The proposal to rename satoshis to bitcoins, lobbied by the famous programmer Jack Dorsey, received widespread support this week.
The initiative called BIP-177 suggests using the word bitcoin instead of the basic unit satoshi, which is equal to one hundred millionth of a coin. In this case, a whole coin will be called BTC and will consist of 100 million bitcoins. If this innovation is implemented, instead of, for example, 0.0045 BTC in a crypto wallet balance, there will be 450,000 bitcoins stored.
Satoshis cause confusion for newcomers who are just starting to use bitcoins. Parts of bitcoin sound better, and just bitcoin is optimal, Dorsey wrote.
The head of the Synonym company, which develops software based on BTC, John Carvalho reported that support for his proposed BIP-177 among members of the crypto community has noticeably increased thanks to Jack, who is advocating for a rebranding of bitcoin. Among others, in the ranks of like-minded individuals, Dorsey found Bob Bodily, the director of the Odin.fun platform for the issuance of meme coins on the BTC network, who noted that the proposal should be put to a public vote.
Many people defend satoshis and fight against innovations. The most ardent critics call for unity and solidarity, but I am not worried about that. The proposal is 100% rational, so it is hard to reject, and we only see emotional outbursts, said Carvalho.
One of the opponents of the initiative, podcaster Bram Kantstein, believes that renaming satoshis to bitcoins goes against the principle that the maximum supply of cryptocurrency is limited to 21 million coins. Moreover, Kantstein sees no problem with using basic units, as all members of the crypto community have long been accustomed to the fact that BTC consists of 100 million satoshis.