-
|-
| 币 || pronounced "bi", combines "b", turned "c" and "T", many Chinese users, also 网民币 - Wangminbi, "The Netizen's Currency" (pun on Renminbi) || Chinese for "Currency"  || || U+5E01
|-
| β ||
*Pros: Fluid look and easy to write; Lowercase
|| GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA || ||Alt +03B2
|-
|¤|| || CURRENCY SIGN ||Alt 0164 ||Alt +00A4
|-
|Ƅ||  || LATIN CAPITAL LETTER TONE SIX || ||Alt +0184
|-
|∄|| || (Unicode Block: Mathematical Operators) THERE DOES NOT EXIST || ||Alt +2204
|-
|ઘ|| || GUJARATI LETTER GHA (Indo-Aryan language)  || ||Alt +0A98
|-
|ϭ|| || (Unicode Block: Greek and Coptic) COPTIC SMALL LETTER SHIMA || ||Alt +03ED
|-
| ɸ  || contains 0 and I || Greek small Theta || || U+0278
|-
| ∆  || delta for "digital"  || Greek capital Delta ||  || U+0394
|-
|[[Image:Bitcoin Symbol Suggestion circled struck-through B.png|20px]]||
* Cons: Does not exist in the Unicode standard
||  || ||
|-
|[[Image:Bitcoin Symbol Suggestion rotated power.png|20px]]||
* Cons: Does not exist in the Unicode standard
||  || ||
|-
|ⓢ|| Purposed as a smaller unit of bitcoin. E.g. A hundredth of a bitcoin || CIRCLED LATIN SMALL LETTER S  || || Alt +24E2
|-
|≡ || three bars like three bits || || || Alt + 240
|-
|[[Image:Bat.png|32x32px|alt=The b'at]]
the b'at
||
* Pros: Is round like a coin. Contains the B for Bitcoin. Borrows a style widelly associated with the internet. Not used for other meanings.
* Cons: Does not exist in the Unicode standard
||  || ||
|-
|A 'C' with '1' and '0' inside [[http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/8840/bitcoinlogodraft.png]]||
* Cons: Does not exist in the Unicode standard
||  || ||
|-
|A 'C' with a 'circle' and 'dot' inside [[http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/6006/bitcoinlogodraftii.png]]||
* Cons: Does not exist in the Unicode standard
||  || ||
|-
| ◪|| || (Unicode Block: Geometric Shapes) SQUARE WITH LOWER RIGHT DIAGONAL HALF BLACK  || || Alt +25EA
|-
|[[http://hosting11.imagecross.com/image-hosting-61/2381unicode1s.png]][[http://hosting11.imagecross.com/image-hosting-61/162bitcoin_uni_s.png]]||
* Cons: Does not exist in the Unicode standard
||  || ||
|-
|☺|| ||WHITE SMILING FACE|| || Alt +263A
|-
|☻|| ||BLACK SMILING FACE|| || Alt +263B
|-
|㋡|| ||CIRCLED KATAKANA TU' (Japanese)|| || Alt +32E1
|}

Latest revision as of 15:52, 25 April 2019

The prevailing Bitcoin symbol

By far the most commonly used symbol for Bitcoin is ₿, a capital letter B with two falling strokes at the top and bottom. This symbol was designed by Satoshi Nakamoto for the icon of an early version of the original Bitcoin client, though the very first versions of the Bitcoin client used "BC" instead of any special symbol. Presumably the symbol was intended to look similar to other currency symbols. The symbol represents the currency unit "bitcoin" (100 million satoshi), as well as the Bitcoin network and currency itself. The bitcoin currency unit is also commonly given the informal currency code BTC.

The Bitcoin sign is part of Unicode 10.0 (released June 2017)[1] with code point U+20BF (₿). As of June 2017, font support for the Bitcoin sign is in macOS Sierra, iOS, Android O beta, Windows 10 Creators Update and several Linux releases. After being rejected in 2011,[2] the Bitcoin sign was accepted for Unicode in November 2015[3] and first appeared in Unicode 10.0 in 2017.[1]

Historically, similar looking Unicode symbols such as the Thai Baht (฿) have been used because the Unicode standard at the time had not included a symbol for Bitcoin. The capital letter B with stroke (Ƀ) was also used in contexts where it was likely that using the Baht symbol would cause confusion.

Currency code

The ISO 4217 currency code for Bitcoin is XBT. However, at the moment it is an unofficial code according to the ISO 4217 standard. The unit name BTC is also commonly used to represent one bitcoin, but it violates ISO 4217 because it begins with "BT", the country code of Bhutan. Bhutan does not actually use the code BTC for any currency, and XBT has not yet defined which unit it represents (just that it represents some unit of bitcoin), so the Bitcoin community is likely to continue using mainly BTC as a unit name and currency code for some time.

A formal application by the Financial Standards Working Group of the Bitcoin Foundation is nearing completion.[still true?] This application would request ISO 4217 standard to support XBT.

Inserting the symbol

In lieu of the Bitcoin symbol being included in the Unicode standard and its adoption into typographic fonts, ₿ can be included in many documents by other means. This section focuses on online publications but the basic concepts apply to all publishing forms.

Image

The Bitcoin symbol can be inserted as an image, as is done in the opening sentence of this page. The benefit of this method is that any client that can display images in line with text will be able to display the symbol. The down side to this method is that as an image, it does not always degrade as nicely as a font. If using raster image, scaling the image up/down (to fit with surrounding text) may result in pixelation, inappropriate filtering, and other issues typical of raster images. If using a vector image, scaling concerns do not apply but the display would still not benefit from font-specific rendering features such as hinting. Both forms also suffer from client-specific considerations such as whether or not a box will be drawn around the image and the general inability to easily style its display; applying color requires specific CSS, and italicizing would require a CSS skew transform, for example.

When using an image in running text on a webpage it's generally a good idea to set the alt property to an appropriate value. For example, when depicting amounts you might use alt="BTC". Text including the symbol copied and pasted will then remain syntactically correct, replacing the symbol with BTC.

Sample HTML code: 

 .btc { height:1em; position:relative; top:0.17em; cursor:text; }
  ...
  Please send <img src="btc-sans.png" alt="BTC" class="btc" />0.01 to ...
  Please send <img src="btc-sans.svg" alt="BTC" class="btc" />0.01 to ...

Font Awesome icon

The Font Awesome collection of icons and symbols also includes the Bitcoin symbol.[4]

Sample HTML code: 

 <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.4.0/css/font-awesome.min.css">
 ...
 Please send <i class="fa fa-btc"></i>0.01 to ...

Font

As few fonts include the Bitcoin symbol, a special font was created by Theymos, originally for the BitcoinTalk forum.[5] The font consists of only the Bitcoin symbol (₿) used in the glyph for the capital letter B. The text "BTC" can be entered and styled with this font, causing it to be replaced entirely with just the symbol on those systems that support this font, while on other systems the text "BTC" is retained. Similarly, copying and pasting text will still retain "BTC". This method is used on BitcoinTalk and the Bitcoin Wiki.

Sample HTML code: 

 @font-face { font-family: BTC; src: url(BTC.ttf); }
 ...
 Please send <span style="font-family:BTC, sans-serif">BTC</span>0.01 to ...

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode10.0.0/
  2. ↑ http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11129-bitcoin.pdf
  3. ↑ https://twitter.com/ken_lunde/status/661351862155669506
  4. ↑ http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icon/btc/
  5. ↑ https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=88647
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