Any bitcoin symbol is more than just a symbol, it's a logo. Just like people have 'paypal or visa accepted here' banners on their websites that are easily identifiable, bitcoin needs a symbol that identifies itself.  

Like it or loath it, backed by popular usage, a 'B' with either one or two slashes has become symbol and logo for bitcoin. Other good suggestions were made, but nothing else took off. There are some problems though with using a B with one slash as the bitcoin symbol because it is already used by the Thai baht. The problem with using a B with two slashes is that the symbol becomes cramped, time consuming to write and will be difficult to create in some typefaces.

My proposed solution to the problem is to keep the B with two slashes, yet specify that one of these slashes is also the definite vertical baseline of the character. The symbol has a total of two vertical lines, not three like the most common symbol being used and not one like the Thai baht. It's a small adjustment, but one I think makes sense. I also explain in the pdf that the symbol carries some added meaning as it was created by combining '#', a character often associated with code along with the character B.

Needless to say, I disagree that discussing the symbol for bitcoin is akin to wanking off.