A proposal to change Bitcoin’s smallest unit from “satoshi” to “bit” is drawing renewed interest, with developers, founders, and thought leaders weighing in.
The proposal was introduced by Synonym CEO John Carvalho last month and is known as BIP 177.
Under current standards, 1 BTC equals 100 million satoshis. However, Carvalho’s plan would reverse that perspective by redefining the smallest unit, 1 satoshi, as “1 bitcoin,” making what is now known as 1 BTC equal to 100 million bitcoins (or bits).
In this model, a transaction of 0.0001 BTC would be expressed as 10,000 bitcoins. Likewise, owning 10.23486 BTC would translate to 1,023,486,000 bitcoins.
Carvalho argues that the shift would simplify how users understand the top crypto, reduce cognitive friction, and align the user interface with BTC’s transactional structure. He noted:
“Bitcoin’s ledger represents values as integral base units. The decimal point is merely a human-imposed abstraction.”
Mixed reactions trail Bitcoin’s BIP 177
The proposal has triggered enthusiasm and concern within the crypto community.
Twitter founder and Bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey backed the change, saying that the term “sats” creates a psychological barrier for new users.
According to him:
“‘sats’ is definitely the wrong term and is stopping everyday people from acquiring and spending Bitcoin.”
JAN3 CEO Samson Mow also supports a rebase to bits but recommends waiting until Bitcoin hits dollar-satoshi parity. At that point, he suggests adding two additional decimal places, called “satcents,” to enhance granularity.
He stated:
“Bitcoin will just be synonymous with money, so there won’t be a need for sats.”
However, not everyone agrees with the move as they cite concerns about BTC’s broader security and understanding within the wider community.
Yu Xian, the founder of blockchain security firm Slowmist, warned that the change could lead to misinterpretation and technical confusion for noobs in the industry.
Xian furthered:
“If this bip177 passes, some lousy platforms might mess up and foolishly record 1 bitcoin as 1 BTC. You’ve got to believe, the more basic the security issue, the more likely it is to happen… Of course, related scams might pop up too.”
Despite the concerns, Carvalho insists critics haven’t truly engaged with the content of BIP 177.
He said:
“Most of the people that are scared of BIP 177 haven’t actually read it and are not even attempting to refute the actual motivations within it.”
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