Satoshi
Also called: sats, sat
The satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin: 1 BTC equals 100 million satoshis. It is used for small amounts, such as mining earnings.
The satoshi, often shortened to sat or sats, is the smallest fraction of a bitcoin recorded on the blockchain. One bitcoin is divided into 100 million satoshis, so one satoshi is worth 0.00000001 BTC. The unit is named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of Bitcoin's creator, whose real identity remains unknown.
Writing 0.00012345 BTC is hard to read; saying 12,345 sats is much simpler. That is why wallets, block explorers and pools increasingly display amounts in satoshis. Transaction fees are also counted in this unit, in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB), and the block reward is actually expressed in satoshis within the protocol.
For a home miner, it is the everyday unit. A machine mining in a pool accumulates its earnings in satoshis, paid out once the pool's minimum payout threshold is reached. With a small home miner, the amounts stay modest: it is better to know that before buying. Also remember to check the payout threshold and any withdrawal fees, which weigh more heavily on small sums.
The machines in our Bitcoin collection produce their earnings in satoshis, and our calculators help you estimate that output for your own situation.