What Is a Satoshi, the Smallest Unit on the Bitcoin Blockchain?

From paying for pizza with satoshi on the Lightning Network to the 10,000 satoshis being added to the Lightning Torch each time it is passed, down to the 1 sat/byte rate on the bitcoin SV network, SAT is being used more and more in blockchain and crypto conversations.

The satoshi is the smallest unit that is recorded on the bitcoin blockchains: One satoshi represents a decimal, seven zeros and a 1, followed by any of the bitcoin tickers - i.e., bitcoin, bitcoin SV or bitcoin cash.

Bitcoin mining software like HoneyMiner pay your mining reward in SAT, #StackingSats is a hashtag used frequently on Twitter, and the Lightning Torch was accounted for in satoshis - just to name a few instances of the word being used.

When we say "Satoshi," we actually are not referring to Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.

The satoshi we refer to similarly goes back to the early days of bitcoin and the BitcoinTalk forum.

It all began on Nov. 15, 2010, when BitcoinTalk user Ribuck proposed that 1/100 of a bitcoin - the smallest unit that could be displayed on the interface, at the time - be called a satoshi.

" And after that, it was all said and done: 0.00000001, the smallest unit that could be recorded on the bitcoin blockchain, became known as a satoshi from that moment forward.

Although satoshi entered the blockchain and crypto industry lexicon in 2011, it did not become popular - maybe even a buzzword - until recently.

Satoshi has created a more convenient way to price goods and services in BTC - without the price tag looking unattractive or confusing to consumers.

Both price and price bias seem to contribute to the time lag regarding SAT gaining popularity, but all in all, the industry appears to have made SAT a meme in and of itself, finding their own unique ways to incorporate satoshi into our lives - like the lightning torch - and doing so in such a way that these events that it is involved in have caught fire and gone viral in their own respects, bringing satoshi along for the ride with it.