Increasing the Base Units by 1000x: 1 EBX = 100 Billion Adams

Until now, EarthBucks had exactly the same number of base units as Bitcoin but times two. This means there had been 100 million base units (“satoshis”) per EBX. However, I have decided to increase this by a factor of 1000 and rename “satoshis” to “adams”. There are now 100 billion base units (“adams”) per EBX.

Although EarthBucks is a from-scratch implementation that does not necessarily have anything in common with Bitcoin, I am using parameters from Bitcoin wherever I believe no better choice exists. Previously, I used a very similar total quantity of units as Bitcoin, except times two, because I think 42 is funnier than 21.

However, I have realized there are some issues with the total quantity of Bitcoin. Amazingly, Bitcoin has reached quite a high price, and it is not inconceivable that the base unit of Bitcoin, one satoshi, will actually become worth more than one US cent. That would start to become impractical as unit of account. It would be better if the smallest unit is always worth less than one US cent to make sure it can denote all possible values of money that are likely to be used by humans.

Thus, I have decided to increase the total amount of base units by a factor of 1000, while keeping the total amount of EarthBucks limited to 42 million. This means 1 EBX is now equal to 100 billion base units (10^11) when it used to be equal to 100 million base units (10^8). The new amount is designed to fit inside unsigned 64 bit integers while still totalling to 42 million EBX.

Furthermore, the base unit should not have the same name as Bitcoin to remove ambiguity. Thus, I have decided to rename the base unit from “satoshi” to “adam” in honor of Adam Back, the inventor of HashCash. Not only is HashCash the progenitor to both Bitcoin and EarthBucks, but also the word “adam” sounds like “atom” which means the smallest amount. This is a fitting name for the smallest unit of EarthBucks.

Also note that should EarthBucks be widely adopted, and if the base unit were ever to become worth too much money, it is my intention that we migrate to even larger units by creating a new transaction type. The current unit is designed to fit inside an unsigned 64-bit integer. If we ever need more than this, we could migrate to 128 bit integers, which should be sufficient for all practical purposes well into the distant future. Adams, like atoms, may one day turn out to be made of even smaller parts.

In conclusion, 1 EBX is now equal to 100 billion adams. This change is effective immediately. I hope you enjoy the new base unit and the new name.