Upcoming proposal for Bitcoin sign

Ken Shirriff ken.shirriff at gmail.com
Sat Sep 5 10:24:44 CDT 2015


Thanks for your comment, Mark. I've rewritten the baht section. Let me know
if this addresses your concerns.


Another alternative is ฿ THAI CURRENCY SYMBOL BAHT. The bitcoin sign and
baht symbol are two unrelated symbols that have some visual similarity.
They are not variants of the same symbol, unlike single-bar and double-bar
dollar signs. Some websites use the baht symbol to represent bitcoins due
to the lack of the bitcoin symbol in Unicode. However, this is considered
by some to be “hijacking” and “stealing” of the bhat symbol. [footnote]
While the same symbol can be used for two currencies (e.g. $ for dollars
and pesos), reusing the baht symbol for bitcoin is not a good solution when
two different symbols currently exist.

Footnote:

Some Bitcoin enthusiasts want to hijack the symbol for Thailand’s currency,
Tech in Asia.
https://www.techinasia.com/bitcoin-enthusiasts-steal-symbol-thailands-currency/
To ฿ or not to Ƀ: Bitcoin debates stealing Thai baht's identity.
http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/04/22/bh-or-not-b-bitcoin-movement-debates-stealing-thai-bahts-identity


Ken

On Sat, Sep 5, 2015 at 7:14 AM, Mark Davis ☕️ <mark at macchiato.com> wrote:

> At one point, the proposal states:
>
> Another alternative is ฿ THAI CURRENCY SYMBOL BAHT. This has the advantage
> of already being in Unicode and somewhat resembling the Bitcoin sign. A
> major disadvantage is this symbol is already in use as a currency symbol
> for a different currency, so using it to represent Bitcoin will lead to
> confusion.The Baht and the Bitcoin sign are two different symbols for two
> different currencies.
>
>
> Currency symbols are quite often used for very different currencies, with
> very different values. The $, for example, is used for currencies all over
> the world, including many not called 'dollar'. I'd suggest that you amend
> your proposal to address why the case of Bitcoin and Baht are different
> than the case of Dollar and Peso (and other currencies using $).
>
>
> Mark <https://google.com/+MarkDavis>
>
> *— Il meglio è l’inimico del bene —*
>
> On Thu, Sep 3, 2015 at 4:27 PM, Ken Shirriff <ken.shirriff at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I'm putting together a proposal for the Bitcoin sign to be added to
>> Unicode, so I wanted to check here if people have any
>> comments/concerns/objections.
>>
>> I'm aware of the previous rejected proposal L2/11-130
>> <http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11129-bitcoin.pdf> and I address the
>> issues from its rejection
>> <http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11116.htm#127-A57>. In particular, my
>> proposal includes many examples of the symbol in running text. I also
>> checked with bitcoin.org that they have no trademark on the logo.
>>
>> Please let me know of any other potential issues.
>>
>> Ken
>>
>
>
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