What's in a Satoshi?

[shulio]

Why is 1 satoshi the smallest division of a Bitcoin, and why is it important that 1 satoshi cannot be divided any further? Could there be a viable system where 1 coin can be divided infinite times?

It is by design. Satoshi Nakamoto decided that Bitcoin should be divided. I think he foresee that the prices would become much higher.

Dividing a coin infinite times can not be feasible, there should be some limit. Otherwise it will be very hard for current computer systems to process those data.

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[craZyLovE0916]

You cannot send less than 1 satoshi

[jose111]

Why is 1 satoshi the smallest division of a Bitcoin, and why is it important that 1 satoshi cannot be divided any further? Could there be a viable system where 1 coin can be divided infinite times?

Each bitcoin is divisible to the 8th decimal place, so each bitcoin can be split into 100,000,000 units. Each unit of bitcoin, or 0.00000001 bitcoin, is called a satoshi. A Satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin.

[Justin-Checqit]

Why is 1 satoshi the smallest division of a Bitcoin, and why is it important that 1 satoshi cannot be divided any further? Could there be a viable system where 1 coin can be divided infinite times?

One Satoshi is 0.00000001 Bitcoins. I think this is just an unofficial name for the smallest unit possible in Bitcoin. As far as the reason why a Bitcoin can only be divided down to 8 decimal places, I think that’s just the way the creators set it up. I don’t know if it could be changed at this point, but if so, it would have to come from the Bitcoin Foundation to make that determination.

The true reason for the smallest increment of bitcoin being 0.00000001 is not known, it was decided that this would represent the 'cent' , its like asking why dollars are only divisible up to the second decimal, it was simply made that way.

Can it be subject to change, it'd be very surprising, considering the amounts of satoshis available to the public (21 000 000 bitcoins having 100 000 000 satoshis each ) i don't even think that they considered changing it one day due to the very high amount of satoshis available.

[Ranly123]

Why is 1 satoshi the smallest division of a Bitcoin, and why is it important that 1 satoshi cannot be divided any further? Could there be a viable system where 1 coin can be divided infinite times?

When you have a dollar then the smallest division is cents. So we have here our bitcoin which is the whole amount, then its division is called satoshi.
Dollar= cents/ division
Bitcoin= satoshi/ division
I hope i give you my brief explenation for satoshi.

[Coins and Hardwork]

Why is 1 satoshi the smallest division of a Bitcoin, and why is it important that 1 satoshi cannot be divided any further? Could there be a viable system where 1 coin can be divided infinite times?

And what would be the value of that divided Satoshis? If something is not worthy, do not have any value then why do we need to do it? Instead of adding terms or other things further,  just think of another way we can improve bitcoin. But if you really want, you can make some suggestions then post it here and let the people interested with it think of other terms.

[TheGreatPython]

if satoshi will be divided infinite times, it will be negligible.  that's why, i think, the reason why satoshi is the smallest is because it will be nonsense to put up or name an exponential value that is lesser than satoshi because it will be so small, zero or approximately equal to zero.

This is just like someone asking why is cent the smallest division of dollars. That’s a crazy question to ask. I will just say that you should take it as dollar, the smallest division of dollar is cents, so that’s the same thing in Bitcoin, the smallest division is satoshi.

[Peterson410]

Each bitcoin is separable to the eighth decimal place, so each bitcoin can be part into 100,000,000 units. Every unit of bitcoin, or 0.00000001 bitcoin, is known as a satoshi. A Satoshi is the littlest unit of Bitcoin.

[South Park]

if satoshi will be divided infinite times, it will be negligible.  that's why, i think, the reason why satoshi is the smallest is because it will be nonsense to put up or name an exponential value that is lesser than satoshi because it will be so small, zero or approximately equal to zero.

This is just like someone asking why is cent the smallest division of dollars. That’s a crazy question to ask. I will just say that you should take it as dollar, the smallest division of dollar is cents, so that’s the same thing in Bitcoin, the smallest division is satoshi.

Besides it is not like this cannot be changed very easily in bitcoin if the need ever arose, this is not possible with dollars I have read that some countries are not coining their lower denomination coins since it will be more expensive to create them than the value they represent, but with bitcoin everything you need is a change in the code and suddenly everyone could use units lower than a satoshi.

[Lahmar]

29 reply saying the same thing , the first one did respond to the question , did you even read posts before relying , satoshi bla bla bla .... somehow everyone knows what is satoshi now

[Rafar8]

Why is 1 satoshi the smallest division of a Bitcoin, and why is it important that 1 satoshi cannot be divided any further? Could there be a viable system where 1 coin can be divided infinite times?

Satoshi is the structural part of the crypto currency, which is one hundred millionth bitcoin. Such small units facilitate transactions with BTC. The overall structural component of 1 bitcoin (BTK) is equivalent to 1000 millibits (MBTC), 1,000,000 microbits (μBTC) or 100,000,000 Satoshi. The exact figures are not known, but it is estimated that Nakamoto may have 1 million BTC, and this is equivalent to 100,000,000,000,000 Satoshi.
Despite the fact that bitcoins and satoshs are not part of the main currency pair, they can be converted into other currencies and purchased at the expense of these other units. There are exchangers that allow individuals to make transactions. This includes transferring dollars, pounds or other supported currencies to the account of one of the exchanges, where this balance can be used to buy or sell bitcoins and, ultimately, convert them to other monetary units. As in the case of exchange rates between classic values, the value of BTC will fluctuate depending on supply and demand. 

[Choii]

Why is 1 satoshi the smallest division of a Bitcoin, and why is it important that 1 satoshi cannot be divided any further? Could there be a viable system where 1 coin can be divided infinite times?

Satoshi is a bitcoin it is a divided of bitcoin to be an equal part to cents and token

Exactly, satoshi is a part of the crypto currency that divided in to smallest amount of bitcoin in the other words ( cents. ) Anyways, ( for the OP ) if you have, let say 1 dollar if you divided it in to smallest amount you can call it "cents" it's like the bitcoin "satoshi" when you divided also in the smallest amount.

[Lampaster]

Strange question. Any system should have the limits of its use. 1 Satoshi or 1 cent is only part of the system. Why a train can't enter the bridge if the weight exceeds the maximum allowable for travel over this bridge? Any system has a project documentation. It has a clear purpose of use and within the boundary values violates the first and foremost purpose of the system.