Bitcoin's Base Unit Debate Reignites With Proposal To Eliminate Satoshis

A recent proposal to change Bitcoin’s base unit has reignited a debate within the cryptocurrency community. Bitcoin developer John Carvalho introduced Bitcoin Improvement Proposal-177 on April 23, which aims to eliminate the concept of satoshis, of which there are 100,000,000 in 1 Bitcoin (BTC), and effectively split Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million into 21 quadrillion units. This proposal follows a 2017 suggestion by Bitcoin developer Jimmy Song to create “bits,” representing one-millionth of 1 Bitcoin. However, Carvalho argued that Song’s approach would still require users to think about decimals and merely shift complexity rather than eliminating it.

Block Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey is among those advocating for the change, stating in a May 18 post that satoshis, or sats, are too confusing for newcomers. Dorsey pointed to a December 2024 discussion where Stevie Lee, product lead of a Bitcoin infrastructure firm, argued that not enough people understand or care about satoshis. Lee noted that people often confuse satoshis with an entirely new token unrelated to Bitcoin, and suggested that the Bitcoin community should not be overly concerned with the change, as the underlying economics of Bitcoin would remain intact.

Opponents of the change include Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten and Byte Federal director of product Michelle Weekley. Weekley argued that people understand cents in a dollar, and thus would understand sats in a Bitcoin. Magdalena Gronowska, a Bitcoin consultant, claimed that the change could mislead some into thinking that Bitcoin’s price had abruptly crashed and its supply had massively inflated. Parker Lewis, business development lead at Zaprite, argued that sats were easier to understand.

Robin Linus, the creator of the Bitcoin Virtual Machine (BitVM), highlighted that even Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was open to changing how Bitcoin’s units are displayed for usability purposes. In a February 2010 post, Satoshi Nakamoto stated, “If it gets tiresome working with small numbers, we could change where the display shows the decimal point. Same amount of money, just different convention.”

The Bitcoin network has not implemented any improvement proposals since the Taproot upgrade in November 2021, which aimed to improve Bitcoin’s speed, efficiency, and privacy. The ongoing debate underscores the dynamic nature of the cryptocurrency community, where innovation and tradition often collide. As the discussion continues, it remains to be seen whether the proposal will gain enough traction to bring about a change in Bitcoin's base unit.