It is a debate as old as Bitcoin itself: how can the first cryptocurrency in the world reach real massive adoption? While the Bitcoin community focuses on improving the user experience (UX), rolling out guardianship solutions, fighting lawsers and onboarding institutions, core bitcoin -developer and CEO of Synonymous John Carvalho has suggested a simpler solution: scare Satoshis and remove the decimals to “reduce the cognitive load”.
Satoshi for Bitcoin change can improve the user experience
In one Bitcoin -improvement proposal (BIP) Released in December 2024, Carvalho argues that eliminating the term ‘satoshi’ and removing the decimal points by changing Satoshi for Bitcoin would have a double advantage: Bitcoin would be easier to understand and remove them for bias, both key to attracting new users.
Currently, one bitcoin consists of 100 million small pieces called “Base Units” or Satoshis, which cannot be distributed further. Carvalho’s proposal proposes to redefine “Bitcoin” to refer to this smallest unit. Under this system we would now call ‘1 Bitcoin’ instead called ‘100 million bitcoins’.
A transaction that is currently displayed as 0.00010000 BTC would be 10,000 bitcoins in the new system, and 10,23486 BTC would be displayed as 1,023,486,000 bitcoins, which define the concept again Bitcoin Millionaires.
Bitcoiners are notorious resistant to change
The history of Bitcoin is filled with controversial debates, from the Block Size Wars to Segwit and the current arguments about NFTs on the blockchain. It is not surprising that Carvalho’s proposal has achieved considerable resistance since its introduction at the end of last year. Podcast -Gastheer Stephan Livera mocked the Idea on XComparing to mention every slice of pizza a whole pizza:
“Hey, I have this great idea! Instead of one pizza with eight slices, let’s call each slice a pizza. Make sure you order your pizza, you now order eight pizzas instead of one. Only my two pizzas.”
Viral Bits Founder Daniel Sempere Pico joke:
“I think it’s great how activated people get through your proposal,”
While other members of the community expressed their concern about changing the total supply from 21 million to 2.1 Quadrillion Bitcoins, the original offer saw as a core principle of the identity of Bitcoin.
“Personally, I am not interested in changing the range from 21m to 2.1 quadrillion. In the infinite sea of shitcoins and the unlimited stream Fiat, 21 million Bitcoin is a statement, a middle finger to monetary debasia.”
Make Satoshi Bitcoin again
There may be a slender chance that Carvalho’s proposal on people will grow like him Posted on X On April 25, 2025:
“It is still a minority, but many more people are interested in the idea of calling the basic units of Bitcoin Bitcoins and removing it decimally.”
Carvalho seems to be a total campaign, borrowing Trump’s Maga slogan and filling his X page with photos of famous figures from the global economic community, including Satoshi, Klaus Schwab and Ursula von der Leyen who put on red caps with the slogan “make satoshi bitcoin again.”
Whether the proposal collects more Momentum can still be seen. But the current debate emphasizes how even the most minimal adjustments can make Bitcoin tastier for the masses.
