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Satoshi

Satoshi

Beginner

Beginner

A satoshi is the smallest unit of a bitcoin. It equals one-hundred-millionth of a bitcoin or 0.00000001 BTC. As such, one bitcoin equals 100 million satoshi. The satoshi was named as an homage to the anonymous creator or creators behind Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto . The satoshi is often abbreviated as sat.

1 satoshi = 0.00000001 BTC

It’s necessary for a currency to be able to be divided into smaller subdivisions if it aims to act as a global medium of exchange. Fiat currencies can be divided into smaller denominations, such as the penny for the British pound or the cent for the US dollar. Bitcoin , as a digital currency, can also be divided into smaller denominations.

As defined by the Bitcoin protocol, a single bitcoin can’t be divided further than 1 satoshi. All amounts on the blockchain are denominated in satoshi but are typically converted to bitcoin by most platforms. However, when considering small fractions of a bitcoin, many platforms will display the value in satoshi for easy readability.

Although the satoshi is the smallest unit a single bitcoin can be divided into, some scenarios may require further division of a satoshi. Payment channels , for example, a scalability solution for Bitcoin, may sometimes be denominated in millisatoshi, amounting to one hundred billionths of a single bitcoin. In theory, if needed, the Bitcoin protocol could be updated in the future to allow for further subdivision of a bitcoin.

Traditionally, the plural of satoshi has also been satoshi; however, satoshis is also correct and widely used. As of yet, no currency symbol has been widely adopted for the satoshi.

Other units of denomination of a bitcoin also exist. Most of them are used very scarcely, but some commonly used ones are:

• 1 millibitcoin (mBTC) equals one-thousandth of a bitcoin, or 0.001 BTC.
• 1 microbitcoin (μBTC) equals one-millionth of a bitcoin, or 0.000001 BTC.