The Political Battle Over the Bitcoin Emoji: A Closer Look

Some are calling for an end to whaling or the resignation of corrupt politicians. Others simply want to be able to express their emotions and admiration for bitcoin with an emoji.

Before being a symbol, bitcoin was above all an idea. It's on the forum bitcoin talk, where the restricted circle of early users gathered, the first logo proposals began to emerge in 2010. The anonymous inventor of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, even made his own sketch. It thus lays the aesthetic foundations of this cryptocurrency which could be purchased at the time for a few cents. Far, far from the current $70,000.

₿ for Bitcoin

It was on November 1, 2010 that a certain bitboy propose the logo we all know today : “ Hey guys, I'm just stopping by to say hello and to share with you some of the visuals I've made, feel free to download them », he writes simply. His proposal? A doubly crossed out “B” and slightly inclined, like an invitation to take a step aside. A parody of the dollar on an orange background reminiscent of a gold coin. A logo that wanted to translate a simple, but wildly ambitious idea: to replace the eternal dollar, by creating a parallel monetary space on the Internet.

14 years later, the logo, under Creative Commons license, has become the symbol of an entire market. That of cryptocurrencies, of which there are more than 10,000. However, still no emoji on the horizon. While official currencies have their emoji, bitcoin remains desperately orphaned by this visual augmentation in the age of instant messaging and social networks. Assuming that bitcoin is a currency… which still constitutes an eternal debate.

“Bitcoin deserves an emoji”: 10,000 signatures on Change.org

What is certain, however, is that bitcoin can be used as a means of payment in its own right. A method of exchange that is very distinct from traditional card or cash payments (which are entitled to their emoji).

Enough to give some arguments to Nexo, a cryptocurrency exchange and loan platform, which launched a petition on Change.org titled “ Bitcoin deserves an emoji.” The initiative brought together around twenty companies and associations in the sector, and since it was put online on March 7, 2024, it quickly reached 10,000 signatures. This figure, however, remains very far from the announced objective of 1,350,000 signatures, a nod to the number of bitcoins that remain to be mined until 2140. Sad emoji for bitcoin fans.

The petition can, however, count on a very active and organized community, which wishes to expand the visibility of cryptocurrency by conviction and ideology. Because although the approach may seem anecdotal, it is in reality very political. “ As the halving dawns, it's time to give bitcoin its rightful place in our digital dictionary, recognizing its impact on society, technology, and the way we think about money itself », we can read on bitcoinemoji.org.

Bitcoin in search of recognition

Does bitcoin really have a chance of joining the club of 3,633 currently recognized icons? Since 2017, there already exists a Unicode character for BTC: ₿. An encouraging first step, but not sufficient. Because to decline this character into an emoji, it is the Unicode Consortium which decides.

This Non-profit organization examines proposals according to strict criteria. For example, the emoji must respond to a language need that no other can already provide. In short, let it be universal, but also easy to reproduce in a few pixels. This decision-making power has sometimes earned the association the unflattering nickname of “emoji mafia”. Indeed, Unicode's decisions often provoke debate, as when the pregnant man was added in 2022, accused of propagating overly inclusive ideas.

The stakes are high, because “ once an emoji has been adopted, it will be adopted forever “, according to Keith Broni, the boss of Unicode. In 2024, 118 emojis have been approved, including the lime, the phoenix and even a mushroom.

Unlike many geographically located emojis, bitcoin is not specific to a specific culture or area. In this, it seems to meet the Unicode criteria. Permanently established in the economic landscape, it has become an essential cultural phenomenon, and not a simple fashion, which would be a prohibitive criterion. Another fundamental rule: an emoji must not be the logo of a brand. Difficult to say in the case of bitcoin, always on the border of an open source community project and business…

A marketing stunt?

The mixture of private actors with a close-knit bitcoin community makes the approach ambiguous. Bitcoin may be an open source project without a leader, but a thriving industry has built on its promises. Among others, Nexo and Chainalysis, as well as the Brave browser, support the petition and encourage their users to take part.

Far from being disinterested, the initiative in favor of the Bitcoin emoji therefore hides major financial issues. As Pierre Halté, researcher in language sciences, recalls in Below the images : “ There may be economic issues surrounding the appearance of new emojis (…) Brands seeking to impose the image of their product in the emoji bank. » This is the case of the “fries” emoji which strongly resembles the packaging of a well-known fast-food brand… With a bitcoin emoji, platforms like Nexo would undoubtedly like to be able to reach a younger audience, and make making cryptocurrency even more fun and cool.

However, some are not waiting for Unicode approval. In 2020, a first request for a bitcoin emoji was sent, without success. Following this refusal, Jack Dorsey (the boss of Twitter at the time) decided to reward his users with a BTC emoji specific to his platform, accessible via a hashtag. A feature kept by Elon Musk on X.

While waiting for an official emoji, we can always fall back on the “Coin” emoji combo with the “Globe” emoji, as long as we adhere to the thesis according to which BTC is “the currency of the Internet”.