Upcoming proposal for Bitcoin sign

Martin J. Dürst duerst at it.aoyama.ac.jp
Mon Sep 7 00:10:45 CDT 2015


Hello Ken,

You write "The bitcoin sign and baht symbol are two unrelated symbols 
that have some visual similarity.", but don't really give any supporting 
information for that claim.

For example, searching for images of bitcoin and bath symbols shows that 
the Bitcoin usually has two vertical bars, which however show only above 
and below the B, whereas the baht sign usually has one bar going through 
the B.

But first, this distinction is not always maintained. Second, I 
extremely strongly doubt that people are making the distinction in 
handwriting. The 'bath form' of the symbol is much easier to write by 
hand that the 'bitcoin form', and so most people in handwriting will use 
the former even for bitcoins. Just try to correctly write the four 
little strokes of the 'bitcoin form', and you will understand easily.

Regards,   Martin.

On 2015/09/06 00:24, Ken Shirriff wrote:
> 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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