Satoshis: the unit bitcoin is actually counted in
A satoshi is the smallest unit bitcoin can be divided into: one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin. It is not a different coin, and you do not need to buy a whole bitcoin any more than you need to buy a whole kilogram of coffee.
The numbers
| 1 BTC | 100,000,000 sats |
|---|---|
| 0.01 BTC | 1,000,000 sats |
| 0.001 BTC | 100,000 sats |
| 0.00000001 BTC | 1 sat — the smallest amount the protocol represents |
The unit is named after Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator. It is not a separate asset, a token, or a different network: a satoshi is to a bitcoin what a cent is to a euro, except there are a hundred million of them rather than a hundred.
Why wallets count in sats
Two practical reasons. First, human error: “0.00042 BTC” is a string of zeros it is easy to misread by a factor of ten, and “42,000 sats” is not. When the number in question is a payment, that matters.
Second, fees are quoted in satoshis per virtual byte — a rate, not a total. Every fee conversation in bitcoin happens in sats, so a wallet that displays sats is speaking the same language as the fee estimator.
Under the hood there is no choice being made: the Bitcoin protocol has always counted in integer satoshis. “BTC” is a display convention layered on top. This is also why a well-built wallet stores amounts as whole satoshis rather than decimal floats — a rounding error is a curiosity in most software and a wrong payment in this one.
“Bitcoin is too expensive” is a unit problem
You can buy 50,000 sats as easily as 5 BTC. The price of one whole bitcoin is no more a barrier than the price of a whole gold bar is a barrier to buying gold. This confusion is common enough that some people argue wallets should show sats by default for exactly this reason.
Converting
BTC to sats is × 100,000,000. Sats to BTC is ÷ 100,000,000. For a fiat value, multiply the BTC amount by the current price. The converter on this site does all three at once, and BitHedge does the same in the app — tap the balance to switch between bitcoin, sats and your local currency.
Common questions
How many satoshis are in one bitcoin?
100,000,000 — one hundred million. A satoshi is 0.00000001 BTC and is the smallest unit the Bitcoin protocol can represent.
Is a satoshi a different cryptocurrency?
No. It is a unit of bitcoin, the way a cent is a unit of a euro. There is no separate satoshi coin, token or network.
Can I buy less than one bitcoin?
Yes. Bitcoin is divisible to eight decimal places, so you can buy and send any amount down to a single satoshi. The price of a whole bitcoin is not a minimum purchase.
Why are Bitcoin fees quoted in sats per vByte?
Because miners select transactions by fee rate rather than total fee, and a transaction's cost to the network is its size in virtual bytes. Sats per vByte is the price you are offering for the space your transaction occupies.
BitHedge is a Bitcoin-only self-custody wallet for iPhone. Keys are generated on your device and never transmitted — no account, no KYC, no tracking. See how it works.
Keep reading
- Your Bitcoin transaction is stuck. Here is what to do — Why it is unconfirmed, and how RBF actually gets it moving.
- Bitcoin address types, and which one to use — What bc1p, bc1q, 3… and 1… mean, and which to use.
- Your recovery phrase, and why it is the only thing that matters — How twelve words become a key, and how they get stolen in practice.
- All guides