[Did you know?] Bitcoin Table of Units

[GreatArkansas]

Did you know that there are a lot of different Bitcoin units?

For me, or maybe majority are using satoshi/sat (0.00000001 BTC) which is the smallest unit of Bitcoin,  mBTC ("millibitcoins") (0.001 BTC), and μBTC ("bits") (0.000001 BTC).

Well, there's more.

BITCOIN TABLE OF UNITS

|

Unit

|

Abbreviation

|

Decimal (BTC)

|

Alternate Names

|

Info

|

|

|

msat

|

0.00000000001

|

millisatoshi

|

Payment channel value (Lightning Network, thanks DdmrDdmr)

|

|

|

sat

|

0.00000001

|

satoshi

|

Blockchain value

|

|

|

sat

|

sat

|

satoshi

|

Blockchain

|

|

bitcoin-bong

|

TBCᵇ

|

0.00000001

|

|

0.0001 tonal

|

|

|

|

0.0000001

|

finney

|

|

|

bitcoin-mill

|

TBCᵐ

|

0.00000016

|

|

0.001 tonal

|

|

micro-bitcoin

|

μBTC

|

0.000001

|

bit

|

Frequent

|

|

bitcoin-san

|

TBCˢ

|

0.00000256

|

|

0.01 tonal

|

|

bitcoin-ton

|

TBCᵗ

|

0.00004096

|

|

0.1 tonal

|

|

bitcoin

|

TBC

|

0.00065536

|

|

Tonal base unit

|

|

milli-bitcoin

|

mBTC

|

0.001

|

millibit, millie

|

Occasional

|

|

centi-bitcoin

|

cBTC

|

0.01

|

bitcent

|

Formerly frequent

|

|

deci-bitcoin

|

dBTC

|

0.1

|

|

Rare

|

|

san-bitcoin

|

ˢTBC

|

0.16777216

|

100 tonal

|

|

|

bitcoin

|

BTC

|

1

|

coin

|

SI base unit

|

|

mill-bitcoin

|

ᵐTBC

|

2.68435456

|

|

1000 tonal

|

|

deca-bitcoin

|

daBTC

|

10

|

|

|

|

bong-bitcoin

|

ᵇTBC

|

42.94967296

|

|

1,0000 tonal

|

|

hecto-bitcoin

|

hBTC

|

100

|

|

Rare

|

|

kilo-bitcoin

|

kBTC

|

1,000

|

|

Rare in context

|

|

mega-bitcoin

|

MBTC

|

1,000,000

|

|

Rare in context

|

|

tam-bitcoin

|

|

2,814,749.76710656

|

1,0000,0000 tonal

|

Rare in context

|

LEGEND:
green  - Frequently used.

There are some discussions about these different units of Bitcoin, where we can also find in this forum.
Well, maybe some from on the list are came from here, which some suggestion from different discussion or forum/community.

• We need names.
• Bitcoin denominations and naming conventions
• BTC Units
• Which of these bitcoin units do you NOT want to use?

References: Tonal Bitcoin, Satoshi , Units.

[1714483395]

1714483395

[Btcbeginners]

I like satoshi or sat, That is a good name, and it remembers the great Bitcoin founder "Satoshi Nakamoto"

[DdmrDdmr]

Just to point out that millisatoshis is really not strictly a Bitcoin unit, but a Lightning Network feature (as far as I know), that allows for TXs to bear a smaller amount than a Satoshi down to a millisatoshi. It’s kind of virtual though, since it can exist as long as the channel is open, but once the channel is closed, the amount is rounded down to the nearests Satoshi before being broadcasted.

// MilliSatoshi are the native unit of the Lightning Network. A milli-satoshi
// is simply 1/1000th of a satoshi. There are 1000 milli-satoshis in a single
// satoshi. Within the network, all HTLC payments are denominated in
// milli-satoshis. As milli-satoshis aren't deliverable on the native
// blockchain, before settling to broadcasting, the values are rounded down to
// the nearest satoshi.

https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/blob/master/lnwire/msat.go#L13-L18

[OcTradism]

Great initiative.

It's my help with your table format. Please check contents and correct mistakes if I have them. Please check it yourself if you want to use my table. My eyes got blurred after editing it. 

Some wallets have a default denomination in mBTC, Electrum wallet, ie. so if people are not familiar with that denomination (mBTC), they have to change it to BTC.

|

Unit

|

Abbreviation

|

Decimal (BTC)

|

Alternate Names

|

Info

|

|

|

msat

|

0.00000000001

|

millisatoshi

|

Payment channel value (Lightning Network, thanks DdmrDdmr)

|

|

|

sat

|

0.00000001

|

satoshi

|

Blockchain value

|

|

|

sat

|

sat

|

satoshi

|

Blockchain

|

|

bitcoin-bong

|

TBCᵇ

|

0.00000001

|

|

0.0001 tonal

|

|

|

|

0.0000001

|

finney

|

|

|

bitcoin-mill

|

TBCᵐ

|

0.00000016

|

|

0.001 tonal

|

|

micro-bitcoin

|

μBTC

|

0.000001

|

bit

|

Frequent

|

|

bitcoin-san

|

TBCˢ

|

0.00000256

|

|

0.01 tonal

|

|

bitcoin-ton

|

TBCᵗ

|

0.00004096

|

|

0.1 tonal

|

|

bitcoin

|

TBC

|

0.00065536

|

|

Tonal base unit

|

|

milli-bitcoin

|

mBTC

|

0.001

|

millibit, millie

|

Occasional

|

|

centi-bitcoin

|

cBTC

|

0.01

|

bitcent

|

Formerly frequent

|

|

deci-bitcoin

|

dBTC

|

0.1

|

|

Rare

|

|

san-bitcoin

|

ˢTBC

|

0.16777216

|

100 tonal

|

|

|

bitcoin

|

BTC

|

1

|

coin

|

SI base unit

|

|

mill-bitcoin

|

ᵐTBC

|

2.68435456

|

|

1000 tonal

|

|

deca-bitcoin

|

daBTC

|

10

|

|

|

|

bong-bitcoin

|

ᵇTBC

|

42.94967296

|

|

1,0000 tonal

|

|

hecto-bitcoin

|

hBTC

|

100

|

|

Rare

|

|

kilo-bitcoin

|

kBTC

|

1,000

|

|

Rare in context

|

|

mega-bitcoin

|

MBTC

|

1,000,000

|

|

Rare in context

|

|

tam-bitcoin

|

|

2,814,749.76710656

|

1,0000,0000 tonal

|

Rare in context

|

[o_e_l_e_o]

Having too many units is a bad thing, as it just leads to unnecessary confusion. There have been a couple of threads on this forum discussing which of the common denominations people prefer to use (BTC, mBTC, μBTC, or sats). Even when only given 4 options, there was anything but consensus. Some people said they only ever used BTC, or only ever used sats. Some used both, but never anything in between. Some people liked to use mBTC or bits because it reduces the number of leading or trailing zeroes. Some used a combination of 3 or all 4 units.

There are some services (often gambling sites) which default to either mBTC or bits, and so some people get used to working in those denominations, whereas most exchanges default to BTC, and Lightning uses sats. I used to use mBTC quite a lot to reduce the number of unnecessary zeroes, but I find myself working more in either just BTC or sats these days.

There have also been a number of threads in the past with newbies who have bought or transferred the wrong amount of bitcoin because they were working in the wrong units, or of being unable to make a transaction because they are inadvertently trying to send several orders of magnitude more bitcoin than they actually have in their wallet.

[tranthidung]

Agree with you. Two many units will result in misleading, and gives scammers more tools to scam newbies. Personally, when I take a look at my balance, I would like to see it in BTC only. I also changed the default denomination of my wallet to BTC. In contrast, when I look at transaction fees, I would like to see it in satoshis.

mBTC the next popular unit I have ever seen, but I don't like it too much. I believe sticking with the largest (BTC) and the lowest (satoshi) will help us to avoid unnecessary conversions that has some odds to lead us to incorrect numbers by wrong conversion.

For me:

• Balance: BTC
• fees: satoshi

That site can be helpful: http://www.btcsatoshi.com/ and might be a favorite one in the future when one Bitcoin costs two much dollars, then we might have a question, How much does one satoshi cost?

[jademaxsuy]

I like bits and what I think about it is it sounds like an incomplete word of (bit)coin. I wonder how many people are having trouble knowing what value is the smaller units of bitcoin. I also like satashi which is the name of the bitcoin creator. Thank you for sharing the table of bitcoin and this is helpful especially newbies.

[BITCOIN4X]

~snip

So far I only use the two most popular units namely Bitcoin and Satoshi. Even though I have heard about other units like milisat or mBTC, but I havent used it. Only these two units seem to be enough for me, because I have never used another small unit. But I believe that other users will also like it if they use a lighting network such as the mBTC unit.

But I believe this unit is worth knowing by bitcoin users, I just realized that there are many bitcoin units with different names. Thanks OP.

Same with you, mate.

Code:

Balance i am use Bitcoin
Fee i am use satoshi

~snip

Nice table format. Continue your good efforts.

[sujonali1819]

wow! this is my first time to see these units. And I did not know there is any other units for BTC except BTC, mBTC, μBTC, or sats. Generally, I am familiar with these 4 units. But BTC and Sats are more familiar than others twice.

Thanks for sharing this information. But I don't think all units are useful for us. The more units the more misleading and misunderstanding can happen IMO.

[vapourminer]

lol been doing this since 2011. and i only know three: sats, mBTC and btc.

im too old to learn that newfangled stuff.

read: im too stupid to keep up

[wxa7115]

lol been doing this since 2011. and i only know three: sats, mBTC and btc.

im too old to learn that newfangled stuff.

read: im too stupid to keep up

While this was an interesting read and there were many units I did not knew their name and some I could guess, the truth is those three denominations are for the most part the only ones you need to know, you need to know about the satoshi to better understand the cost of your transactions, the mBTC for your regular transactions and the base unit of one BTC for your holdings or your large purchases.

[vapourminer]

i only know three: sats, mBTC and btc.

While this was an interesting read and there were many units I did not knew their name and some I could guess, the truth is those three denominations are for the most part the only ones you need to know, you need to know about the satoshi to better understand the cost of your transactions, the mBTC for your regular transactions and the base unit of one BTC for your holdings or your large purchases.

actually i never use mBTC i just remember as some wallets can display that. so really sats for fees and btc for everything else. i dont mind all the decimals.

[actmyname]

actually i never use mBTC i just remember as some wallets can display that. so really sats for fees and btc for everything else. i dont mind all the decimals.

It used to be much more convenient back when we had mBTC:USD parity since we had an easy way of basing transactions in a more fiat-focused way. This, at least, helped with accessibility and a better comprehension of the actual valuation of what you were saying. Too bad we can't get it as cheap as US$1000/BTC anymore It's all about how you handle the system. We have no problem converting between dollars and cents (2 orders of magnitude) even though technically, they are different denominations/units. Eventually, it comes as naturally as the conversion between the two, or as naturally as conversion between metric prefixes.

[daneal stev]

Frankly, I never knew about the existence of this unit, and I was surprised by it, because I only know the Satoshi unit, and I love this unit and its name a lot because it bears the name of the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamuntu.

[erikoy]

Is this the new English system unit or the SI units tha coud be added to existing sytem units like mete, grams and etc. It seems sound so good to hear a new unit of Sats. LOL. A new measurement of digital currency. I had been seeing Sats but not quite familiar among the other units. Milli Sats seems came from the SI unit which means 1000th.

Well I guess that could be use in transaction to get confused on s many zeroes after the decimal if btc will be used for transactions. So I find it easy just to say 1K Sats rather than the 0.00000 btc something..

[bitmover]

I was recently redirected to this topic by this post.

I just want to add that  Tonal Bitcoin (which is almost half of that table) is basically an altcoin within bitcoin blockchain.

All those Tonal units are not supported by any relevant client and I think it should be removed from the table.

Bitcoin Tonal uses a different number system.  it is not decimal and works completely different (similar to HEX format)