Learn · Bitcoin units

What is a satoshi?

By the CloudMineCrypto teamUpdated 6 min read

The short answer

A satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin. One bitcoin is 100,000,000 satoshis, so 1 sat = 0.00000001 BTC, the eighth decimal place. At the live BTC price (updated hourly), 1 sat is worth about $0.00084 and 1,000 sats about $0.84. People say “sats” for short. It’s named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.

Key takeaways

  • 1 BTC = 100,000,000 sats. To turn sats into BTC, move the decimal point eight places left.
  • Between them sit mBTC (100,000 sats) and bits, or ”BTC (100 sats). Lightning can go smaller, to millisatoshis.
  • Fees and Lightning payments are counted in sats, because whole-bitcoin numbers get too small to read.
  • CloudMineCrypto shows your balance in BTC with dimmed zeros. You can switch the unit with Format on the Wallet screen.

Every decimal place of one bitcoin

0.00012345BTC

≈ $10.39

Live, at $84,175 per BTC, updated hourly

1 BTC

1 mBTC

1 bit

1 sat

The highlighted column counts 0.00000001 BTC, which is 1 sat. Tap a column to add one, or use the arrow keys.

Read the same amount as

BTC

What is a satoshi?

Definition · Satoshi (sat)

A satoshi is one hundred millionth of a bitcoin, 0.00000001 BTC. It’s the smallest amount a Bitcoin transaction can carry.

A bitcoin has eight decimal places, and the satoshi is the last one. Think of it like cents and dollars, except there are a hundred million sats to a bitcoin instead of a hundred cents to a dollar.

Under the hood, the Bitcoin software doesn’t store “0.5 BTC” at all. Every amount is a whole number of satoshis, and wallets add the decimal point when they show it to you.

100,000,000

sats in 1 BTC

0.00000001

BTC in 1 sat

$0.00084

1 sat in USD

Live BTC price, updated hourly

$0.84

1,000 sats in USD

Live BTC price, updated hourly

How many satoshis are in a bitcoin?

There are 100,000,000 satoshis in one bitcoin. Going from sats to BTC means dividing by a hundred million, which moves the decimal point eight places to the left.

BTC = sats Ă· 100,000,000
sats = BTC × 100,000,000
Two ways of writing the same amount. Nothing is lost in between.
Common amounts. USD at the live BTC price, updated hourly.
SatsBTCUSD (live)
10.00000001$0.00084
100.00000010$0.0084
1000.00000100$0.08
1,0000.00001000$0.84
10,0000.00010000$8.42
100,0000.00100000$84.18
1,000,0000.01000000$841.75
10,000,0000.10000000$8,417.50
100,000,0001.00000000$84,175.00

The supply cap works the same way. Just under 21 million bitcoin will ever exist, which is just under 2,100,000,000,000,000 sats (2.1 quadrillion). That’s why nobody needs to own a whole coin to own some bitcoin.

How much is 1 satoshi worth in dollars?

Divide the BTC price by 100,000,000. At the live price of $84,175 (updated hourly), one sat is worth $0.00084, and one US dollar buys about 1,188 sats.

The rule of thumb: at $100,000 per BTC, a sat is a tenth of a cent. At $1,000,000 per BTC, a sat would be one cent. Move the price below and watch how much of a dollar one sat becomes.

What one dollar buys

1,188 sats

for $1 when 1 BTC costs $84,175. One sat is worth $0.00084.

$10,000$100,000$1,000,000

Each square is 1 bit (100 sats).

Plain arithmetic, not a price forecast. The slider starts at the live BTC price ($84,175, updated hourly).

For any other amount or currency, use the BTC to USD converter.

Why is it called a satoshi?

It’s named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous author of the 2008 Bitcoin whitepaper, who released the first Bitcoin software in January 2009. Who Satoshi really is has never been publicly proven.

The unit got its name from the Bitcoin community rather than from Satoshi. Early users wanted a word for the smallest amount, and “satoshi” stuck. “Sats” is the everyday plural.

What are mBTC, bits and millisatoshis?

They’re steps on the same ladder. Each one is a named decimal place of a bitcoin, except the millisatoshi, which only exists inside Lightning.

The Bitcoin units, from one whole coin down to a millisatoshi

  1. BTC

    Bitcoin

    1 BTC100,000,000 sats

    Prices, exchange balances and the 21 million supply cap.

  2. mBTC

    Millibitcoin

    0.001 BTC100,000 sats

    Some wallets and older apps. One thousandth of a bitcoin.

  3. ”BTC

    Bit (microbitcoin)

    0.000001 BTC100 sats

    A few wallets. One millionth of a bitcoin, so 100 sats.

  4. sat

    Satoshi

    0.00000001 BTC1 sats

    The smallest amount a Bitcoin transaction can carry. Fees are quoted in it.

  5. msat

    Millisatoshi

    0.00000000001 BTC0.001 sats

    Only inside Lightning. Invoices and routing fees can use it; it can’t exist on chain.

Bar length is on a log scale: every factor of ten adds the same length. Units from the Bitcoin Wiki and the Lightning invoice spec (BOLT 11).

In practice you’ll mostly see two: BTC for prices and larger balances, and sats for fees, Lightning and small amounts. mBTC and bits show up in some wallets. The Bitcoin unit converter switches between all of them, including bitcents and finneys.

Why are small amounts counted in sats?

Because the numbers get easier to read. “A fee of 2,000 sats” is clearer than “0.00002 BTC”, and nobody wants to count zeros on a coffee payment.

sat/vB

On-chain fees

Bitcoin fees are quoted in sats per virtual byte of transaction data. Sites like mempool.space show the going rate.

sats

Lightning

Lightning wallets usually show balances and payments in sats, since most payments are small. How Lightning works.

msat

Below one sat

Lightning invoices can carry amounts in millisatoshis, so tiny payments and routing fees don’t have to round to a whole sat.

On chain, a single sat is the floor: no transaction can send half of one. That’s also why wallets and exchanges show at most eight decimals for bitcoin.

How does CloudMineCrypto show amounts?

In BTC, with the leading zeros dimmed so the digits that matter stand out.

In CloudMineCrypto you mine bitcoin for free with the free plan, by watching ads, playing games, completing offers and the daily check-in. Want more speed? Add a paid plan.

Your balance grows while your plans run, in steps far smaller than a sat, so the app shows up to 14 decimals. It keeps count internally in billionths of a sat, finer than any wallet shows. Rewards are estimates and aren’t guaranteed; terms apply.

How a small balance reads, in BTC with the zeros dimmed

Free plan, 8 hours

0.0000000006930BTC

Live estimate, before boosts, updated hourly. Claim it again when it ends.

Lightning minimum withdrawal

0.00000010BTC

That’s 10 sats. Live from the app’s withdrawal settings.

Prefer sats? Tap Format on the Wallet screen and pick a unit. The amount doesn’t change, only how it’s written. Try the options here:

The same 0.00001 BTC, shown as

0.00001000000000 BTC

Bitcoin · 14 decimals

How do you convert sats to BTC or USD?

Sats to BTC: divide by 100,000,000. BTC to sats: multiply by 100,000,000. Sats to USD: convert to BTC first, then multiply by the BTC price.

25,000 sats Ă· 100,000,000 = 0.00025 BTC
0.00025 BTC × $84,175 = $21.04
Worked example at the live BTC price of $84,175, updated hourly.

The quickest way to avoid a slip is to count the decimal places: a sat is always the eighth one. Or skip the maths with the Bitcoin unit converter for BTC, mBTC, bits, sats and msats, and the BTC to USD converter for dollar values.

Frequently asked questions

What is a satoshi?

A satoshi (sat) is the smallest unit of bitcoin that can be sent on the Bitcoin network. One satoshi is 0.00000001 BTC, one hundred millionth of a bitcoin.

How many satoshis are in one bitcoin?

100,000,000. One bitcoin is one hundred million satoshis, so 1 sat = 0.00000001 BTC.

How do I convert sats to BTC?

Divide by 100,000,000, which moves the decimal point eight places to the left. 12,345 sats is 0.00012345 BTC. To go from BTC to sats, multiply by 100,000,000.

How much is 1 satoshi in US dollars?

Divide the BTC price by 100,000,000. At $100,000 per BTC, one sat is worth $0.001, a tenth of a cent. This page shows the value at the live BTC price, updated hourly.

Why is it called a satoshi?

It’s named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous author of the 2008 Bitcoin whitepaper and creator of Bitcoin. Nobody has publicly proven who that is.

Is a bit the same as a satoshi?

No. A bit is a microbitcoin (”BTC), one millionth of a bitcoin, which is 100 sats.

Can you have less than one satoshi?

Not on chain: a Bitcoin transaction counts in whole sats. Inside the Lightning Network, amounts can be counted in millisatoshis, a thousandth of a sat.

Does CloudMineCrypto show my balance in sats?

By default it shows BTC with up to 14 decimals, with the leading zeros dimmed. Tap Format on the Wallet screen to switch to Satoshi, Milli Satoshi, Micro Bitcoin or Milli Bitcoin. The amount is the same in every format.

Sources and further reading

  1. Satoshi (unit) · Bitcoin Wiki
  2. Units · Bitcoin Wiki
  3. Glossary: satoshis, bitcoins and denominations · Bitcoin developer documentation
  4. BOLT 11: amounts in Lightning invoices (millisatoshis) · Lightning Network specifications
  5. Mempool and fee rates · mempool.space
  6. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System · Satoshi Nakamoto, 2008

Live figures on this page (network hashrate, block reward, BTC price) come from the CloudMineCrypto API, refreshed hourly, and are labelled where they appear. This guide is educational and not financial advice. CloudMineCrypto is not an investment product; rewards in the app are estimates and aren’t guaranteed.

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