4 ms·

About that: note that in the ISO standard for those 3 letter currency codes, the first two letters represent the country or union that issues the currency. For

About that: note that in the ISO standard for those 3 letter currency codes, the first two letters represent the country or union that issues the currency. For instance, there will not be another GB* currency that is not british. And BT* correspond to Bhutan, IIRC. So BTC is problematic.

cturner 14y ago
That's as arbitrary as the idea that only a nation-state can support a currency.
- dudus 14y ago
  Arbitrary or not it's a standard that's worth following. Maybe there should be a prefix for country-less currencies. XXB maybe?
  - wcoenen 14y ago
    That prefix already exists, it's a single X. For example, gold is XAU. XBC is already used for "European Unit of Account 9". XBI, XBO, XBT and XBN are available. http://www.currency-iso.org/dam/downloads/dl_iso_table_a1.xml http://www.currency-iso.org/dam/downloads/dl_iso_table_a1.xm...
- miles 14y ago
  The ISO 4217 currency codes [1] look pretty arbitrary too. For example, why is the Afghan afghani "AFN" instead of "AFA", or the Japanese yen "JPY" instead of "JAY"? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217#Active_codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217#Active_codes
  - TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
    It's JPY because the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 2-letter country code for Japan is JP. Similarly, it is GBP because the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 2-letter country code for the United Kingdom is GB, not UK. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 is used everywhere, for example on the web for ccTLDs (although the UK is an exception, since it has GB allocated, but for backwards-compatibility with another network, it also got UK, and now disallows registrations on GB).
  - smackfu 14y ago
    The Afghani is another case of revaluation. It was AFA before 2003.
Samuel_Michon 14y ago
So then Bitcoin should adopt ‘EAB’ (Earth Bitcoin)? Or ‘WOB’ (World Bitcoin)? That'd be fun, a Bitcoin penny could be called an Erby or Wobby (that's about USD 0.90 right now).
- warfangle 14y ago
  I'd suggest IAB for International Bitcoin, but it already has meaning in 'Internal Affairs Bureau' ...
  - lwat 14y ago
    I think you'll find that EVERY three letter acronym already stands for something or other. Don't let that deter you.
wyqueshocec 14y ago
I believe X is used for non-state stuff. For example, an ounce of gold is XAU, and silver is XAG. So maybe XBC or XBT for bitcoin?
imissmyjuno 14y ago
Where does euro fit in?
- smackfu 14y ago
  It's "EU" (3166-1 value) + "R" (currency identifier): For practical reasons, the ISO 3166/MA has "reserved the two-letter combination EU for the purpose of identifying the European Union within the framework of ISO 3166-1".
cpeterso 14y ago
Bitcoin could use XXB or XBT. (XBC is already taken for some EU bond market units.)
smackfu 14y ago
Yeah, which is kind of weird when a country revalues their currency. For instance, Mexican Peso was the obvious MXP, then it was revalued so they needed something new, so it's MXN (Mexican Nuevo Peso, I guess). Similarly, Turkish Lyra went from TRL to TRY ("Y" for "Yeni" meaning New.)

cturner 14y ago

That's as arbitrary as the idea that only a nation-state can support a currency.

dudus 14y ago
Arbitrary or not it's a standard that's worth following. Maybe there should be a prefix for country-less currencies. XXB maybe?
- wcoenen 14y ago
  That prefix already exists, it's a single X. For example, gold is XAU. XBC is already used for "European Unit of Account 9". XBI, XBO, XBT and XBN are available. http://www.currency-iso.org/dam/downloads/dl_iso_table_a1.xml http://www.currency-iso.org/dam/downloads/dl_iso_table_a1.xm...
miles 14y ago
The ISO 4217 currency codes [1] look pretty arbitrary too. For example, why is the Afghan afghani "AFN" instead of "AFA", or the Japanese yen "JPY" instead of "JAY"? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217#Active_codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217#Active_codes
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  It's JPY because the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 2-letter country code for Japan is JP. Similarly, it is GBP because the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 2-letter country code for the United Kingdom is GB, not UK. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 is used everywhere, for example on the web for ccTLDs (although the UK is an exception, since it has GB allocated, but for backwards-compatibility with another network, it also got UK, and now disallows registrations on GB).
- smackfu 14y ago
  The Afghani is another case of revaluation. It was AFA before 2003.

Samuel_Michon 14y ago

So then Bitcoin should adopt ‘EAB’ (Earth Bitcoin)? Or ‘WOB’ (World Bitcoin)? That'd be fun, a Bitcoin penny could be called an Erby or Wobby (that's about USD 0.90 right now).

warfangle 14y ago
I'd suggest IAB for International Bitcoin, but it already has meaning in 'Internal Affairs Bureau' ...
- lwat 14y ago
  I think you'll find that EVERY three letter acronym already stands for something or other. Don't let that deter you.

wyqueshocec 14y ago

I believe X is used for non-state stuff. For example, an ounce of gold is XAU, and silver is XAG. So maybe XBC or XBT for bitcoin?

imissmyjuno 14y ago

Where does euro fit in?

smackfu 14y ago
It's "EU" (3166-1 value) + "R" (currency identifier): For practical reasons, the ISO 3166/MA has "reserved the two-letter combination EU for the purpose of identifying the European Union within the framework of ISO 3166-1".

cpeterso 14y ago

Bitcoin could use XXB or XBT. (XBC is already taken for some EU bond market units.)

smackfu 14y ago

Yeah, which is kind of weird when a country revalues their currency. For instance, Mexican Peso was the obvious MXP, then it was revalued so they needed something new, so it's MXN (Mexican Nuevo Peso, I guess). Similarly, Turkish Lyra went from TRL to TRY ("Y" for "Yeni" meaning New.)