A satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, equal to 0.00000001 BTC, named after Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
Just as a dollar has 100 cents, Bitcoin has 100 million satoshis. One satoshi (often abbreviated "sat") equals 0.00000001 BTC. At a Bitcoin price of $95,000, one satoshi is worth about $0.00095 — less than a tenth of a cent. This divisibility is what makes Bitcoin practical for everyday transactions despite its high unit price.
The satoshi is named after Satoshi Nakamoto — the pseudonymous person or group who created Bitcoin in 2008 and published its whitepaper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System." Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin block (the "genesis block") on January 3, 2009, and disappeared from public communication in 2011. Their identity remains unknown.
Bitcoin's divisibility into satoshis is fundamental to its design. Unlike physical currency, Bitcoin can be divided infinitely (in theory). The 8-decimal-place precision was built into Bitcoin's protocol from day one, anticipating that if Bitcoin's price rose significantly, people would need smaller units for everyday transactions.
1 BTC = 100,000,000 satoshis (one hundred million). Common denominations: 1 sat = 0.00000001 BTC. 100 sats = 0.000001 BTC. 10,000 sats = 0.0001 BTC. 1,000,000 sats = 0.01 BTC. At $95,000/BTC: 1 sat ≈ $0.00095, 1,000 sats ≈ $0.95, 100,000 sats ≈ $95.
The mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto's identity is one of the greatest puzzles in technology. Candidates include Hal Finney (early Bitcoin developer), Nick Szabo (creator of "bit gold"), Craig Wright (controversial claimant), and various others. Nakamoto's Bitcoin wallet holds approximately 1 million BTC (worth ~$95 billion), none of which has ever been moved.
As Bitcoin's price grows, satoshis become more practical for pricing. The Lightning Network (Bitcoin's Layer 2 for fast payments) operates primarily in satoshis. Many exchanges, including EIDEX, allow you to buy fractions of Bitcoin — you don't need $95,000 to own some BTC. Buying 100,000 satoshis costs about $95, making Bitcoin accessible to everyone.
Start accumulating satoshis on EIDEX — buy any amount of Bitcoin, from a few dollars to millions.