Bitcoin Currency Symbol ฿

[NewLibertyStandard]

I propose that we adopt the Thai baht currency symbol, ฿, as the official bitcoin currency symbol and BTC as the official bitcoin three letter currency code.

[1714825513]

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[Sabunir]

I think that using any existing currency's symbol will cause potential confusion. Another disadvantage of that symbol is that it is not a key on most keyboards, so it would not be able to be typed easily. I would think that the ampersand (&) would be a better choice.

I agree that its three-letter code could be BTC.

[NewLibertyStandard]

There's nothing wrong with multiple currencies using the same symbol. Many different currencies use the dollar sign, $. The ampersand, &, already has many very well defined meanings, including multiple uses as a prefix. It absolutely is not a currency symbol and using it as such would cause a lot more confusion than using an already existent obscure currency symbol. There is a generic currency symbol, ¤, which I considered using until I noticed the very beautiful ฿. You can type ฿ in Ubuntu by pressing Ctrl-Shift-U 0E3F and in Windows by pressing Alt 0E3F. I will be using it and I hope it catches on.

[BitcoinFX]

BTC has already become the standard for the three-letter code I think and it makes a lot of sense.

Using ฿ as the currency symbol I think is acceptable and I approve of the choice.

The fact that it is not on many keyboards could easily be overcome by including it in a copy / paste box in the Bitcoin application in future versions, if it is adopted as the official symbol.

For any windows or mac users that don't have M$ Office products the symbol is available using OpenOffice.org free and open productivity suite alternative.

Insert > Special Characters ( Font = Tahoma , Subset = Thai )



P.S. Maybe one day we might be able to trade BTCUSD in a Meta Trader style application ! 

[BitcoinFX]

I guess if we need to make it a bit more distinguishable then we could adopt the italic version.

฿

[sirius]

Do as you see fit, but personally I'd just go with bc or btc to avoid confusion.

[SmokeTooMuch]

i will stick to BTC, too.

[I-am-not-anonymous]

The Baht symbol alone Could Cause some Confusion yes, but combine it with the symbol for the Costa Rican Colón and you get;

฿₡

so you could say, please send me ฿₡50.00.  

It is not unheard of to use two or more symbols to represent a currency, for example:

the Nicaraguan Cordobas uses: C$
the Dominican Peso uses: RD$

EDIT: Remember when you could buy a shave and a haircut for "two bits"?  Well that day may soon come again.

[The Madhatter]

It is probably best to price your goods in whatever fiat currency you are dealing with online (usually USD). It is less confusing to the consumer. Trust me on this one. Once the customer has agreed to purchase whatever you are selling -- exchange it on the fly and show them the total in BCs.

This is most likely the way I am going to do it.

Cheers!

[devondad93]

There's nothing wrong with multiple currencies using the same symbol. But I think you are going to spend more times having that proposal. But for me, I will support you on that idea. Good luck!

[Timo Y]

I would say: Use whatever you feel like using!

The spirit of Bitcoin is that there is no need for a central authority or "official" policy as with other currencies.

There is no reason why we can't have multiple interchangeable symbols/notations for the same currency.

And even if we do adopt an "official" symbol, users might not stick with it anyhow. 

We should just let it evolve organically, like a word in a natural language, and not worry too much about it at this early stage.

[Anonymous]

I would say: Use whatever you feel like using!

The spirit of Bitcoin is that there is no need for a central authority or "official" policy as with other currencies.

There is no reason why we can't have multiple interchangeable symbols/notations for the same currency.

And even if we do adopt an "official" symbol, users might not stick with it anyhow. 

We should just let it evolve organically, like a word in a natural language, and not worry too much about it at this early stage.

I agree.Let the market decide.

Standards dont come from force......

[Stephen Gornick]

Interesting list:
  Top 10 not-so-famous currency symbols
  http://ibnlive.in.com/photogallery/2185-4.html#view_start

[hook]

You simply cannot use an already existing currency symbol for a new currency. Period.

Also I'm not to partial to the "let's use a letter and put one or two stripes through it" idea. I associate it with a certain fiat currency and subjectively makes me feel like it's not something serious. Don't know why, but it bothers me.

[bittersweet]

Seriously, I don't think there is a need to re-invent the wheel here.



Whether you like it or not, the reality is that the serif "B" with 4 stripes is already used as Bitcoin logo by many people, so why not use it as a currency symbol? Currency symbol MUST be unique, you can't use existing ฿ unless you want to confuse someone during transaction - you don't want to confuse people when they trade, especially when they trade money.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, I don't think there is a need to re-invent the wheel here.



Whether you like it or not, the reality is that the serif "B" with 4 stripes is already used as Bitcoin logo by many people, so why not use it as a currency symbol? Currency symbol MUST be unique, you can't use existing ฿ unless you want to confuse someone during transaction - you don't want to confuse people when they trade, especially when they trade money.

Great Idea. It seems we had it staring us in the face the whole time.

[Hal]

Interestingly, the dollar sign originated with two vertical bars rather than one, according to several theories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_sign
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cifrão

Also, supposedly Unicode allows the character to be rendered either with one line or two, entirely depending on the taste of the font designer.

[mikegogulski]

You simply cannot use an already existing currency symbol for a new currency. Period.

Currency symbol MUST be unique, you can't use existing ฿ unless you want to confuse someone during transaction

Hogwash to both of you. Go tell that to the Mexicans, who don't seem to have much trouble distinguishing their $ (peso) from $ (USD). Or to the Canadians or Australians or Kiwis who use $ for dollar. Or to the Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Icelanders and Estonians, all of which use(d) "kr" for local variations of "crown". Or the Costa Ricans and Salvadorans, both of whom use ₡ for their currency symbol.

IMHO, introducing a new symbol that's not already in Unicode is a poor idea. It took a year and a half for the € (euro currency) symbol to be included in the Unicode standard after the European Commission released the design, and that's the kind of lead time you might look forward to for an "official" government currency.

There are a whole bunch of viable existing "b" codes already in Unicode. Some of them here: http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/search.htm?q=B&preview=entity I'm partial to the circle-b/B ones myself.

[hook]

What about ❂ (U+2742) — it's coin-shaped and has 8 spikes, which makes it look like a "piece of eight", which makes sense with the "bit" bit of bitcoin and the fact that it can be fractured up to 8 digits.

[davux]

What about ❂ (U+2742) — it's coin-shaped and has 8 spikes, which makes it look like a "piece of eight", which makes sense with the "bit" bit of bitcoin and the fact that it can be fractured up to 8 digits.

It's a great idea – the problem is, this character is a little difficult to read. On my computer, all I see is a circle with a thick, textured, grey-ish border.

[Alcoholocaust]

I prefer Ⓑ

It is relatively easy to read and is not yet used for any other monetary unit (AFAIK)

[asdfqwejpwek]

Hello all, I decided I'd make an account JUST to show my support for Ⓑ (well, and probably to rant and ramble on other issues as well  ). Sure, $ is used in multiple places so why not the Thai ฿? I personally feel like bitcoin is such a radical step (at least for most people, who don't tend to think about the value of currency) that piggybacking on a current currency symbol just because it has the letter B in it is poor form. The Ⓑ (U+24B7) works just as well, or even better. It's shaped like a coin, it has a B, there is no potential for confusion.

I honestly can't think of an argument for ฿ and against Ⓑ.

[Scorpion]

I'll still use BTC too.

[ryepdx]

I like the B with the four stripes best. I'm opposed to using a symbol already in use by another currency.

That said, this discussion is very similar to the one over here:
http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=369.0

[CCCMikey]

Ditto on 4-stripe B, or a B with two vertical lines through it for handwriting.

[gigabytecoin]

USD, CAD, AUD, BTCD? Why can't we just use the dollar symbol? That is probably the most internationally recognized symbol in the entire world when it comes to "money".

[em3rgentOrdr]

a wise man (kiba FatherMcGruder) once told me:

"The only real standard is a defacto standard."

[hook]

a wise man (kiba) once told me:

"The only real standard is a defacto standard."

The *only* real standard is an open standard.

[hellekin]

I find it very practical to use an existing UTF-8 character, such as the symbol for Bhat, until there's a unicode character for bitcoin, e.g., using a double-barred-B.

Registration of new unicode characters can be done following this procedure: http://www.unicode.org/pending/proposals.html

Meanwhile, an image with a 'BTC' alt attribute could be used instead, for people who fear the confusion with Bhat.

+1 for BTC as the 3-letter-code for Bitcoins.

My ฿10^-8

==
hk

[FatherMcGruder]

a wise man (kiba) once told me:

"The only real standard is a defacto standard."

Ahem:

if course I'm joking around...ofcourse it is important to have a standardized, commonly agreed-upon and recognized symbol

The only standard we can reasonably hope for is a de facto one.

[em3rgentOrdr]

a wise man (kiba) once told me:

"The only real standard is a defacto standard."

Ahem:

if course I'm joking around...ofcourse it is important to have a standardized, commonly agreed-upon and recognized symbol

The only standard we can reasonably hope for is a de facto one.

My apologies, FatherMcGruder...I have edited my earlier post.

[FatherMcGruder]

My apologies, FatherMcGruder...I have edited my earlier post.

No worries, I'll waive my royalty. Everybody gets one.

[Stefan Thomas]

I use BTC wherever practical, just because it's the least ambiguous. But yes, if I needed to use a currency symbol specifically, I'd use ฿ over any of the alternatives. The vertical line is recognizable to mean "currency" and as others have stated, currency symbols routinely refer to multiple currencies, so even with $ and others you always have to have some context that determines which exact currency you're talking about, ฿ would be no different.

[TiagoTiago]

There is already a thread several pages long about choosing an official symbol on Unicode for Bitcoin, there is even a page on the wiki with a few candidates.

[TiagoTiago]

Here https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin_symbol

[dishwara]

Bitcoin is going to be used for universal currency & may kill all other currencies.
For that instead of using an already PHYSICAL currency symbol, its better to go new.

I think the B with 4 stripes is the best.

Seriously, I don't think there is a need to re-invent the wheel here.



Whether you like it or not, the reality is that the serif "B" with 4 stripes is already used as Bitcoin logo by many people, so why not use it as a currency symbol? Currency symbol MUST be unique, you can't use existing ฿ unless you want to confuse someone during transaction - you don't want to confuse people when they trade, especially when they trade money.

Great Idea. It seems we had it staring us in the face the whole time.

[Steve]

I vote for ฿

[mrchowwow]

Why not the very-common lowercase Beta: β ? Otherwise, I like Ⓑ, too.

[Ian Maxwell]

A problem with ฿ is that eventually we'll need our own Unicode character anyway, because Unicode is "semantic" in that symbols have a fixed meaning. This is okay for $ because it always means "dollar", it's just what sort of dollar that changes. Bitcoins are not our own local variant of bhat.

That said, I'm calling ฿ the best stopgap solution, and using it for now.

Should it go on the left or the right?

[Ryland R. Taylor-Almanza]

So close to figuring out how to type the 4-striped B symbol, but the stripes aren't centered! B͈̎

[BitcoinsWallet]

I like that too.

In this forum:
- Add one smile with that symbol
- Maybe, can switch ฿ to that smile automatically when people writes....

 

[Ryland R. Taylor-Almanza]

More: B̸ B̶

[TiagoTiago]

|B| ?

[shackra]

The Baht symbol alone Could Cause some Confusion yes, but combine it with the symbol for the Costa Rican Colón and you get;

฿₡

so you could say, please send me ฿₡50.00.  

yay! hello from Costa Rica
i like the idea of use the symbol ฿, well, is used in the THAI currency... anyway, is harder to put in if you are in a laptop...

[kgo]

Anger the Thai Government, and they'll sick Tony Jaa on you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiANsBkgqjU

"WHERE'S MY COUNTERFEIT?... WHERE'S MY COUNTERFEIT?..."

Seriously though, using an existing currency's symbol will just give people another excuse to say that bitcoin is a scam, or to question its legitimacy.  Yeah, sure they're ignorant of the way bitcoin works, but why should we give them another reason to talk trash on bitcoin?

[IApplaudBitcoin]

I think that it would be poetic for this open-sourced, grass roots, peer to peer currency to not have an offical currency symbol.

I do beleive that over time, the ฿ and the BTC will become the defacto symbols due to their prolific use.

I like to keep an open mind though, so I went ahead and designed a new one in MS Paint and attached it to this reply.

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/228026_10150181729766498_707186497_7457841_3878945_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/247762_10150181729751498_707186497_7457840_151555_n.jpg

[marcus_of_augustus]

B!

or some combination of

# superimposed on B

hash, #, universal symbol for code and a B would be interesting to see.

[MacFall]

/b/ 

[nhodges]

Does anyone know the ALT + #### combination to make the bhat symbol?

[peach]

My Idea and explanation:
Done roughly in MS paint:
https://i.imgur.com/vVRc3.jpg

Anyways, I think whatever the symbol is it should be both easy to identify and easy to write on paper, and not overly complex.

My symbol is basically a modified lower-case 'b' with an extension of the vertical line, a slightly more ovular semi-circle than normal which slightly protrudes out of the vertical line (giving it the subtle impression of a reversed 'c').

What do you guys think?

[wolftaur]

I still think ß is a good choice for the currency symbol.

[davux]

I still think ß is a good choice for the currency symbol.

I love it:

• Looks like a B.
• Relatively easy to type, even on non-german keyboards (for example "compose s s", and on windows it's surely easy as well).
• Present on most fonts.
• Non-ambiguous: ß4.26 or 4.26ß, or even 4ß26 can't mean anything else than 4.26 bitcoins, even in a German context.
• Non-ambiguous (bis): doesn't conflict with another currency.
• It looks nice, and it offers neat possibilities of playing with its design.

Unless/until someone comes up with a new, better idea, I'll use ß from now on.

[wolftaur]

I still think ß is a good choice for the currency symbol.

I love it:

• Looks like a B.
• Relatively easy to type, even on non-german keyboards (for example "compose s s", and on windows it's surely easy as well).
• Present on most fonts.
• Non-ambiguous: ß4.26 or 4.26ß, or even 4ß26 can't mean anything else than 4.26 bitcoins, even in a German context.
• Non-ambiguous (bis): doesn't conflict with another currency.
• It looks nice, and it offers neat possibilities of playing with its design.

Unless/until someone comes up with a new, better idea, I'll use ß from now on.

Option-s to get the ß symbol on a Mac. RightAlt-s to get it on Windows. I don't use Windows but I decided to go find it, to make it easier on anyone who reads this.

[Joise]

I like the ⓑ symbol most,

 It is well recognizable, not that hard to type (Alt-24d1 or Ctrl-Shift-u 24d1 ),
it looks a bit like a coin and moreover it is quite similar to
the @, which did become a symbol of the electronic age.

The Baht symbol is also beautiful and the Baht-Cordoba combination
is well-looking and meaningful as well. However I think that
Baht alone would cause a little confusion at least in Thailand ;-)

[drrussellshane]

Hello all, I decided I'd make an account JUST to show my support for Ⓑ (well, and probably to rant and ramble on other issues as well  ). Sure, $ is used in multiple places so why not the Thai ฿? I personally feel like bitcoin is such a radical step (at least for most people, who don't tend to think about the value of currency) that piggybacking on a current currency symbol just because it has the letter B in it is poor form. The Ⓑ (U+24B7) works just as well, or even better. It's shaped like a coin, it has a B, there is no potential for confusion.

I honestly can't think of an argument for ฿ and against Ⓑ.

^^^ asdfqwejpwek has a point...


I like Ⓑ.

[wolftaur]

I still vote ß, it's the easiest to type, it's in all the fonts, etc, etc.

[RevolutionMaster]

I still vote ß, it's the easiest to type, it's in all the fonts, etc, etc.

Agreed. ß and BTC should be our official symbols.

[drrussellshane]

The problem with ß is that is that it is actively used by a country/language.

Same with ฿.

To my knowledge, Ⓑ doesn't have that problem; and it is a "B" in a circle - like a "coin".

[wolftaur]

The problem with ß is that is that it is actively used by a country/language.

Yes, ß is used in a language, however, the way it is used does not provide for any ambiguity to exist. ß45.20 would have only one possible interpretation. Same with 45.20ß if anyone was noting it that way.

[TheBitMan]

I think it should be something we can type, not like all these images people are making. How to you get to that cool B ^^

[davux]

About the code: I generally use BC, not BTC.

Rationale:

• The point is having a short notation, so using 2 letters is no worse than using 3 (it's even better).
• It's BitCoin anyway, so BC just makes more sense. BTC is kind of a hack.
• Having exactly 3 letters would be necessary only for compliance with ISO standardization rules, that we violate right ahead anway because those very rules require than any currency that's not issued by a government starts with an X. We also don't seem to care too much about 3 letters whenever we write LREUR (euros at Liberty Reserve), mtgoxUSD (US dollars at MtGox), etc.
• In due time, having BC will allow us to simply write XBC wherever standardization is absolutely necessary (very rare, but happens sometimes) and Bitcoin needs to be mentioned in the scope of an ISO-compliant publication or system.

So, for me it's ß and BC: "14.3ß" (European, postfix notation), "ß14.3" (American, prefix notation), "gimme your BC", "I need to exchange EUR and BC", and so on. And "XBC" in more strict contexts.

[Eri]

any symbol that can not be currently copy/pasted will not work at this time.

id say a B with two lines would be ideal, to match the current symbol we use. however! two lines make the character hard to read when its small.. which is probably why the dollar sign uses one line when typed instead of the two its supposed to have when written.

this to me make the ฿ perfect.

as someone else said, context matters and nobody will confuse the BTC ฿ for the thai ฿, if a website trades BTC for other currencies nobody visiting is going to think "oh they must mean they are trading thai currency!" and in Any case where it might be confusing they would simply write "BTC ฿" or "Thai ฿".

i for one have never been able to use key codes to make symbols appear, they never work for me so id be copy/pasting them anyway! and of course their is always the lazy fallback of $ its on Every keyboard, its the default money symbol  "BTC $50" Etc. heck it isnt even needed in most cases, when you refer to money you do whats easy. people will more then likely stick with BTC when talking about it because its the fastest thing to type. so having to copy/paste "฿" is a non issue since it would hardly ever be used. same for any other symbol.

i also like the way ฿ looks, it seems to have more weight to it then ⓑ, which just looks "cheap" to me on my pc(may look better to others), and its a lowercase b as well @_@

[Nescio]

The problem with ß is that is that it is actively used by a country/language.

Same with ฿.

To my knowledge, Ⓑ doesn't have that problem; and it is a "B" in a circle - like a "coin".

Ⓑ is used by the Belgian railways It's also horrible for small typography.

ß is used a lot in German and could be confused with the Greek β.

BC will be confused with Before Christ.
XBC will be confused with Xbox and possibly XBMC. Does anyone even know about non-governmental currencies?

฿ and BTC are still the best options.

[TheBitMan]

I thought ฿ was used in a currency already?

[Eri]

I thought ฿ was used in a currency already?

it is, and so are many others, its apparently standard to reuse them. ฿ is only used for one other language (read the thread)

[wolftaur]

I think it should be something we can type, not like all these images people are making. How to you get to that cool B ^^

On a Mac, it's Option-S. On Windows, I believe it's Control-RightAlt-S. On Linux, if I recall, it's Compose s s. (Hit Compose, often rightAlt, then press s twice.)

[TheBitMan]

I think it should be something we can type, not like all these images people are making. How to you get to that cool B ^^

On a Mac, it's Option-S. On Windows, I believe it's Control-RightAlt-S. On Linux, if I recall, it's Compose s s. (Hit Compose, often rightAlt, then press s twice.)

I have windows I got that box up once before by searching it. what's it called (the thing with all those characters) The controls you told me just told me my computer info..

[marcus_of_augustus]

BC will get bitcoin associated with British Columbia and all that BC bud that ends up in USA ... we wouldn't want Bitcoin associated with BC bud, it would give it a bad name

[wolftaur]

BC will get bitcoin associated with British Columbia and all that BC bud that ends up in USA ... we wouldn't want Bitcoin associated with BC bud, it would give it a bad name

ß and BTC! Nice and simple.

[bitfreak!]

Stop making this more confusing than it has to be. Every currency should have a 3 letter code.

General consensus has determined that the 3 letter currency code is: BTC

There is less consensus on the symbol. But the most common usage is: ฿

I would stick with those two choices as to avoid confusion and force everyone to start using the same thing.

[drrussellshane]

Stop making this more confusing than it has to be. Every currency should have a 3 letter code.

General consensus has determined that the 3 letter currency code is: BTC

There is less consensus on the symbol. But the most common usage is: ฿

I would stick with those two choices as to avoid confusion and force everyone to start using the same thing.

I agree with you on BTC, but the baht symbol is already taken as a currency symbol.

[bitfreak!]

Stop making this more confusing than it has to be. Every currency should have a 3 letter code.

General consensus has determined that the 3 letter currency code is: BTC

There is less consensus on the symbol. But the most common usage is: ฿

I would stick with those two choices as to avoid confusion and force everyone to start using the same thing.

I agree with you on BTC, but the baht symbol is already taken as a currency symbol.

Both the USD and AUD dollar use $ but they are completely different currencies. A B with a vertical line through it really does seem appropriate imo.

[drrussellshane]

Stop making this more confusing than it has to be. Every currency should have a 3 letter code.

General consensus has determined that the 3 letter currency code is: BTC

There is less consensus on the symbol. But the most common usage is: ฿

I would stick with those two choices as to avoid confusion and force everyone to start using the same thing.

I agree with you on BTC, but the baht symbol is already taken as a currency symbol.

Both the USD and AUD dollar use $ but they are completely different currencies. A B with a vertical line through it really does seem appropriate imo.

Yes, but whenever I've seen prices quoted in Australian Dollars it has been "A$" or "AUD$".

I like the ฿ too, but I feel it would be best to differentiate it from another currency.

[wolftaur]

I agree with you on BTC, but the baht symbol is already taken as a currency symbol.

This is why I keep proposing ß. It's supported in virtually all fonts (even circa-1980 PC console), it's not used as a currency anywhere, and it looks similar to a B!

[bitfreak!]

Yes, but whenever I've seen prices quoted in Australian Dollars it has been "A$" or "AUD$".

I like the ฿ too, but I feel it would be best to differentiate it from another currency.

Everything on the internet is usually just labelled with dollar sign, whether USD or AUD. In a lot of cases you have to check if the website is American or Australian in order to work out if their prices are in USD or AUD. You probably use mostly only American websites, and if they were selling something in AU dollars it would probably be labelled to make that clear. If a website was using the ฿ symbol for Bitcoin, and it wasn't clear enough for visitors (which I'm sure would be very unlikely), then I see no reason they couldn't just use BTC฿ or something like you said.

[edgeworth]

I made an adjustment to bitcoin symbol so that it represents a # combined with a B:
The graphics can be downloaded from this thread if anyone wants to use it: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.0

https://i.imgur.com/KZzx4.png

[nhodges]

BC will get bitcoin associated with British Columbia and all that BC bud that ends up in USA ... we wouldn't want Bitcoin associated with BC bud, it would give it a bad name

I think you smoked a little too much of that BC bud, buddy ... I would surmise that 80% of potheads (or should I say medical marijuana patients) do not know what BC stands for, aside from Before Christ. Most of this demographic probably think Montreal and Toronto are provinces. Just my two (bit)cents.

[marcus_of_augustus]

BC will get bitcoin associated with British Columbia and all that BC bud that ends up in USA ... we wouldn't want Bitcoin associated with BC bud, it would give it a bad name

I think you smoked a little too much of that BC bud, buddy ... I would surmise that 80% of potheads (or should I say medical marijuana patients) do not know what BC stands for, aside from Before Christ. Most of this demographic probably think Montreal and Toronto are provinces. Just my two (bit)cents.

jokes on you now BC buddy .... /sarcasm

[Luke-Jr]

What's wrong with B⃦ and/or B⃫ ?

[Eri]

cant tell the first one is a B and my computer doesn't show the last one. looks like a "20" over "EB" in a square

[wolftaur]

This is why I keep suggesting ß, it shows up on everyone's browser. It's in pretty much every font ever. And unlike the Thai Baht symbol... it isn't being used to represent another currency already.

[jack102938]

FFS what's wrong with just using BTC and ฿?

[/thread]

[ampkZjWDQcqT]

I will keep using "BTC". What would we gain by using "฿"?. Nothing in my opinion.

[wareen]

This is why I keep suggesting ß, it shows up on everyone's browser. It's in pretty much every font ever. And unlike the Thai Baht symbol... it isn't being used to represent another currency already.

Please no - the reason it is in pretty much ever font is that it is a regular character in German
Would you approve of a regular character in the English alphabet as the standard currency symbol for BTC?

Please reconsider further promoting this character - I know we're only about 90 million people but I would really rather not have a few dozen BTC symbols spread over all existing German texts...

[D.H.]

If we're not gonna move the decimal point we also need to think of a symbol for "milliBitcoins" and it's needed pretty much right away. People talk about mBTC and μBTC in other threads but it doesn't make any sense to put a prefix on the three letter currency code. What we need is another symbol, just like there is ¢ and $.

So here's my suggestion to make everyone happy. Use ฿ for Bitcoins since this is already rather established. Use ß for milliBitcoins. If Bitcoin becomes a success, milliBitcoins will be more widely used than Bitcoins anyway so that should make those rooting for ß happy.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

BC will get bitcoin associated with British Columbia and all that BC bud that ends up in USA ... we wouldn't want Bitcoin associated with BC bud, it would give it a bad name

"...associated with BC bud, it would give it a bad name." ...and we don't want to give BC bud a bad name.

Once a consensus is reached, superimpose the symbol over the top of this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Currency-Symbol_Regions_of_the_World_circa_2006.png

[wareen]

Use ß for milliBitcoins. If Bitcoin becomes a success, milliBitcoins will be more widely used than Bitcoins anyway so that should make those rooting for ß happy.

Nooooo...

The horror! The horror!

[Jack of Diamonds]

So here's my suggestion to make everyone happy. Use ฿ for Bitcoins since this is already rather established. Use ß for milliBitcoins. If Bitcoin becomes a success, milliBitcoins will be more widely used than Bitcoins anyway so that should make those rooting for ß happy.

It's an arbitrary stunt by people who want to make even small amounts valuable.

People don't bid on auctions for 40 millieuros or 20 cents. They bid €0.40 or $0.20 which is the official denomination.

BTC is easy to understand and can be typed with any sort of keyboard. All the significant sites that sell merchandise or services for bitcoins list their prices in the format 0.07BTC, 0.52BTC etc..

I have never seen anyone sell items for microbitcoins or millibitcoins. I have seen tons of people selling items for 0.10BTC.

[sharky112065]

BTC works fine for me. All type-able on my keyboard.

[wolftaur]

FFS what's wrong with just using BTC and ฿?
[/thread]

BTC, nothing. ฿, it's already a different currency. You REALLY want to use the symbol for a fiat currency for Bitcoin just because it looks sorta like the logo artwork?

[wolftaur]

This is why I keep suggesting ß, it shows up on everyone's browser. It's in pretty much every font ever. And unlike the Thai Baht symbol... it isn't being used to represent another currency already.

Please no - the reason it is in pretty much ever font is that it is a regular character in German
Would you approve of a regular character in the English alphabet as the standard currency symbol for BTC?

Please reconsider further promoting this character - I know we're only about 90 million people but I would really rather not have a few dozen BTC symbols spread over all existing German texts...

Yes, it's used in German. The whole reason I know how to type ß in the first place, is that my family is German. I've asked several of them what they think of the use of ß for bitcoins. None of them have any problem with the idea. (And now two of my aunts and one of my cousins wants bitcoins...)

There's no ambiguity between the use of ß as a currency symbol with numbers, and the use of it in written German, whether you are using prefix or postfix notation.

[DonnyCMU]

Why is this keep being bumped?

I am from Thailand, and I am definitely against using ฿ to represent Bitcoin for the obvious reason stated here many time.

Ranked 30th largest GDP in the world, Thai economy may be small, but it's growing quick (8% last year). There is no entrenched e-payment service (like Paypal) in the country, as e-payment is not as popular yet. So, in Thailand, Bitcoin doesn't have much competitor and can become popular in the future. Also, Thai Baht is commonly used in neighboring Cambodia, Lao, and Burma as well. Moreover, I believe the Baht is well-known by a big number of western tourists to Thailand as well (The Hangover, anyone?)

So, I am well against using the Thai Baht sign for Bitcoin.

[kloinko1n]

Why is this keep being bumped?

I am from Thailand, and I am definitely against using ฿ to represent Bitcoin for the obvious reason stated here many time.

Ranked 30th largest GDP in the world, Thai economy may be small, but it's growing quick (8% last year). There is no entrenched e-payment service (like Paypal) in the country, as e-payment is not as popular yet. So, in Thailand, Bitcoin doesn't have much competitor and can become popular in the future. Also, Thai Baht is commonly used in neighboring Cambodia, Lao, and Burma as well. Moreover, I believe the Baht is well-known by a big number of western tourists to Thailand as well (The Hangover, anyone?)

So, I am well against using the Thai Baht sign for Bitcoin.

Extremely good motivation!

[D.H.]

So here's my suggestion to make everyone happy. Use ฿ for Bitcoins since this is already rather established. Use ß for milliBitcoins. If Bitcoin becomes a success, milliBitcoins will be more widely used than Bitcoins anyway so that should make those rooting for ß happy.

It's an arbitrary stunt by people who want to make even small amounts valuable.

People don't bid on auctions for 40 millieuros or 20 cents. They bid €0.40 or $0.20 which is the official denomination.

BTC is easy to understand and can be typed with any sort of keyboard. All the significant sites that sell merchandise or services for bitcoins list their prices in the format 0.07BTC, 0.52BTC etc..

I have never seen anyone sell items for microbitcoins or millibitcoins. I have seen tons of people selling items for 0.10BTC.

You do realize that if Bitcoin becomes widely used the value of each Bitcoin will increase. This is a fact, not a guess. It will then be necessary to be able to pay e.g. 0.0012 bitcoins, and that's not a great way to write it since it is very hard to read. That is what the whole discussion about shifting the decimal point or using milliBitcoins is about.

[Herodes]

Why is this keep being bumped?

I am from Thailand, and I am definitely against using ฿ to represent Bitcoin for the obvious reason stated here many time.

Ranked 30th largest GDP in the world, Thai economy may be small, but it's growing quick (8% last year). There is no entrenched e-payment service (like Paypal) in the country, as e-payment is not as popular yet. So, in Thailand, Bitcoin doesn't have much competitor and can become popular in the future. Also, Thai Baht is commonly used in neighboring Cambodia, Lao, and Burma as well. Moreover, I believe the Baht is well-known by a big number of western tourists to Thailand as well (The Hangover, anyone?)

So, I am well against using the Thai Baht sign for Bitcoin.

I agree. What sign to you suggest bitcoin should use?

Here are some suggestions:

ß,Ɓ,ƀ,Ƃ,Ƅ,ƅ,Ƀ,ɮ,β,Ѣ,ẞ


Or perhaps make an entirely new sign?

[Eri]

not to belittle the opinion of someone from thailand, but other symbols are used in more then one country as well. if bitcoin caught on it would be remembered all throughout history as the symbol chosen by the world to represent a new currency. what an honor . and as others have mentioned, nobody would confuse the two currencies. The reason i like ฿ is because its the first letter in BitCoins and because it has a line through it like the money symbol $. even if thailand hadn't used that symbol we still would have (assuming it existed and could be used). if bitcoin were called SuperCoin id vote for $(more then likely anyway).

[BitVapes]

FFS what's wrong with just using BTC and ฿?

[/thread]

I use both =/  I kind of prefer Ƀ since its not used by countries, but I had problems rendering it on default installs of various/old browser testing of my site.

[Stardust]

Why can't we have a more imaginative symbol instead of B? And another color instead of gold/orange.

[dishwara]

Gold has high value in today's world. Even though titanium, platinum...are available & has value more than gold, no metal has the properties gold has & the SHINE gold gives.

[Stardust]

Too shallow.

[wareen]

There's no ambiguity between the use of ß as a currency symbol with numbers, and the use of it in written German, whether you are using prefix or postfix notation.

There $ure i$n't, but $eriou$ly, how doe$ thi$ $entence look in your eye$ - plea$e be hone$t?

There are good reasons to use an entirely new symbol:

It is from the de-facto standard Bitcoin-logo, has resemblance to other currency symbols but is easily distinguishable from the Thai Baht symbol.

We could submit a proposal to the Unicode Consortium and simply use BTC wherever necessary until there is an official character which is included in standard typesets. It was more or less the same with € and EUR in the beginning of its days.

[joepie91]

Why can't we have a more imaginative symbol instead of B? And another color instead of gold/orange.

There are several colors that are automatically associated with certain characteristics. For example, gold/yellow and green are often associated with money, value, or worth, whereas blue is often associated with trust (ever wondered why so many banks use blue?). Things like that are actually rather important.

There's no ambiguity between the use of ß as a currency symbol with numbers, and the use of it in written German, whether you are using prefix or postfix notation.

There $ure i$n't, but $eriou$ly, how doe$ thi$ $entence look in your eye$ - plea$e be hone$t?

There are good reasons to use an entirely new symbol:

It is from the de-facto standard Bitcoin-logo, has resemblance to other currency symbols but is easily distinguishable from the Thai Baht symbol.

We could submit a proposal to the Unicode Consortium and simply use BTC wherever necessary until there is an official character which is included in standard typesets. It was more or less the same with € and EUR in the beginning of its days.

Now how would this sentence look in your eyes?
"I am going to buy a can of soda for B1,00 or something like that."

Doesn't look that hard to interpret, right?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Why can't we have a more imaginative symbol instead of B? And another color instead of gold/orange.

There are several colors that are automatically associated with certain characteristics. For example, gold/yellow and green are often associated with money, value, or worth, whereas blue is often associated with trust (ever wondered why so many banks use blue?). Things like that are actually rather important.

I went to bed last night with this darn tread on my mind. I think it was during the R.E.M. (no, M doesn't stand for...) state, I envisioned something like the image below. It does incorporate the letters BC but in their lower case form with a crescent moon shaped c superimposed over the common letter b. I would eliminate the two short stubs that extend to the left of the vertical staff that forms the letter b. I guess I could of rendered it better by going on the great font hunt for the perfect b, but I already did that with the letter c to find just the right curvature that would look good enough to share the image in my mind with this community.

One advantage is that it can be hand written with only two strokes of the pen (or #2 pencil) just like the dollar sign (3 strokes if done the old fashioned way). I created it on a blue background for no particular reason, but now glad I did so that I can attach this post to a quote by joepie91 who pointed out, above, that the color blue is often associated with trust.

Here's my rendition of the Bitcoin symbol, below. Let me know what you think.

[wareen]

Now how would this sentence look in your eyes?
"I am going to buy a can of soda for B1,00 or something like that."

Doesn't look that hard to interpret, right?

Not hard to interpret, no - but a little bit weird and rather unimaginative for a new currency symbol, yes. As I said: I'm not complaining about ambiguity.

I think we really can do better at choosing a currency symbol for something as new and innovative as Bitcoin than just recycling some other heavily used symbol.

[Eri]

There's no ambiguity between the use of ß as a currency symbol with numbers, and the use of it in written German, whether you are using prefix or postfix notation.

There $ure i$n't, but $eriou$ly, how doe$ thi$ $entence look in your eye$ - plea$e be hone$t?

There are good reasons to use an entirely new symbol:

It is from the de-facto standard Bitcoin-logo, has resemblance to other currency symbols but is easily distinguishable from the Thai Baht symbol.

We could submit a proposal to the Unicode Consortium and simply use BTC wherever necessary until there is an official character which is included in standard typesets. It was more or less the same with € and EUR in the beginning of its days.

wont happen because we want a symbol we can use now.

why don't you guys make a new thread for a "symbol to be used in the future" get a bunch of people to submit ideas then have a poll for the best ones, the images themselves /must/ scale to be Small so it can fit in text. none of those giant pictures that don't scale at all. this in a way Really is two separate issues.

[wareen]

wont happen because we want a symbol we can use now.

Again, just use BTC in the meantime - or use an image if you must. I mean, the European Union didn't just use some existing fancy E just because they wanted a symbol really fast. If BTC is going to become a respected currency I think we can afford the time to really think such decisions through.

the images themselves /must/ scale to be Small so it can fit in text. none of those giant pictures that don't scale at all. this in a way Really is two separate issues.

Valid point - designing font symbols is not an easy task and I'm surely not qualified to do this, but I've given it a shot anyway:



I think it works, but of course - an experienced artist will certainly be able to improve.

As for having a separate thread for future symbols - I really don't see the need. There are no separate issues - do you really want a separate currency symbol for every different stage of Bitcoin's development? Again, if you need a symbol now: use BTC, as this seems to be pretty much the consensus. For a single letter symbol we have not reached yet this level of agreement and I'm just trying to contribute my suggestions.

There was at least one other thread with a poll which showed a tendency towards the Baht symbol but it didn't include many seemingly obviously options.

[joepie91]

Now how would this sentence look in your eyes?
"I am going to buy a can of soda for B1,00 or something like that."

Doesn't look that hard to interpret, right?

Not hard to interpret, no - but a little bit weird and rather unimaginative for a new currency symbol, yes. As I said: I'm not complaining about ambiguity.

I think we really can do better at choosing a currency symbol for something as new and innovative as Bitcoin than just recycling some other heavily used symbol.

I think that in terms of people having to get used to aspects of Bitcoin, getting used to the currency symbol is the least of our worries.

[Eri]

@wareen: what i mean is 98% of people seem to want *a* symbol they can type or copy/paste regardless of what it is. i think nearly everyone uses the shorthand BTC, its easier to type. but having a symbol we can use right now kinda helps to make it feel official, at least that is what it kinda seems like to me. so convincing even 1 or 2% does not seem likely. if you make it a separate issue altogether your likely to get better responses and possibly even a consensus on one symbol since it removes the issue 'ease of typing it' and 'being the symbol of another currency'.

[kloinko1n]

[snip>
I agree. What sign to you suggest bitcoin should use?

Here are some suggestions:

ß,Ɓ,ƀ,Ƃ,Ƅ,ƅ,Ƀ,ɮ,β,Ѣ,ẞ


Or perhaps make an entirely new sign?

Great listing!
As the word 'bit' (as in 'bit-coin') is abbreviated into a small 'b' and byte into a capital 'B', it would be logical to use the ƀ, Ƃ or Ѣ, otherwise it could be confused with a 'bytecoin'.
No interference with existing currencies, and outstanding from most of the other currencies by not being a capital. And right so, for being a non-physical currency.

[Ryland R. Taylor-Almanza]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

[MaGNeT]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

I like it

[TiagoTiago]

That's an interesting one

[D.H.]

Let me know what you think.

Looks pretty.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Let me know what you think.

Looks pretty.

Thank you D.H. (but I trust you're just saying that 'cause it's blue)

[drawoc]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

What about something a little more stylized? Like this:

       

[imperi]

How about...

/b/


Just kidding.  

[hsf_context]

How about...

/b/


Just kidding.  

Oh god no! 

lol 

But I agree with RylandAlmanza's idea. But when I write it, it reminds me of a 3 instead of a B.

[indicasteve]

I'm going to go with BTC and ฿ for short on my site until something better in unicode comes along.  But, I might give the user the option to change the symbol in their account profile page....at least this thread provides a multitude of examples for the choices to provide.

[marcus_of_augustus]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

What about something a little more stylized? Like this:

       

yeah good ... more hieroglyphic, cyrillic or asian character feel would be an advantage, global currency and all.

[Anonymous]

How about...

/b/


Just kidding.  

Bitcoin is the final boss of ben bernanke 

[Phinnaeus Gage]

How about...

/b/


Just kidding.  

Might as well make it look like this:

\B/

Bitcoin: Funneling One Bit at a Time

or

/B\

Bitcoin: A Crown Achievement

It even looks like a mascot: Barth Bader

[ampkZjWDQcqT]

So here's my suggestion to make everyone happy. Use ฿ for Bitcoins since this is already rather established. Use ß for milliBitcoins. If Bitcoin becomes a success, milliBitcoins will be more widely used than Bitcoins anyway so that should make those rooting for ß happy.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Argument_to_moderation.

[Stardust]

I like the idea of mixing the hash symbol with a b. I'm not a good digital artist, but check this out:


If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:


It's very easy to write, and looks good. Just draw a 3 and 2 lines through the top. I got the idea from this post: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25102.msg325489#msg325489

I like this, I was hoping for something that doesn't have anything to do with letters of alphabet or keyboard. But I like this because it's meaningful, hashing plays an important role with bitcoins.

If people really want a symbol based on writing, maybe we could also use an alternate symbol based on Kanji. I don't know if Satoshi would mind this. Personally I like to stay away from my nationality, but maybe he is not the same.

[julz]

If you can't see the hash, I highlighted it in this one:

I like this, I was hoping for something that doesn't have anything to do with letters of alphabet or keyboard. But I like this because it's meaningful, hashing plays an important role with bitcoins.

If people really want a symbol based on writing, maybe we could also use an alternate symbol based on Kanji. I don't know if Satoshi would mind this. Personally I like to stay away from my nationality, but maybe he is not the same.

I like this thing with the hash too.. except I can't quite get away from seeing it as a 3.

Whatever is used as a symbol - I hope people stop suggesting we borrow/steal the Thai Baht symbol ฿ .
It's a terrible idea and I don't understand why people think it even began to have wings. Leave the poor Baht alone!

[Stemby]

But I agree with RylandAlmanza's idea. But when I write it, it reminds me of a 3 instead of a B.

We could say the same for the € symbol, that is more similar to a "C" instead of an "E".

In any case, I'd rather choose Ƀ for the bitcoin symbol.

[marcus_of_augustus]

hashb

[Nescio]

Whatever is used as a symbol - I hope people stop suggesting we borrow/steal the Thai Baht symbol ฿ .
It's a terrible idea and I don't understand why people think it even began to have wings. Leave the poor Baht alone!

It's only a terrible idea if you are against the quick adoption of Bitcoin through existing infrastructure. Or proud Thai of course CAD and AUD use $ as well, and I haven't heard of US protests over this. BTW, it already has wings, lots of people use it.

I'm not against a new symbol at some point, but don't think it's a problem to reuse a fairly obscure one, I'm sure most people are able to make the difference from context where necessary.

[kloinko1n]

<snip to preserve bandwidth]
I'm not against a new symbol at some point, but don't think it's a problem to reuse a fairly obscure one, I'm sure most people are able to make the difference from context where necessary.

Think about all those Thai people who will get confused when confronted with a price in bitcoins... or is it in bath? I have no idea, let's guess...

Not a good idea.

[julz]

I'm not against a new symbol at some point, but don't think it's a problem to reuse a fairly obscure one

The Thai economy positively dwarf's that of bitcoin - so what sort of crazy definition of 'obscure' are you using?

There are more than a handful of Thai people living in my city..  I meet some of them now and then. (latest one just last week)
It would feel completely ridiculous to attempt to introduce them to this newfangled currency called bitcoin, which abuses the Baht symbol.
They'd rightly think it was a pathetic joke. Any selling point about it being potentially useful to transfer value to friends and family back home would be lost.

[Eri]

@everyone that says thai people will get confused

thai people are not stupid and i think they would be quite offended that you guys keep insisting they cant tell the difference between say 'Btc-฿' and 'Baht-฿'.for example the likely obvious difference in price even if it only said ฿, i go to a candy store and want to buy a candy bar, the price is listed as 0.07. knowing the price of goods in my country, its fairly obvious that price isn't in US dollars unless their is one hell of a sale going on(90% off if the price is in USD or the equivalent of 1 USD if its in BTC).

you guys seriously need to come up with a better argument other then "people are too stupid and will get confused so easily!". an example against ฿ in favor of Ƀ... "฿ looks far too cluttered and cramped compared with Ƀ which is bolder, far cleaner and somewhat stylish".

[netrin]

[ItsASpork]

There are a lot of latin letters or other symbols we can use to represent bitcoin, and how anyone can think it's logical to steal another currency's symbol is beyond me.

[Eri]

does anyone actually bother to read a thread before posting?

[Fakeman]

It's not a matter of "stealing" another currency's symbol, but for example there may be some confusion if I use "$" in an international context (i.e. on the internet) and assume you will know I mean Mexican pesos or whatever. No problem if we both know we are talking about Mexico.

I like the circled "B" that looks like a copyright symbol personally, since it actually looks like a coin. Sure you could lobby for a new Unicode symbol but fonts would also have to be updated to support it. Ideally the symbol should be supported by most Unicode fonts already.

[julz]

does anyone actually bother to read a thread before posting?

Sure. I just disagree with you.
As someone who suffers under a system of the overloaded use of $ - I disagree with using the ฿.

Sometimes it's just not clear whether a site is pricing in AUD or USD. It wasn't an issue before global ecommerce - it's now an (admittedly slight) annoyance.

[BitcoinPorn]

I think everyone is looking at things the wrong way.   Take the least used currency symbol out of the current options, repurpose it.

The majority will rule as to what is accepted as what that symbol represents.   You can argue that there is already established history with those older currency symbols and I would argue that we all have a better chance of grabbing a symbol that is already in everyone's computer as a special character than we do attempting to add a new symbol into older established systems that use these characters.

฿

Here by symbolizes Bitcoin currency.   The people who deal with business in Thai money can at this point continue to use their older form of currency and symbol, who cares, as I would argue there are more Bitcoin users actively using a currency symbol in their day to day life than Thai people using that symbol on a day to day basis.   Break down some numbers people, this isn't a joke, you know the acceptance of Bitcoin currency is stronger than the Thai dollar.  It is about time the Thai people jump on board with a better currency, and I think will be pleased a symbol that was once held for them represents something much great for the whole world

Best part about using the ฿ symbol, is no one in this thread needs to agree on if it is a good choice or not.  Enough Bitcoin business' already use this, just keep doing what you are doing, and if you are for this initiative, just use the ฿ instead of "btc" or even "Bitcoin" when referencing something having to do with a Bitcoin price.

Also, this isn't quoted enough if this thread.



Looks slick.

[julz]

Break down some numbers people, this isn't a joke, you know the acceptance of Bitcoin currency is stronger than the Thai dollar.  

I don't know such a thing..   with the Thai GDP at over  300Billion USD$ equiv  - I'm pretty sure nearly everyone I know would accept 31Million Thai Baht over 71500 BTC - even assuming they both theoretically exchange to about $1M USD.

Best part about using the ฿ symbol, is no one in this thread needs to agree on if it is a good choice or not.  Enough Bitcoin business' already use this, just keep doing what you are doing, and if you are for this initiative, just use the ฿ instead of "btc" or even "Bitcoin" when referencing something having to do with a Bitcoin price.

meh.. I'll stick to using BTC.   You may be right that it's a losing battle though.

[BitcoinPorn]

 You may be right that it's a losing battle though.

It is.  Fighting the color chart fight is good one, that is interesting and has merit.

This making the symbol, it's too late.  Obviously there is no numbers, but the amount of business' using Bitcoin versus how many of them are on these specific forums, I do not believe relates as much as people might think.

The sooner people accept this portion that has already been established in a 'natural' way the sooner we can progress with Bitcoin in other regards.  Seriously too, this thread is far too big for a bunch of people attempting to take on and control something that is something no one can control (at this point mind you, this thread should have been made 2 years ago and ended then).

[brandon@sourcewerks]

Seems BTC is the natural choice...

Enjoying the discussion about a symbol to use 

[Fakeman]

This making the symbol, it's too late.  Obviously there is no numbers, but the amount of business' using Bitcoin versus how many of them are on these specific forums, I do not believe relates as much as people might think.

On the other hand, it appears that large numbers of people rely on only a handful of sites to check exchange rates. Whatever they use pretty much becomes the de facto standard. So far that would seem to be "BTC".

[BitcoinPorn]

On the other hand, it appears that large numbers of people rely on only a handful of sites to check exchange rates. Whatever they use pretty much becomes the de facto standard. So far that would seem to be "BTC".

Truth.   You are right, the exchanges have way more control over this than the actual merchants.

In way then, yeah, this could be a matter of making all the exchanges agree on something, except with them dealing with "irl" currencies, I am guessing they would not want to 'steal' another currencies' symbol though. But I bet if it was already used and adopted by the majority, it really is out of their control.

Continue using ฿ everyone!   Force the world to accept our little digital currency symbol that at one time was used with some old world currency

Editors Note:  I have BTC I think is accepted, known, that is ours.  I am guessing all discussion at this point has to do only with the symbol, not the 'btc' three letter term, which is more or less the equivalent of the USD marking, not the symbol.

[marcus_of_augustus]

like the middle one, has less of a 3 feel to it, seems formal and looks to be racing to somewhere ... the others are good for freehand, like the concept generally.

[Leon]

I propose that we adopt the Thai baht currency symbol, ฿, as the official bitcoin currency symbol and BTC as the official bitcoin three letter currency code.

I think we all have already lol. 

[Nescio]

The Thai economy positively dwarf's that of bitcoin - so what sort of crazy definition of 'obscure' are you using?

Ask any one of those horribly suffering under the overloaded use of $ whether they have heard of the Thai Baht. Ask them to point out where Thailand is. The continent at least.

Before you twist my meaning, I'm not saying the country is obscure and its economy doesn't exist. I'm saying the average person in the target audience has no clue and won't mind.

If as you say Bitcoin remains as insignificant as it is now, then it's not going to be a problem. If it grows to a stage where it will be, then people will know to look for the context, just as those horrible sufferers manage to now.

In the meantime, Bitcoin isn't hobbled by yet another artificial hurdle.

[netrin]

Consensus certainly will win regardless of this discussion here. The posted graphics are more for logo/trademark/brand recognition.

Ask any one of those horribly suffering under the overloaded use of $ whether they have heard of the Thai Baht. Ask them to point out where Thailand is. The continent at least.

How is that relevant? Why include ignoramuses in your argument against clarity? Most $-citizens couldn't point a Euro zone country on a map, either. And most people do assume, often incorrectly, that $ means FRN/USD.

Don't under estimate the confusion that peso sign '$' produces and baht '฿' potentially would. You are of course aware that a large fraction of all English and Spanish speaking nations use the peso sign? Because you can point all these nations out on a map perhaps you've traveled to some, such as Australia, New Zealand or most anywhere in the Americas between Canada and Antarctica, maybe you've been confused - particularly in tourist areas? Or perhaps on websites - some of which have localization, other's without, or poorly implemented?

I'm saying the average person in the target audience has no clue and won't mind.

Who is the target audience?

[julz]

Consensus certainly will win regardless of this discussion here.

Sadly I think so. (sadly because I think it'll be a narrow consensus built by somewhat insular bitcoiners)

I just don't think it's in the interests of the bitcoin community to sabotage the work other standards bodies are trying to do.

It may be that it's a tortuous red-tape ridden process to get a unique character allocated..  even if so.. I'd prefer to do without than rape every system with a 'bitcoin trumps all' mentality.

Bitcoin is disruptive enough as is - mainly I hope, in ultimately good ways.

[BitcoinPorn]

Bitcoin is disruptive enough as is - mainly I hope, in ultimately good ways.

Self preservation of the coin.  It has to come in tough and swinging against all other currencies.  When is the last time a currency was accepted among so many different people among so many different lands?

The logistics of a currency symbol being incorporated into every single computer that is already in everyone's home, not going to happen.

The numbers of people who use the ฿ symbol currently versus the numbers of people wanting to use it for Bitcoin, who knows, but that number is growing, we know that based on numbers and even how the system itself is made, we will be making these little ฿'s for some time now.

There is no way to properly handle this situation, and I am nearly fully sure that no country is going to be okay with a swiping of their old relic to make way for new world order.   Oh wait, now I'm sounding like one of the kooks (more so than normal, cause even I'm noticing it).  I'm only half kidding in what I write here, I really do think it will just have to be a forced taking of that symbol, I wish there was options around that, that would be realistic.

I really think the sooner everyone gets over this hump its for the best (thread was started in 2010 lol), it does suck for the Thai people, but maybe in the end they will just make BTC their main currency

[julz]

Bitcoin is disruptive enough as is - mainly I hope, in ultimately good ways.

The logistics of a currency symbol being incorporated into every single computer that is already in everyone's home, not going to happen.
...
There is no way to properly handle this situation

There is a proper way. The longer and more patient way that would ultimately gain bitcoin more respect.
It's been done for the Euro, the Indian Rupee and others.

See this article for a glimpse at how seriously countries take it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7923825.stm

I am nearly fully sure that no country is going to be okay with a swiping of their old relic to make way for new world order. 

Indeed not..

 Oh wait, now I'm sounding like one of the kooks

Well.. a bit, yeah..   
I don't understand the impatience to get the symbol, let alone one that gives none of the status that a new bitcoin-specific one would give.
Work on getting the currency accepted by merchants and at least tolerated by nations and the rest will follow.

[BitcoinPorn]

See this article for a glimpse at how seriously countries take it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7923825.stm

Oh India, have you nothing better to do with your time lol

That link proved my point:  "Even after a decade, many people still do not use the euro sign. The BBC, for example, writes out "euro", partly because it may still be unfamiliar to some readers, and partly because many keyboards still do not feature the sign."

I think there is a confusing situation happening about countries needing to respect Bitcoin and other such issues, I'm not seeing these as issues.  India.  Thai.  All these people can feel whatever way they want to, but I have no doubts the people mining and hoarding and enjoying Bitcoin within those places already do not give a crap about their old physical money, nor will the majority of people here.

I would love for Bitcoin to be accepted by the masses in a way that works with current currencies, but the very nature of how Bitcoin works to me is, there is no lands, no country, just one money with it's value determined by the people exchanging.     You use the word patience and such, this is the way it should go down, but now offer a way that it could happen, without it requiring the agreement of everyone.

I think the exchanges were mentioned before, without knowing specifically how, would getting a hold of the top 10 exchanges change it for everyone?    Even if Gox, Tradehill, etc, all used a brand new symbol to represent Bitcoin, and that is just how it was.   Do you feel that would be enough to change every merchant's mind to switch from logos and other assets for their shops, logos and assets their customer base already associates with their store, and they would give it up for what?   So people in Thai they have never seen can keep their symbol that person never knew as anything but for Bitcoin?

I'm trying to break it down realistically, it does not make sense.

[netrin]

It's probably fine to use the Baht (฿), just as many in countries that officially use the cifrão (two slashes) will use the paso/dollar (one slash) for convenience. None the less, it's still valuable to have a distinct, meaningful glyph/logo, whether or not it can be typed on a keyboard today.



I think MtGox's ฿TC looks amateur.

[julz]

It's probably fine to use the Baht (฿), just as many in countries that officially use the cifrão (two slashes) will use the paso/dollar (one slash) for convenience. None the less, it's still valuable to have a distinct, meaningful glyph/logo, whether or not it can be typed on a keyboard today.



I think MtGox's ฿TC looks amateur.

This hash B thing does rock.
Would be nicer in my opinion if the hash were at the bottom of the B..  as if to say bitcoin is *based* on hashes.. but either way - I like it.

[marcus_of_augustus]

Bhash (bit of a hack job)

[julz]

hmm.. ears vs legs... tough call.
The one with legs looks like it goes faster!

[cloon]

Startet a Vote with most symbols of this threat
http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=28741.0

[wareen]

As much as I love the new #-B combination, I'm not sure it works on a small scale:

I hope someone more talented is able to make a better looking version with 10 pixel height, because this is a must-have for a proper new symbol.

Apart from that, I think the #-B is a great idea: It has similarity to other currency symbols, is distinct from any existing symbol and most importantly: it incorporates the symbol for the foundation of the Bitcoin system!
Please, somebody make this scale and lets propose this as a new Unicode character!

[julz]

As much as I love the new #-B combination, I'm not sure it works on a small scale:

I hope someone more talented is able to make a better looking version with 10 pixel height, because this is a must-have for a proper new symbol.

Apart from that, I think the #-B is a great idea: It has similarity to other currency symbols, is distinct from any existing symbol and most importantly: it incorporates the symbol for the foundation of the Bitcoin system!
Please, somebody make this scale and lets propose this as a new Unicode character!

mm.. it is hard at that scale.
I tried with the hash at the base:
1.00

icon size at 16x16 comes out a little better:


.. should probably leave it to the pros.

[kloinko1n]

As much as I love the new #-B combination, I'm not sure it works on a small scale:

I hope someone more talented is able to make a better looking version with 10 pixel height, because this is a must-have for a proper new symbol.

Apart from that, I think the #-B is a great idea: It has similarity to other currency symbols, is distinct from any existing symbol and most importantly: it incorporates the symbol for the foundation of the Bitcoin system!
Please, somebody make this scale and lets propose this as a new Unicode character!

mm.. it is hard at that scale.
I tried with the hash at the base:
1.00

icon size at 16x16 comes out a little better:


.. should probably leave it to the pros.

The problem with the hash, an with the double lines through the B, is that it's simply too much ink for such a small area.
One line would be far better, so I'd vote for a 'b' with horizontal line through it (␢?)

[Stemby]

.. should probably leave it to the pros.

Who wants to try with FontForge?

[wareen]

The problem with the hash, an with the double lines through the B, is that it's simply too much ink for such a small area.
One line would be far better, so I'd vote for a 'b' with horizontal line through it (␢?)

I agree - double lines through the B are impossible - even the Baht symbol doesn't work well with small fonts. But the #-B as well as the B with the double lines on top and bottom only (from the bitcoin.org logo) does not necessarily have this problem. I think it's perfectly possible and might have a look at FontForge later.

It would be great if everybody tried to design his/her favorite non-existing font symbol for BTC with something like FontForge and then we can finally have a poll on a Bitcoin symbol without being restricted by existing typesets.

[TierNolan]

mm.. it is hard at that scale.
I tried with the hash at the base:
1.00

icon size at 16x16 comes out a little better:

What about switching it to a lower case b

[netrin]

As much as I love the new #-B combination, I'm not sure it works on a small scale:

I hope someone more talented is able to make a better looking version with 10 pixel height, because this is a must-have for a proper new symbol.

Apart from that, I think the #-B is a great idea: It has similarity to other currency symbols, is distinct from any existing symbol and most importantly: it incorporates the symbol for the foundation of the Bitcoin system!
Please, somebody make this scale and lets propose this as a new Unicode character!

I think it looks fine as you've done it. Keep in mind that fonts are not boolean pixels, there's antialiasing and subpixel rendering (LCD screen), etc. is not more complex than a %. As for a 'lower case' version:



Tho I personally prefer the original #B



Or more subdued:



Based on edgeworth's design

[marcus_of_augustus]

lower case, how will this one shrink I wonder?

[BitcoinPorn]

Based on edgeworth's design

I see Edgeworth's design everywhere, how did that not become just the staple for the symbol talk?   It has definitely been the accepted icon for Bitcoin.  I see it more than I do the Orange B logo.  It has the lines clearly drawn.

Someone just needs to black and white that, throw it in a font program, clean it up, bam, right?

[TierNolan]

Someone just needs to black and white that, throw it in a font program, clean it up, bam, right?

Yeah, I agree that it is the best one. 

Slightly off topic, what is needed is some kind of standard way of distributing new fonts. 

For example, to register a new character, you would register a domain name at name-of-new-symbol.fnt.  This would be a high resolution or vector graphics image of the character.

When a browser or text editor hits an unknown symbol, it could download it and use that.  Popular symbols would eventually make it into standard fonts.

To add a symbol to a document you are typing, you would use ALT+name-of-new-symbol and it would add it if available, or download it if not already available.

This could work for all the old symbols too.  ALT+d-o-l-l-a-r would give the $ symbol.  It would be like a DNS for fonts .  You wouldn't have to remember the unicode numbers.  It would make files larger though if you used a lot of non-standard characters.

All it would take it one unicode symbol which means non-standard character. 

[Ryland R. Taylor-Almanza]

I see Edgeworth's design everywhere, how did that not become just the staple for the symbol talk?   It has definitely been the accepted icon for Bitcoin.  I see it more than I do the Orange B logo.  It has the lines clearly drawn.

Someone just needs to black and white that, throw it in a font program, clean it up, bam, right?

I don't think it's Edgeworth's design you see everywhere. Edgeworth's design is fairly new. You might be confusing it with this, as they are very similar:
Of course, I may be wrong.

[TierNolan]

Of course, I may be wrong.

I don't think you are .

[BitcoinPorn]

I don't think it's Edgeworth's design you see everywhere. Edgeworth's design is fairly new. You might be confusing it with this, as they are very similar:

Ah, yeah, that is the one I am used to.   Conceptually with the line placement in the B, though a different font/italics, I think has that same, bold, solid look.  I like the italics more

[Ryland R. Taylor-Almanza]

Ah, yeah, that is the one I am used to.   Conceptually with the line placement in the B, though a different font/italics, I think has that same, bold, solid look.  I like the italics more

I like Edgeworth's Italics better as well, but I like the shiny-ness of this one.

[BitcoinPorn]

I like Edgeworth's Italics better as well, but I like the shiny-ness of this one.

Been staring at these things too long, I was almost instantly like "Oh yeah, I know what you mean".. but double checked.  And ... I know what you mean   That glare on the original does have a 'newer' shine than Edgeworth's.   In fact, now his looks like a dirty penny

[TiagoTiago]

mm.. it is hard at that scale.
I tried with the hash at the base:
1.00

icon size at 16x16 comes out a little better:

What about switching it to a lower case b

Am i the only one that sees balls and erect penis there before seeing a hashb?

[netrin]

Am i the only one that sees balls and erect penis there before seeing a hashb?

I can't speak for others, but uh no, not until you mention it.



Don't get caught up on the colors and auxiliary graphics. The beauty of edgeworth's design is in the glyph shape. His lines are clean, uniform, connected, and simple.



I just happen to disagree about the specific location of the bottom lines which could be moved top and left to allow a # (hash) or ♯ (sharp) to subtly emerge (as attempted in posts above).

[skull88]

I made the shiny one, but the B from Edgeworth is far superior, he actually thought about it, I just recreated the B from a design from Satoshi: https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=64.0 and spended more time on the overall coin and just made sure the B was looking good.

I'll try to find some time to make the shiny coin with the B from Edgeworth, gives a better view, but thrust me, the B he made is perfect.

Only problem with the B with double slashes, it looks splendid as a logo, but for typographic use it has one line to much, that's why you also see the dollar symbol with 2 lines when it is a big logo but with one line in fonts: $. And if you lose one line in the double lined B you'll get: ฿.

[Pander]

Hi all, if you agree, please merge all serious proposals and requirement for Bitcoin sign here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin_symbol#New_Unicode_symbol in order to have a clear and high quality overview in stead of them being distributed over many long posts. Of course the posts remain useful in discussing proposed Bitcoin signs.

[netrin]

I'll try to find some time to make the shiny coin with the B from Edgeworth, gives a better view, but thrust me, the B he made is perfect.

Looking forward to seeing that. (you weren't sold on any of the #B glyphs?)

Only problem with the B with double slashes, it looks splendid as a logo, but for typographic use it has one line to much, that's why you also see the dollar symbol with 2 lines when it is a big logo but with one line in fonts: $. And if you lose one line in the double lined B you'll get: ฿.

Not entirely (unless you constrain yourself to Unicode). Edgeworth's first vertical would share the left side of B and the second slash does not cross through the loops of the B.

[wareen]

I just included an updated version of a new proposal for a reference character:
   https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin_symbol#Submissions

Feedback is welcome!
It is based on the original design ideas from netrin and RylandAlmanza.
I also included a link to the SVG, so anyone who might want to improve upon it is encouraged to do so.

Please do create and submit your own proposals for a standard reference character but please read the excellent coverage from Pander in the wiki first. I really hope that we can come up with a few more designs in order to cover a larger part of the communities individual preferences.

Once we have that, we can hopefully reach a community consensus on the future official Bitcoin Unicode character and issue our request to the Unicode consortium.

[TiagoTiago]

You missed some of the submited ones in the original table...

[artisbigshirts]

Here's something I came up with real quick.
It's a combo of the cent symbol and a b.

Handwritten:


I'm diggin the #3 version though, in handwriting it looks pretty badass.

[Mushroomized]

Here is one I made, I need to work on the shading a bit.

[Luke-Jr]

We already have B⃦ in every popular Bitcoin logo.

[Micio]

Bitcoin sign has been added to Unicode 10.0 (June 2017).

Congrats everyone.

₿

[kro55]

Bitcoin sign has been added to Unicode 10.0 (June 2017).

Congrats everyone.

₿

The Bitcoin sign is part of Unicode 10.0 (released June 2017) with code point U+20BF (₿).
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin_symbol

Reading early comments in this from 2010 and 2011 gives you nostalgic. This may the first debate on deciding the logo of Bitcoin, hates off to all early contributes of this forum. I wish somoen who has commented in 2010, may come up and share his views.

[Artemis3]

Bitcoin sign has been added to Unicode 10.0 (June 2017).

Congrats everyone.

₿

Hmm, did you know that i actually posted a thread about it last year?

Here is how to produce the ₿ (Bitcoin) symbol in xorg (Linux/BSD/etc) by keypres

The ₿ (Bitcoin) symbol exists officially in unicode under code U+20BF since 2017 (Unicode v10). If you have a fairly recent Unicode font, such as Google's Noto, you can already see the Bitcoin symbol and use it by copy paste or unicode input along the traditional fiat symbols like $, £, €, etc.

As i explained back then, anyone with a recent enough unicode font should have access to this symbol. I mentioned Google's Noto which happens to be in Android as well. If you don't have this font in your OS, install it, its free. Other unicode fonts (updated after v10) should have this symbol by now.

[diahsw]

why should Thailand, is not bitcoin valid in all countries, I think it's strange to follow your advice .. !!

[owengtam09]

I propose that we adopt the Thai baht currency symbol, ฿, as the official bitcoin currency symbol and BTC as the official bitcoin three letter currency code.

I don't think there is a problem with it because the $ is also using by other countries as long as they know what currency it is then there is no confusion will happen and I think the physical money itself will still be the best reference by the money exchangers.

[OnceTwiceThird]

I propose that we adopt the Thai baht currency symbol, ฿, as the official bitcoin currency symbol and BTC as the official bitcoin three letter currency code.

I don't think there is a problem with it because the $ is also using by other countries as long as they know what currency it is then there is no confusion will happen and I think the physical money itself will still be the best reference by the money exchangers.

What the problem by bitcoin symbol? I think there are not have the same symbol like bitcoin with many companies and other project, I like with bitcoin symbol because very simple and interested with many investor, I found many the shirt using bitcoin symbol and give best promoting for many people using bitcoin symbol to help bitcoin have higher price.

[ragavancoin]

Bitcoin is a unicode character.

Good thought. It will be a great idea if we have Bitcoin emotions but we don't find anywhere.

As you have thought about it create a Emoji symbol so that we can use it in our conversation Orelse we just have to use money bag symbol or smiley in that Bitcoin as Emoji.

Create bitcoin symbol that should be unique but make sure it will be available on keyboards so that we can use.

[Broke@$$Joe]

Nice work! I don't understand the doubling thing, care to explain?
Just found out of Bitcoin, Ive spent nights and days reading old forums just to see how great the times were.
I wish I had been here back than but I was just a 7 years old kiddo with no internet access from a third world country.
I know nobody gives a sh!t to help a stranger out, but I see it a far-fetched dream owning a whole Bitcoin, with a 250$ off taxes salary, a job which was lost due to covide and Im currently unemployed. My lifesaving are around 1.2K while Bitcoin is sitting at 10K area today.
Please care to explain the doubling part bro It might help me if still available cuz Im tired of asking new investors like a MAN TO A MAN for any fraction of Bitcoin. World is so greedy!
Wished I had been around than and been older, I would've bought a shitload of Bitcoin and today I would've been the one who would share his abundance cuz I would've been happy and settled down ever for my future generations with just 100BTC@10k
I hope U still safe and sound
All the best bro

[iTradeChips]

For me, I am comfortable with the three letter symbol for BTC. I agree with most others say that if you use a new symbol and that is not accepted by everybody then it will cause confusion. We are in unregulated space and practically people can do anything with their cryptos anyway they want to, but we have to agree that not everything in crypto can be changed by someone without a consensus of everybody. And the answer is clear, no one want to use any symbol, except for BTC.

[Jayrmalakas]

three letter symbol is so cute .no nheed to long letter or word to sying bitcoin , it is enough for me and bitcoin code is a billion money more money to have

[worldofcoins]

I propose that we adopt the Thai baht currency symbol, ฿, as the official bitcoin currency symbol and BTC as the official bitcoin three letter currency code.

It appears to be a Dollar sign and I figure we should have to go something different since its like opposed to duplicating USD.
The more significant thing is people may think its a trick/scam and a duplicate feline of USD. They can ridicule it and deceiving it would be harmful to what's to come.
For me I concur with the 3 three-letters there's nothing incorrectly with it and can be worth around the world.

[Blackrain13]

There's nothing wrong using a symbol of bitcoin but I prefer to use the three letter BTC which is easy to identify and recognize, also I am more comfortable using it. I think it depends on everyone if what you want to use as a symbol for Bitcoin.