Units: Difference between revisions

From Bitcoin Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
← Older editNewer edit →
Luke-jr (talk | contribs)
Clerks, Administrators, Editors
3,074 edits
Restore lost information, and clean up introduction
Chinawat (talk | contribs)
Editors
5 edits
Undo revision 54896 by Luke-jr (talk)
Line 1: Line 1:
Most commonly, units of bitcoin are expressed in decimal exponents such as BTC ("bitcoins"), mBTC ("millibitcoins") and μBTC ("bits").
While units in Bitcoin usually follow the Standard Metric Notation system, this page lists the most commonly-used units. These can be expressed in any number of ways, from using some form of the prefix to an abbreviation of both the prefix and adding Bitcoin. Bitcoin as a unit of account is sometimes written without capitalization, but since it is not a genericized term yet and refers to one specific type of crypto-currency, capitalization is left as an exercise for the reader.


==Decimal metric units==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
 
The BTC unit was chosen to represent a value of 10<sup>8</sup> so as to give sub-unit precision rather than large whole numbers.
Mirroring the standard ''Le Système International d'Unités'', this allows for divisions of 1/10th (deci-bitcoins, dBTC), 1/100th (centi-bitcoins, cBTC), 1/1 000th (milli-bitcoins, mBTC), and 1/1 000 000 (micro-bitcoins, μBTC).
 
===Bits===
 
Many have adopted the practice of referring to the micro-bitcoin metric sub-unit as "bits".
<!-- FIXME: stub -->
 
==Table of all units==
 
This table is intended to include all well-defined units of bitcoin value, including less common and niche units.
 
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;font-family:Console, fixed, monospace"
|-
|-
! Unit !! Abbreviation !! Decimal (BTC) !! Alternate names !! Info
! Unit !! Abbreviation !! Decimal (BTC) !! Alternate names !! Info
|-
|-
| Algorithmic maximum || || 20,999,999.9769&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || || [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28sum%28210000*floor%285000000000%2F2^i%29%29%2C+i%3D0+to+32%29%2F10000000 Calculation]
| Algorithmic Max || - || 20,999,999.9769<ref>[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28sum%28210000*floor%285000000000%2F2^i%29%29%2C+i%3D0+to+32%29%2F10000000 Wolfram Alpha Calculation]</ref> || - || Current Max Possible: 20999839.77085749<ref>Current actually possible must take into account duplicate coinbases, destroyed fees, and provably destroyed coin outputs including the unspendable Genesis block. Some of this can be derived from 'bitcoin-cli gettxoutsetinfo' and subtracting that value from the then-current theoretically-possible maximum. As of this writing, it is 160.20604251 of unspendable BTC.</ref>
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
|-
| tam-bitcoin || || 2,814,749.76710656 || || 1,0000,0000 tonal
| megaBitcoin || MBTC || 1,000,000 || - || Rarely used in context
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
|-
| mega-bitcoin || MBTC || 1,000,000&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || || Rare in context
| kiloBitcoin || kBTC || 1,000 || - || Rarely used in context
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
|-
| kilo-bitcoin || kBTC || 1,000&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || || Rare in context
| Original Block Reward || - || 50 || block || Until [[Halving day 2012|block 210000]]
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
|-
| hecto-bitcoin || hBTC || 100&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || || Rare
| Current Block Reward || - || 25 || block || As of [[Halving day 2012|block 210000]]
|-
| decaBitcoin || daBTC || 10 || - || Rarely used in context
|-
| Bitcoin || BTC || 1 || coin || Base unit (100 million [[satoshi (unit)|satoshis]])
|-
| deciBitcoin || dBTC || 0.1 || - || Rarely used in context
|-
| centiBitcoin || cBTC || 0.01 || bitcent || Frequently used until the [[November 2013 bubble]]
|-
|-
| Initial block subsidy || || 50&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || || Until [[Halving day 2012|block 210000]]
| [[millibit|milliBitcoin]] || mBTC || 0.001 || millibit, millicoin, millie || Thousandth of a Bitcoin, frequently used subdivision
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| bong-bitcoin || ᵇTBC || 42.94967296 || || 1,0000 tonal
|-
|-
| Current block subsidy || || 25&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || block || As of [[Halving day 2012|block 210000]]
| [[bit (unit)|microBitcoin]] || μBTC || 0.000001 || bit || Millionth of a Bitcoin, frequently used subdivision
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
| deca-bitcoin || daBTC || 10&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || || Rare
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| mill-bitcoin || ᵐTBC || 2.68435456 || || 1000 tonal
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
| bitcoin || BTC || 1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || coin || SI base unit
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| san-bitcoin || ˢTBC || 0.16777216 || || 100 tonal
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
| deci-bitcoin || dBTC || 0.1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || || Rare
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| ton-bitcoin || ᵗTBC || 0.01048576 || || 10 tonal
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
| centi-bitcoin || cBTC || 0.01&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || bitcent || Formerly frequent<ref>Bitcents were frequent until the [[November 2013 bubble]]</ref>
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
| [[millibit|milli-bitcoin]] || mBTC || 0.001&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || millibit, millie || Occasional
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| bitcoin || TBC || 0.00065536 || || Tonal base unit
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| bitcoin-ton || TBCᵗ || 0.00004096 || || 0.1 tonal
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| bitcoin-san || TBCˢ || 0.00000256 || || 0.01 tonal
|- style="background-color:#ddddff"
| [[bit (unit)|micro-bitcoin]] || μBTC || 0.000001&nbsp;&nbsp; || bit || Frequent
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| bitcoin-mill || TBCᵐ || 0.00000016 || || 0.001 tonal
|-
|-
| || || 0.0000001&nbsp; || finney<ref>[http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ewp3z/i_propose_we_rename_00000001_btc_as_the_finney/ After Hal Finney, Bitcoin Pioneer]</ref> ||
| Finney<ref>[http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ewp3z/i_propose_we_rename_00000001_btc_as_the_finney/ After Hal Finney, Bitcoin Pioneer]</ref> || - || 0.0000001 || Finney || 10 millionth, 1e-7
|- style="background-color:#ddffdd"
| bitcoin-bong || TBCᵇ || 0.00000001 || || 0.0001 tonal
|-
|-
| || || 0.00000001 || [[Satoshi (unit)|satoshi]] || Blockchain value
| [[Satoshi (unit)|satoshi]] || - || 0.00000001 || ''none'' || 100 millionth, 1e-8, smallest possible unit
|}
|}


Revision as of 15:04, 5 March 2015

While units in Bitcoin usually follow the Standard Metric Notation system, this page lists the most commonly-used units. These can be expressed in any number of ways, from using some form of the prefix to an abbreviation of both the prefix and adding Bitcoin. Bitcoin as a unit of account is sometimes written without capitalization, but since it is not a genericized term yet and refers to one specific type of crypto-currency, capitalization is left as an exercise for the reader.

Unit Abbreviation Decimal (BTC) Alternate names Info
Algorithmic Max - 20,999,999.9769[1] - Current Max Possible: 20999839.77085749[2]
megaBitcoin MBTC 1,000,000 - Rarely used in context
kiloBitcoin kBTC 1,000 - Rarely used in context
Original Block Reward - 50 block Until block 210000
Current Block Reward - 25 block As of block 210000
decaBitcoin daBTC 10 - Rarely used in context
Bitcoin BTC 1 coin Base unit (100 million satoshis)
deciBitcoin dBTC 0.1 - Rarely used in context
centiBitcoin cBTC 0.01 bitcent Frequently used until the November 2013 bubble
milliBitcoin mBTC 0.001 millibit, millicoin, millie Thousandth of a Bitcoin, frequently used subdivision
microBitcoin μBTC 0.000001 bit Millionth of a Bitcoin, frequently used subdivision
Finney[3] - 0.0000001 Finney 10 millionth, 1e-7
satoshi - 0.00000001 none 100 millionth, 1e-8, smallest possible unit

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wolfram Alpha Calculation
  2. ↑ Current actually possible must take into account duplicate coinbases, destroyed fees, and provably destroyed coin outputs including the unspendable Genesis block. Some of this can be derived from 'bitcoin-cli gettxoutsetinfo' and subtracting that value from the then-current theoretically-possible maximum. As of this writing, it is 160.20604251 of unspendable BTC.
  3. ↑ After Hal Finney, Bitcoin Pioneer
Retrieved from "https://en.bitcoin.it/w/index.php?title=Units&oldid=54898"