Controversial Proposal in the Bitcoin Community
The Bitcoin community is currently embroiled in a heated discussion over a controversial proposal from John Carvalho, the CEO of Synonym and a prominent developer in the space. While many are striving to improve user experience, develop custody solutions, engage in regulatory efforts, and appeal to institutional investors, Carvalho has put forth an unconventional idea: to eliminate the satoshi unit entirely and do away with decimal points.
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP)
In a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) presented in December 2024, Carvalho suggested that instead of the traditional breakdown where one Bitcoin is made up of 100 million satoshis, all units should simply be referred to as ‘Bitcoin.’ Under this new framework, a transaction like 0.00010000 BTC would be represented as 10,000 BTC, which could dramatically change perceptions in the community, especially around notions of wealth, where the term ‘Bitcoin millionaire’ may take on a new meaning.
Criticism and Support
This radical suggestion has not been met without skepticism, as critics have voiced serious concerns. Some have derisively dubbed it the ‘pizza theory’, humorously arguing that if each slice of pizza were termed a ‘whole,’ one would need to ask for eight ‘wholes’ to fulfill an order. Such comparisons highlight apprehensions about the potential inflation of units and the accompanying dilution of Bitcoin’s perceived scarcity, traditionally capped at 21 million Bitcoins.
However, Carvalho’s proposal appears to be gaining some level of support despite its detractors. On April 25, he posted on the social media platform X, sharing,
“Though still a minority, more people are beginning to accept the idea of calling Bitcoin’s smallest unit ‘Bitcoin’ and eliminating decimal points.”
This indicates a growing dialogue among community members about rethinking how Bitcoin is measured and perceived in order to make it more accessible to newcomers.
