Saving Bitcoin data in Mysql

Databases
1

Hi Guys,

I am trying to save Bitcoin data in Mysql. But I am struggling to identify a reliable data format that won’t round out or misrespresent the original value.

Data Formated I tested
decimal(20,20)
double(20,20) –> got converted to decimal(20,20)
float(20,20)

I tried to save this value 123456789,123456789
But it always got rounded out or misrepresented.

Results
decimal(20,20) –> 0.99999999999999999999
double(20,20) –> 0.99999999999999999999
float(20,20) –> 1.00000000000000000000

VarChar will work but I won’t be able to do calculations within Mysql.

Any suggestions?

2

I believe at least for decimal you need say 20,10 which will be 20 digits with 10 in front of the decimal point and 10 after the decimal point.

I suggest you read the MySQL manual; here is the decimal page.

3

Thank you Rubble !
Great advice there…

It worked with (20, 8)

4

Do you need to do any calculations with these values? If not, why not just store them as strings, thus ensuring the db will never change them?

I mean, what if for some reason a bitcoin comes along with 9 digits after the decimal point, the db will mangle it, and you lost yourself a bitcoin. From what I gather those things aren’t cheap, so why risk it?

5

The column type DECIMAL is storing the value as a string.

As long as the OP make certain that the column length/size is large enough, DECIMAL is a better choice than VARCHAR on a number.