Issue a new asset : the pros and cons of the divisible

General Counterparty
1
Hi, I am not sure about the pros and cons of the divisible parameter of asset. It seems that famous assets like GEMZ, LTBCOIN and SWARM are configured it True.

I read the API reference and I understand the divisible parameter's meaning like below.

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Anywhere where an quantity is specified, it is specified in satoshis (if a divisible asset), or as whole numbers (if an indivisible asset). To convert satoshis to floating-point, simply cast to float and divide by 100,000,000.

Examples:

4381030000 = 43.8103 (if divisible asset)
4381030000 = 4381030000 (if indivisible asset)
NOTE: XCP and BTC themselves are divisible assets, and thus are listed in satoshis.
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However, I do not understand which is better. What's kind of situations do I need to choose divisible is False.

I am very grateful if you could explain the advantages and disadvantages.

Thanks,
2

Hello @zono san


Most people issue divisible simply because it’s not sure if you will need it, and so divisible is easier.
If you want to sell or buy 1.89 of something, with divisible you can do it, but with indivisible you cannot.
But if you have divisible and don’t want to sell or buy 1.89, you can specify 1 or 2 when you buy/sell. 
So divisible is more flexible.

Indivisible may be better if you hate prices like 1.89820348 (I do) and don’t want that.
But it’s tricky to plan for that because you need to make sure that you issue enough tokens to not need divisible.
For example if you issue ZONO asset and decide you want it indivisible, and then issue 100,00000 of it, that would be fine because it would “map” to the Yen nicely, so you could sell 1 ZONO for 1 Japanese yen. 
However if your currency becomes very popular and 1 ZONO becomes 500 yen, then you will not be able to set the price with a better granularity than 500 yen.

I haven’t seen any discussions on this but I think it makes sense to choose divisible unless you very specifically know why you want indivisible. 
I would prefer indivisible, but I would choose divisible if I wasn’t sure. So for some application-specific tokens you may want to choose one, and for others, another type. 

The same goes for locked and unlocked - it depends.
3

 What's kind of situations do I need to choose divisible is False.


I have created a few tokens myself. 
Some are divisible many are not.

Generally, I choose divisible for tokens that are to be like a currency (i. e. ROXXZ).

I use Non-divisible for things that may ever be used to pay a distribution, dividend or share of profits (i. e. BOOKBAG).


4
Hello @something. @mrzigler Nice to meet you.

Thank you so much! Your explanations are very easy to understand. I am getting to understand that divisible is more flexible. I will choose divisible because I am still not sure the use cases of my asset.

The points you mentioned are very helpful for me.

Thanks,