One bitcoin divides into 100,000,000 satoshis, a fixed feature of the Bitcoin protocol rather than a market figure that changes over time. Because a whole bitcoin can represent a substantial amount of value, prices, transaction fees and small payments are often quoted in satoshis to make them easier to read and compare, in much the same way a currency's smallest coin, such as a penny or cent, is used for small amounts rather than writing out long decimals. This fixed relationship between a bitcoin and its smallest unit has remained constant since Bitcoin's earliest software releases, giving users, wallets and developers a stable base unit to build tools, invoices and pricing around.
The unit is named in honour of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous person or group who created Bitcoin and published its original design. Most wallets and exchanges let users switch their display between BTC and satoshis, and many people in the Bitcoin community think in sats specifically because it avoids the long strings of decimal places that come with quoting very small amounts of BTC. Seeing a fee or a small purchase expressed as a whole number of sats, rather than a value such as 0.00000550 BTC, is generally easier to read at a glance and less prone to a misplaced decimal point.
Understanding the sat as a fixed unit of account, separate from bitcoin's market price, is a basic building block for reading network fees, transaction sizes and wallet balances accurately, especially since fee rates on the Bitcoin network are typically quoted in satoshis per unit of transaction data rather than in whole bitcoin. This distinction between a unit of account and a unit of value is worth keeping in mind: the number of sats in a bitcoin never changes, even though what a satoshi is worth in other currencies moves with the market.
Key takeaways
- One bitcoin equals 100,000,000 satoshis, a fixed unit of division built into the Bitcoin protocol.
- The unit is named after Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator.
- Quoting amounts in satoshis makes small fees, prices and transfers easier to read than long BTC decimals.
Satoshi — frequently asked questions
Why not just use decimals of BTC instead of satoshis?
You can, but small amounts of BTC involve long strings of decimals, which are easy to misread. Quoting the same amount in whole satoshis is simpler and reduces the chance of a costly typo.
Is the satoshi the smallest unit Bitcoin will ever have?
It is the smallest unit defined under Bitcoin's current protocol rules. Changing that would require a fundamental change to the protocol itself, which is not something that happens without broad agreement across the network.
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