It’s a statement arsenic aged arsenic Bitcoin itself: How tin the world’s archetypal cryptocurrency execute existent wide adoption? While the Bitcoin assemblage focuses connected improving idiosyncratic acquisition (UX), rolling retired custody solutions, battling legislators, and onboarding institutions, halfway Bitcoin developer and CEO of Synonym John Carvalho has projected a simpler solution: deprecate satoshis and region the decimals to “reduce the cognitive load.”
Changing satoshi for bitcoin whitethorn amended the idiosyncratic experience
In a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) released successful December 2024, Carvalho argues that eliminating the word ‘satoshi’ and removing the decimal points by changing satoshi for bitcoin would person a dual benefit: making Bitcoin easier to recognize and removing portion bias, some cardinal to attracting caller users.
Currently, 1 bitcoin is made up of 100 cardinal tiny pieces called “base units” oregon satoshis, which cannot beryllium divided further. Carvalho’s connection suggests redefining “bitcoin” to notation to this smallest unit. Under this system, what we present telephone “1 bitcoin” would alternatively beryllium referred to arsenic “100 cardinal bitcoins.”
For example, a transaction presently displayed arsenic 0.00010000 BTC would go 10,000 bitcoins successful the caller system, and 10.23486 BTC would beryllium displayed arsenic 1,023,486,000 bitcoins, redefining the conception of bitcoin millionaires.
Bitcoiners are notoriously resistant to change
Bitcoin’s past is filled with contentious debates, from the artifact size wars to SegWit and the ongoing arguments implicit NFTs connected the blockchain. Unsurprisingly, Carvalho’s connection has met sizeable absorption since its instauration astatine the extremity of past year. Podcast big Stephan Livera mocked the idea connected X, likening it to calling each portion of pizza a full pizza:
“Hey, I person this large idea! Instead of 1 pizza with 8 slices, let’s telephone each portion a pizza. Just marque definite erstwhile you spell to bid your pizza, you bid 8 pizzas present alternatively of one. Just my 2 pizzas.”
Viral Bits laminitis Daniel Sempere Pico joked:
“I emotion however triggered radical get by your proposal,”
While different assemblage members voiced concerns astir changing the full proviso from 21 cardinal to 2.1 quadrillion bitcoins, seeing the archetypal proviso arsenic a halfway rule of Bitcoin’s identity.
“Personally, I’m not funny successful changing the proviso from 21m to 2.1 quadrillion. In the infinite oversea of shitcoins and the unlimited flood of fiat, 21 cardinal bitcoin is simply a statement, a mediate digit to monetary debasement.”
Make satoshi bitcoin again
There whitethorn beryllium a slim accidental that Carvalho’s connection is increasing connected people, arsenic helium posted connected X connected April 25, 2025:
“It’s inactive a minority, but a batch much radical are becoming funny successful the thought of calling the basal units of Bitcoin bitcoins, and removing the decimal.”
Carvalho appears to beryllium connected an all-out campaign, borrowing Trump’s MAGA slogan and filling his X leafage with pictures of well-known figures from the planetary economical community, including Satoshi, Klaus Schwab, and Ursula von der Leyen donning reddish caps with the slogan “Make Satoshi Bitcoin Again.”
Whether the connection gathers much momentum remains to beryllium seen. But the ongoing statement highlights however adjacent the astir minimal of adjustments could marque Bitcoin much palatable to the masses.
The station Bitcoin statement reignited with satoshi portion redefinition proposal appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.