Bitcoin proponent John Carvalho has unveiled a new Bitcoin improvement proposal that aims to redefine the cryptocurrency's unit of measurement.
His proposal involves replacing the current structure, in which one Bitcoin equals 100 million satoshi , to a system that assumes the smallest indivisible unit satoshi .
According to Carvalho's concept, one Bitcoin will be equal to one satoshi , one hundred millionth of a bitcoin. This change will eliminate decimal places, representing bitcoin values as whole numbers.
So what is currently displayed as 0,00010000 BTC will be represented as 10 bitcoins.
Carvalho argues that the change will reduce confusion, align Bitcoin's display with its integral protocol, and make the currency more understandable to people unfamiliar with it.
The decimal point is just a man-made abstraction, says Carvalho.
Interestingly, in 2017, Jimmy Song proposed BIP 176, which introduced “bits” as a standard denomination. His idea was to simplify small transactions by eliminating the complex fractional representations of BTC.
Critics of both ideas warn that changing the unit structure would confuse users, increase the risk of transaction errors, and create logistical problems for wallets and exchanges built with the current system in mind.
