On April nineteenth, 2025, JAN3 CEO Samson Mow (@Excellion) ignited a dialog on X about how we understand Bitcoin and altcoin worth — and whether or not Bitcoin wants a brand new unit of measurement for its rarest slice.
Mow initially identified that one twenty-one millionth of the Bitcoin provide (one Bitcoin) at the moment prices about $85,000.
He then in contrast this to altcoins by recalculating their market capitalizations as in the event that they too had solely 21 million cash, estimating that one twenty-one millionth of Ethereum would value $9,200, XRP would value $5,800, and Solana would value $3,400.
Simply pondering that we’d like a greater identify for one twenty-one millionth.
We must always use Finney for that. Proper now it is unusual, however a Finney outlined as 10 sats – I guess you did not even know that. Nobody wants a unit for 10 sats. However we do want a straightforward to manner discuss with 1/21… https://t.co/yTMGpXVIbi
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) April 19, 2025
His methodology highlighted the impression of unit bias — the psychological trick the place traders are drawn to property that seem “low-cost” just because there are extra items excellent.
“Most alts make the most of unit bias by using a really excessive provide, so folks cannot determine what they’re shopping for,” Mow wrote. “Unit bias is completely destroying the uninitiated.”
To handle the problem of referring to such a exact fraction of Bitcoin, Mow proposed adopting the time period “Finney” — traditionally outlined as 10 satoshis — for one twenty-one millionth of Bitcoin’s provide.
“Nobody wants a unit for 10 sats,” he argued, however there’s a rising want for an intuitive option to discuss with 1/21 million of Bitcoin.
The proposal triggered a flurry of responses throughout Bitcoin X.
FractalEncrypt joked, “let’s name it a Bitcoin” and teased submitting a BIP (Bitcoin Enchancment Proposal) with “cringe AI memes.”
Channing Griffin pushed again, arguing that proudly owning 1/21 millionth of the provision is already implicit with the time period one Bitcoin, and that there isn’t a want for a brand new time period like “Finney.”
Sani advised whimsical alternate options like “Finnaire,” “Finnero,” or “Haltaire,” enjoying on Bitcoin’s rising picture as “digital aristocracy.”
Chris Krause famous that since there may be already a “Nakamoto” unit for Bitcoin, a “Finney” might be a becoming tribute to early Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney.
Past the unit dialogue, Mow’s broader level — that altcoin valuations seem absurd when stripped of unit bias — resonated with many.
Walker remarked on how overvalued altcoins appear. Swiss Hodler bluntly acknowledged, “the alts are value zero. The crypto bros simply don’t comprehend it but.”
Primarily based UTXO reminded readers that many altcoins don’t actually have a true provide cap, which additional undermines their long-term worth propositions.
The dialog confirmed simply how early the Bitcoin ecosystem nonetheless is in relation to standardizing how possession, valuation, and shortage are mentioned.
Whether or not “Finney” catches on or not, Mow’s framing strengthened a key Bitcoin message: there’ll solely ever be 21 million.
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