Since its inception, Bitcoin has always been represented by a logo. But over the course of its history, this visual has undergone several changes. In this article, we trace this metamorphosis, from the very first logo introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto, through the inspirations of traditional currency symbols, to the current iconic orange visual.
Because of the open and distributed nature of Bitcoin, none of these logos have official status. Rather, it is a visual standard that is widely accepted by the community, just like the protocol itself. Thus, it is not impossible that the current orange logo will one day be upgraded. As you will discover, some groups are also actively campaigning in this direction.
2009 - The first Bitcoin logo
The very first Bitcoin logo was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in one of the initial versions of his software. Positioned in the upper left corner of the main interface, this symbol appears in the form of a small icon. It illustrates the initials “BC” for “Bitcoin” placed on a gold-colored coin. This choice subtly evokes gold, an asset that is often put in parallel with Bitcoin because of their common characteristics.
2010 - The second Bitcoin logo
On February 24, 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto Post a message on the Bitcoin Talk forum in which he proposed a new logo for his invention. In his message, he does not specify his motivations for this change, but he is still seeking the community's opinion on this proposal.
On this new logo, it should be noted that only the letter “B”, decorated with four bands, now occupies the center of the gold coin. The bands added recall those of the American dollar, which can be found on most currency symbols today.
It should be noted that this new design was unveiled by Satoshi only a few weeks after the user NewLibertyStandard, on the Bitcoin Talk forum, Suggested the adoption of a crossed out “B” as a representative Bitcoin icon. In this thread, a message from Hal Finney reveals that the US dollar symbol originally had two bars.
The origin of these bars, called Cifrão, is a matter of controversy. Some hypotheses suggest that they originated from the Spanish peso, a reference currency from the end of the 17th century to the 19th. Indeed, the abbreviation “PS” of the word “Peso” would have possibly been superimposed, giving rise to this symbol. Another hypothesis suggests that the two bars evoke the Pillars of Hercules, a name given in Antiquity to the mountains that border the Strait of Gibraltar. These columns were on some coins of eight (peso), which are also found on the Spanish flag.
Credit: Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)
Finally, some maintain that the “$” symbol is nothing more than the superposition of the letters “U” and “S”, initials of “United States”.
In any case, these famous bars make their first appearance on the second Bitcoin logo, thus reaffirming its nature as a currency. This design will only remain the norm for a short time, as it will quickly be replaced by the famous orange logo that we know today.
On November 1, 2010, an Internet user using the alias “Bitboy” Post a message on Bitcoin Talk in which he proposes the adoption of new designs for Bitcoin. He presents the famous orange logo, integrated into a variety of other derived visuals, in the manner of a logo design file.
Bitboy was inspired by Satoshi's previous proposals. It uses the crossed out “B”, which it tilts 14% in a clockwise direction. The gold piece gives way to a flat design, with a bright orange color. Because of its simplicity, this logo is more adapted to modern marketing standards.
An anonymous user will also point out to Bitboy that, paradoxically, his creation resembled the logo of the Mastercard company. Bitboy will take on that inspiration with this comment:
It's inspiration. The irony is that as much as I hate Mastercard and Visa, it's all about perception when it comes to consumer trust and behavior. Lol.
For the first time, the Bitcoin logo is also accompanied by its name in full. To do this, bitboy opts for a variant of the Ubuntu Bold Italic font, an open-source typeface presented by Canonical Ltd in October 2010.
This third logo is still widely used today. In particular, he is an icon of the Bitcoin Core software, the main implementation of the Bitcoin protocol.
While this method may be controversial, we can note that all three Aristotelian functions of money are reflected in every Bitcoin logo. The first logo embodies the function of store of value, illustrated by the gold coin evoking gold. The second could be interpreted as a representation of the unit of account function, with the integration of bars (Cifrão) in the design. Finally, the third design could symbolize the function of a medium of exchange, with the assumed inspiration of the logo of Mastercard, one of the leading firms in the payment systems market.
This third visual is in fact the Bitcoin logo, being mostly adopted by the community today. However, given the open and distributed nature of Bitcoin, it is not inconceivable that another visual will outperform it in the future. For example, the initiative bitcoinsymbol.org, has been campaigning since 2014 for the adoption of a single “” symbol, without any logo. According to them, Bitcoin being a currency, it should be represented by a symbol, like state currencies, rather than by a logo, which refers more to the practices of a company. This debate once again highlights the complexity of the Bitcoin system, which is at the same time a computer protocol, a computer network and a currency.
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