<h2>Prevalent units of bitcoin</h2>
<p>To my knowledge, only <strong>bitcoin</strong> and <strong>satoshi</strong> are subunits universally used for Bitcoin.<br />
As of 2014/2015, one also often sees <strong>bit</strong> as a moniker for one microbitcoin, i.e. 100 satoshis.</p>
<p><strong>BTC</strong> has been used as the abbreviation for bitcoin for a long time, yet, in September bitcoin was added to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ISO 4217</a>, as <strong>XBT</strong>, where X means not associated with a country, just as  in XAG (Silver) and XAU (Gold), and opposed to national currencies, e.g. USD (US Dollar). However, it seems to me that XBT has not been adopted by the community, BTC remains prevalent.</p>
<h2>Origin of millibitcoin and microbitcoin</h2>
<p><strong>Millibitcoin</strong> and <strong>microbitcoin</strong> follow the conventions of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI" rel="nofollow noreferrer">International System of Units</a>, and thus are derived from the main unit <strong>bitcoin</strong> with a prepended &quot;m&quot; for millibitcoin and a prepended &quot;μ&quot; for microbitcoin.<br />
Following the same conventions and starting from the common abbreviation <strong>BTC</strong> for bitcoin, one would use <strong>mBTC</strong> and <strong>μBTC</strong>.</p>
<h2>Millibit and microbit are confusing</h2>
<p>While usually people will understand the meaning, using the abbreviations &quot;millibit&quot; or &quot;microbit&quot; gives the impression that they are assiociated with <strong>bit</strong> as the main unit. This is especially confusing with the advent of <strong>bit</strong> as a nickname for microbitcoins.</p>
<h2>&quot;bit&quot;</h2>
<p>Bit is a terrible name for two reasons: Bit, the <strong>b</strong>inary dig<strong>it</strong>, is the basic unit of information. It is used a lot in the context of anything related with computers and therefore shouldn't be doubled as a subunit of bitcoin. Second, due to people using &quot;millibit&quot; and &quot;microbit&quot; it is terribly confusing to anyone that is new to Bitcoin, but familiar with the International System of Units.</p>
<h2>Millie and Mike</h2>
<p>&quot;Millie&quot; and &quot;Mike&quot; were proposed nicknames for millibitcoin and microbitcoin, but I haven't seen them get much usage. I don't think that they will see adoption.</p>
<h2>Units in English</h2>
<p>In general currencies are not capitalized in English, unlike the name of the protocol. So, you would write about the <em>Bitcoin protocol</em>, but <em>five bitcoins</em>.</p>
<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>I would argue for the following usage of units:</p>
<pre><code>Unit       Value in bitcoins  Value in satoshis   Abbreviation   Symbol
------------------------------------------------------------------------
bitcoin        1.0               100,000,000             BTC        ₿
millibitcoin   0.001                 100,000            mBTC       m₿
microbitcoin   0.000001                  100            μBTC       μ₿
bit            0.000001                  100             bit        ƀ
satoshi        0.00000001                  1         satoshi        ṩ
</code></pre>
<p>Note that there neither bit nor satoshi have a widely used symbol, and these two are my personal preference.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2013-12-03T10:40:36.100Z
2023-08-28T14:20:51.450Z
2023-08-28T14:20:51.450Z
Murch
<p>So, the question is, what is mBTC?</p>
<p>Well, for starters, there are quite a few different mBTC tokens, and they can stand for multiple things because there are multiple tokens with mBTC. So, to begin, I have two notes with 20 mBTC on them. They are Blockchain bitcoin notes. Based on what I assume and studied, they might be 'Mirrored Bitcoin', because if it were 'millibitcoin', I would have a note that says '0.00' followed by some BTC amount in mBTC.</p>
<p>Therefore, the number 20, representing the coins, must be greater than 1.0 or equal to 1.0 to have 20 coins equaling 20.0 mBTC. From my study, I found that there are several mBTC variants: Mirror Bitcoin, microbitcoin, Moon Bitcoin, Bitcoin Chromatic, Meta Bitcoin, Mstable Bitcoin, and millibitcoin. All of these are mBTC denominations. So, if your coin's value starts with a number before the decimal point in the equation, you have more than one coin. It's not 1 millibitcoin, as having less than one coin would result in a millibitcoin.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-28T14:27:34.310Z
Hi Kyle, I don’t understand how your answer relates to the question. I have never heard of “Mirror Bitcoin, Moon Bitcoin, Bitcoin Chromatic, etc.” as subunits of a bitcoin. Do you perhaps want to take another look at this?
Murch
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-30T16:41:29.600Z
Do you mean notes as in paper currency bank notes? Something like pseudo-accounting entries?
Mercedes
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-30T16:42:26.467Z
If you have a new question, please ask it by clicking the [Ask Question](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) button. Include a link to this question if it helps provide context. - [From Review](/review/late-answers/90127)
Mercedes
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-26T23:50:58.807Z
2023-08-28T14:26:21.657Z
2023-08-28T14:26:21.657Z
Kyle Hansen
<p>I heard about many use: Bitcents, Bitmills (or Bitmilles)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>1.02 - One bitcoin and two bitcents<br>
  0.001 - One millibitcoin (nickname "one Millie")<br>
  0.000001 - One microbitcoin (nickname "one Mike")<br>
  0.00000001 - The bitcoin base unit (nickname "one Satoshi")</p>
</blockquote>

<p>millicoins, microcoins, and nanocoins</p>

<p>Which are the official naming conventions and should Bitcoin be capitalized when you are referring to the unit?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-19T13:31:47.533Z
Normally, currencies aren't capitalized.
Michael Krelin - hacker
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-03T10:42:46.137Z
Closely related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/114/what-is-a-satoshi
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-04T20:59:24.937Z
Also related: [What is the difference between BitCoin, Bitcoin, and bitcoin?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/462/what-is-the-difference-between-bitcoin-bitcoin-and-bitcoin)
D.H.
<terminology><satoshi><divisibility>
Naming convention: MilliBit or Millibitcoins (mBTC), microbitcoin or Mikrobitcoins (μBTC)?
rubo77
# Naming convention: MilliBit or Millibitcoins (mBTC), microbitcoin or Mikrobitcoins (μBTC)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-19)

I heard about many use: Bitcents, Bitmills (or Bitmilles)

> 1.02 - One bitcoin and two bitcents  
> 0.001 - One millibitcoin (nickname "one Millie")  
> 0.000001 - One microbitcoin (nickname "one Mike")  
> 0.00000001 - The bitcoin base unit (nickname "one Satoshi")

millicoins, microcoins, and nanocoins

Which are the official naming conventions and should Bitcoin be capitalized when you are referring to the unit?

**Tags:** terminology, satoshi, divisibility

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Normally, currencies aren't capitalized.  
> **username_2**: Closely related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/114/what-is-a-satoshi  
> **username_3**: Also related: [What is the difference between BitCoin, Bitcoin, and bitcoin?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/462/what-is-the-difference-between-bitcoin-bitcoin-and-bitcoin)  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-12-03. Score: 2

Prevalent units of bitcoin
To my knowledge, only bitcoin and satoshi are subunits universally used for Bitcoin.
As of 2014/2015, one also often sees bit as a moniker for one microbitcoin, i.e. 100 satoshis.
BTC has been used as the abbreviation for bitcoin for a long time, yet, in September bitcoin was added to ISO 4217, as XBT, where X means not associated with a country, just as  in XAG (Silver) and XAU (Gold), and opposed to national currencies, e.g. USD (US Dollar). However, it seems to me that XBT has not been adopted by the community, BTC remains prevalent.
Origin of millibitcoin and microbitcoin
Millibitcoin and microbitcoin follow the conventions of the International System of Units, and thus are derived from the main unit bitcoin with a prepended "m" for millibitcoin and a prepended "μ" for microbitcoin.
Following the same conventions and starting from the common abbreviation BTC for bitcoin, one would use mBTC and μBTC.
Millibit and microbit are confusing
While usually people will understand the meaning, using the abbreviations "millibit" or "microbit" gives the impression that they are assiociated with bit as the main unit. This is especially confusing with the advent of bit as a nickname for microbitcoins.
"bit"
Bit is a terrible name for two reasons: Bit, the binary digit, is the basic unit of information. It is used a lot in the context of anything related with computers and therefore shouldn't be doubled as a subunit of bitcoin. Second, due to people using "millibit" and "microbit" it is terribly confusing to anyone that is new to Bitcoin, but familiar with the International System of Units.
Millie and Mike
"Millie" and "Mike" were proposed nicknames for millibitcoin and microbitcoin, but I haven't seen them get much usage. I don't think that they will see adoption.
Units in English
In general currencies are not capitalized in English, unlike the name of the protocol. So, you would write about the Bitcoin protocol, but five bitcoins.
Overview
I would argue for the following usage of units:
Unit       Value in bitcoins  Value in satoshis   Abbreviation   Symbol
------------------------------------------------------------------------
bitcoin        1.0               100,000,000             BTC        ₿
millibitcoin   0.001                 100,000            mBTC       m₿
microbitcoin   0.000001                  100            μBTC       μ₿
bit            0.000001                  100             bit        ƀ
satoshi        0.00000001                  1         satoshi        ṩ

Note that there neither bit nor satoshi have a widely used symbol, and these two are my personal preference.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2023-08-26. Score: -3

So, the question is, what is mBTC?

Well, for starters, there are quite a few different mBTC tokens, and they can stand for multiple things because there are multiple tokens with mBTC. So, to begin, I have two notes with 20 mBTC on them. They are Blockchain bitcoin notes. Based on what I assume and studied, they might be 'Mirrored Bitcoin', because if it were 'millibitcoin', I would have a note that says '0.00' followed by some BTC amount in mBTC.

Therefore, the number 20, representing the coins, must be greater than 1.0 or equal to 1.0 to have 20 coins equaling 20.0 mBTC. From my study, I found that there are several mBTC variants: Mirror Bitcoin, microbitcoin, Moon Bitcoin, Bitcoin Chromatic, Meta Bitcoin, Mstable Bitcoin, and millibitcoin. All of these are mBTC denominations. So, if your coin's value starts with a number before the decimal point in the equation, you have more than one coin. It's not 1 millibitcoin, as having less than one coin would result in a millibitcoin.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Hi Kyle, I don’t understand how your answer relates to the question. I have never heard of “Mirror Bitcoin, Moon Bitcoin, Bitcoin Chromatic, etc.” as subunits of a bitcoin. Do you perhaps want to take another look at this?  
> **username_5**: Do you mean notes as in paper currency bank notes? Something like pseudo-accounting entries?  
> **username_5**: If you have a new question, please ask it by clicking the [Ask Question](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) button. Include a link to this question if it helps provide context. - [From Review](/review/late-answers/90127)  

---

