Bitcoin vs. bitcoin – Why the Letter Case of b Matters

So, you’ve read a news article online and saw a mix of bitcoin and Bitcoin in the same sentence. Time to call the grammar police! Not so fast, newbie, as it just so turns out that there are specific circumstances where both spellings are correct.

Read on to learn how and when you should capitalize Bitcoin.

Is bitcoin Capitalized?

The answer is both yes and no! If you’re referring to the digital currency, then bitcoin is correct. If you’re talking about the protocol however, Bitcoin is the way to go.

It helps to know the context of what’s being discussed to understand which spelling is correct in any given circumstance.

The Bitcoin Network

As a rule of thumb, anything that touches upon the greater Bitcoin ecosystem usually uses a capital B. You could be referring to the Bitcoin network, the Bitcoin Core software, the Bitcoin protocol, the Bitcoin payment system. Maybe you saw some funny Bitcoin memes on social media.

Here’s an example:

Today we’ll be learning all about Bitcoin, a novel payment system that runs on a proof-of-work consensus mechanism. The Bitcoin network is accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Whether you’re talking about the Bitcoin protocol, software, network or larger ecosystem, you’re referring to a unique item, a proper noun, hence the capitalization.

The bitcoin Currency

When you mention bitcoin the currency however, you’re dealing with a common noun. Putting its digital and decentralized features aside for a moment, it’s useful to remember that you’re referring to a readily available, fungible currency and could just as easily be talking about dollars or euros.

I arrived in El Salvador and didn’t have any dollars in my wallet. Luckily the taxi driver accepted bitcoin. The transaction was quick and cheap seeing as the bitcoin was sent through the Lightning network.

If you’re just talking about monetary transactions and aren’t going into the specifics of the protocol, a lower-case b is the way to go.

How About BTC?

BTC is a ticker, just like AMZN, AAPL, TSLA or USD and EUR. You’ll often see it mentioned in news articles when referring to the digital currency’s price movements. Tickers are useful tools that give investors a compact overview of currencies and asset prices in financial markets. In reality though, people are more likely to say they paid for something in bitcoin than in BTC.

On some exchange platforms, you might also see bitcoin listed as XBT. The X prefix is often used in financial markets to designate an asset that is not issued by a specific country, such as gold (XAU).

Bitcoin’s Logo and ฿ vs ₿

Bitcoin’s iconic logo took on numerous forms as the small, decentralized community worked on its branding during the currency’s early days. Many of the discussions took place on the Bitcointalk forum, home to several interesting debates that led to important decisions which came to shape the future of Bitcoin over the years to come. One popular idea at the time was for Bitcoin to adopt the Thai Baht symbol: ฿.

In November 2010, a forum user by the name of “bitboy” suggested various logos, including a tilted B placed within an orange circle. The design was well received by the community and has since received some touch ups and detailed explanations by co-designer Phil Wilson.

The logo that is recognized around the world today includes many special design elements, several of which have a mathematical link to the number 8. Most interesting perhaps is the significance of the four dollar stripes (₿); these were included to resemble a B supplanting the previous global currency standard, stamping it firmly into the ground.

What About Satoshi?

As the price of a single bitcoin (...) increased dramatically over the years, smaller and smaller fractions of bitcoin became necessary for micropayment transactions. The smaller units of bitcoin were named satoshis, in a hat tip to Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto. A single satoshi represents 100 millionth of one bitcoin, or 0.00000001 BTC. That’s eight decimal places. These units are also known colloquially as sats.

I’m going to send some sats to my Lightning wallet for daily transactions. I’ll be keeping the rest of my bitcoin in cold storage for long term savings.

Keeping Things Simple

Blockchain technology is hard enough as it is. Having one word to explain two separate things doesn’t really help; although if you can read and write English, you’re probably used to that by now.

Learning when to capitalize Bitcoin is not that hard when you think about it, it just comes down to basic grammar. If you have a unique element that looks and feels like a proper noun, give it a capital letter: Bitcoin. If on the other hand you’re dealing with something that is abundant and readily available, treat is a common noun: bitcoin.

Knowing the difference between the two spellings should help you better understand our Bitcoin content and bring you one step further on your journey to Bitcoin wisdom.