History of Satoshi
The creator of Bitcoin chose to remain anonymous and used the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. When developing Bitcoin, Nakamoto decided to make it divisible up to 100 million units but didn't come up with any names for these smaller units of Bitcoin outside of referring to them as "coins."
A member of the BitcoinTalk forum, ribuck, first mentioned the idea of using "Satoshi" as the name for a unit of Bitcoin on Nov. 15, 2010. Ribuck originally suggested it to refer to one- hundredth of a Bitcoin but later put it forward as the term for one-hundred-millionth of a Bitcoin. Other members of the forum agreed, and it caught on from there.
How to use Satoshi
Since Satoshi are Bitcoin, only of a different denomination, you can use Satoshi and Bitcoin interchangeably. Just be sure to do the math correctly if you ever need to calculate their equivalent value! You can:
- Buy and sell it on cryptocurrency exchanges.
- Pay for purchases with it at merchants who accept Bitcoin.
- Trade it for other types of cryptocurrency.
- Hold on to it for the long term if you're investing in cryptocurrency.
If you want to use Satoshi, the first step is to buy a fraction of a Bitcoin. You can do so on practically all crypto apps and exchanges. Since Bitcoin is the first and largest cryptocurrency, it's a good bet that any platform selling cryptocurrency will have Bitcoin available.
After you've bought Bitcoin, it's generally recommended that you transfer it to your own crypto wallet. There are digital wallets, also known as hot wallets, which are usually free. There are also hardware wallets, or cold wallets, that you can buy to safely store your crypto offline.
Transferring crypto to your wallet ensures that you're in control of it, and it allows you to use that crypto for purchases if you want.
You might be wondering what the difference is between using Satoshi and Bitcoin. There really isn't since it's just a matter of which term you and anyone else involved in the transaction prefer. Merchants could provide prices in Bitcoin or Satoshi, and you could refer to your transactions with either term. At the moment, a Satoshi isn't nearly as well-known as a Bitcoin, so you may need to explain it to some people if you use it regularly.
