Bitcoin sign (₿)
The bitcoin sign (₿) stands for bitcoin, a cryptocurrency. It is a capital B with two short vertical strokes that show only above and below the letter.
How to read it
Unicode encodes it as BITCOIN SIGN (U+20BF) and describes bitcoin as a cryptocurrency and payment system invented by programmers, categorised as a decentralised virtual or digital currency. Ken Shirriff’s proposal to Unicode describes the usual glyph as a capital letter B with two vertical lines “going through” it, visible only at the top and bottom. Variants with different serifs, line weights or slightly moved verticals are differences between fonts. The sign is a text character, the proposal adds, and not a logo, though it is part of many Bitcoin logos.
Also searched as: ₿, bitcoin sign, bitcoin sign symbol, bitcoin symbol, btc symbol, b with two lines.
These describe what each sign means and which currency uses it. They are not financial advice, and they give no prices or exchange rates.
Look-alikes
The Thai baht sign ฿ is also a B crossed by a line. Shirriff’s proposal notes that some websites used the baht sign for bitcoin while there was no bitcoin sign in Unicode, but the two are historically unrelated: the bitcoin sign has two bars, which do not show through the letter, while the baht sign has one, which does. Ƀ, B with a stroke, has also been put forward for bitcoin, but the proposal points out that it does not resemble the bitcoin sign.
Read next
- Next in Currency symbolsCurrency sign (¤)The currency sign (¤) stands for money in general: a generic or unknown currency, where no particular currency’s sign is meant.
- The same shape in Smoke and CO alarm soundsLow-frequency 520 Hz alarm (sleeping rooms)A fire alarm in a sleeping room that sounds a low buzz in place of a high-pitched beep. It is the three-beep fire alarm rhythm at 520 Hz, which NFPA 72 requires of alarms provided to wake people in sleeping areas.
More currency symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with letters and numbers or lines.
Sources
- Chapter 22, Symbols: 22.1 Currency Symbols, The Unicode Standard, Version 18.0, Core Specification, Unicode Consortium, 22.1 Currency Symbols (Bitcoin Sign)
- Unicode 10.0.0, The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0 (release page), Unicode Consortium, Release summary
- Proposal for addition of Bitcoin sign, Ken Shirriff, proposal to the Unicode Technical Committee, October 2015, Ken Shirriff (righto.com), Drawing the glyph; Potential issues; Previous bitcoin sign proposal
- Bitcoin is getting its own Unicode symbol, VentureBeat, 3 November 2015, VentureBeat, Article text
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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