Satoshi (sat)
A satoshi is the smallest standard unit of bitcoin, equal to one hundred-millionth of one BTC.
✦ Key Insight
It is commonly used in Lightning payments, fee discussions, and small-value transfers.
✕ Common Misconceptions
Do not confuse satoshis with sat/vB, which is a Bitcoin fee-rate unit.
Detailed Explanation
In Practice
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Cryptocurrency
A digital asset that is issued and transferred on a public network rather than by a bank or government.
Bitcoin
The first cryptocurrency, launched in 2009, with a supply capped at 21 million coins.
Network Fee
A network fee is the amount paid to have a blockchain transaction processed and included according to that network's fee rules.
sat/vB
sat/vB means satoshis per virtual byte and is a common unit for expressing the fee rate of a Bitcoin transaction.
Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is a peer-to-peer payment network built with Bitcoin payment channels so every payment does not need its own on-chain transaction.