What Is A Satoshi? The Bitcoin Unit Explained. How to buy Satoshi?
A Satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin recorded on the Blockchain — a bit a the cent is the smallest tradable value of the United States Dollar. It carries a value of 0.00000001 BTC, one-hundred-millionth of a single Bitcoin (1 BTC).
All Bitcoin transactions are denominated in Satoshi (SAT) before being converted to the Bitcoin equivalent for illustration purposes on the front-end, so as not to confuse customers who may not be aware of what a Satoshi is and how much it's worth.
Satoshi is named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin. This isn't the person's name, though. Nakamoto is a pseudonym. An alias, of sorts. That means whoever actually invented Bitcoin is the person behind the Satoshi Nakamoto name.
Since the value of a Satoshi is so small, it's rare you'll find a retailer using it to denote pricing. Instead, they prefer to illustrate all costs in BTC or USD. This means they refer to 0.00000001 BTC as either that or its USD equivalent, instead of writing 1 SAT.
1 Satoshi = 0.00000001 Bitcoin
or
1 Bitcoin = 100,000,000 Satoshi
Example: 1 Dollar is divided by 100 cents, 1 Euro by 100 Euro cents, and so on.... so what is Bitcoin divided into?
Bitcoin is divided into a unit of cryptocurrency known as a satoshi. Each bitcoin is divided to eight decimal places, which means that one satoshi is equal to one hundredth of a millionth of a bitcoin. In other words, 100 million satoshis make up one bitcoin.
The table below summarizes all common Bitcoin units, their Satoshi values, and their names.
| Unit of measurement | Abbreviation | Cost in Satoshi | Decimal (BTC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total coins | 20999999.97690 ฿ | ||
| Mega Bitcoin | MBTC | 1000000 ฿ | |
| Kilo Bitcoin | kBTC | 100000000000 | 1000 ฿ |
| Initial Block Reward | 5000000000 | 50 ฿ | |
| Deca Bitcoin | daBTC | 1000000000 | 10 ฿ |
| Bitcoin | BTC | 100000000 | 1 ฿ |
| Deci Bitcoin | dBTC | 10000000 | 0.10000000 ฿ |
| Centi Bitcoin (Bitcent) | cBTC | 1000000 | 0.01000000 ฿ |
| Milli Bitcoin | mBTC | 100000 | 0.00100000 ฿ |
| Milli Bitcoin | mBTC | 10000 | 0.00010000 ฿ |
| Micro Bitcoin (1 Bit) | μBTC | 100 | 0.00000100 ฿ |
| Finney | 10 | 0.00000010 ฿ | |
| Satoshi (Сатоши) | Sat | 1 | 0.00000001 ฿ |
| Milli Satoshi | mSat | 0.001 | 0.00000000001 ฿ |
The supply of Bitcoins is limited - only 21 million Bitcoins will ever exist. With such a low supply, not everyone can own 1 Bitcoin, and because the value is so high, it must be divided in order to conduct smaller transactions.
Just as the U.S. dollar ($1) can be divided into 100 cents, and 1 Eurocent (0.01 Euro) has a value of one hundredth (1/100) of a Euro; Bitcoin can also be divided into smaller units. Bitcoin can be divided into 100000000 Bits, and all of these units are measured in Satoshi.
Other Bitcoin denominations
While the Satoshi is the more popular Bitcoin unit today, there are other denominations available:
- Centi-bitcoin (cBTC) — equivalent 0,01 BTC.
- Milli-bitcoin (mBTC) — equivalent 0,001 BTC
- Micro-bitcoin (μBTC) — equivalent 0,000001 BTC
What are Satoshi in Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is divided into eighth decimal fractions (1.00000000 Bits), which means that each Bitcoin can be divided into 100,000,000 parts. A Satoshi is one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin (0.00000001) and is currently the smallest unit of Bitcoin.
1 Satoshi equals 0.00000001 BTC
1 bitcoin (BTC) = 100,000,000 Satoshi = 10^8 Satoshi
Why is it called a Satoshi?
Bitcoin had only two official units.
- Bitcoin is short for BTC
- Satoshi for short is called Sat and the plural form of the number Satoshi, which is often abbreviated, is called Sats.
Satoshi (0.00000001 ฿) was named after Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. In addition to Satoshi, many in the Bitcoin community have suggested naming Bitcoin's second smallest denomination "Finney".
1 Finney equals 10 Satoshi, which would equal 0.00000010 BTC.
The name Finney is a reference to Hal Finney, a computer scientist, he was an early Bitcoin user who received the first BTC transaction from its creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
While the Satoshi is officially the smallest unit, there is also the "millisatoshi" ("millisatoshi"), which is one thousandth of a Satoshi or one hundred billionth of one Bitcoin.
Bitcoin - Units are usually expressed in decimal terms such as BTC, mBTC, µBTC, etc. Due to the high cost, a transaction involving a whole Bitcoin is not so common and you may wonder what to call 0.01 BTC or 0.001 BTC.
The idea first emerged on November 15, 2010 on a crypto-enthusiast forum. A user under the nickname Ribuck suggested calling 1/100 Bitcoin (0.01 BTC) "Satoshi". Initially, this suggestion did not receive much support until the following February, when a new
How To Mine Bitcoin?
Granted, if the value of Bitcoin, and subsequently all denominations, surges to such a level — as some analysts predict will be the case — where one Satoshi is equal to a single dollar (1 USD), there's a good chance the term will make its way into the mainstream.
Until then, however, it's a term that will continue to be used by Bitcoin Miners and Cyrpotuccurnecy enthusiasts alike. Still, if you're only just venturing into the world of Bitcoin, it's absolutely a term you need to be familiar with — even if you don't use it.
Now reading
