Learn to Think in Sats

A satoshi (sat) is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, named after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Just as a dollar has 100 cents, a Bitcoin has 100,000,000 satoshis. This granularity makes Bitcoin practical for micropayments and everyday pricing.

• •1 BTC = 100,000,000 sats
• •1 sat = 0.00000001 BTC
• •At current prices, 1 satoshi equals a fraction of a cent
• •Sats make Bitcoin practical for pricing everyday items

A "unit of account" is one of the three functions of money (along with medium of exchange and store of value). Using sats as a unit of account means pricing goods in satoshis, tracking savings in sats, and comparing costs across countries without currency conversion.

• •Price goods and services in satoshis
• •Track your savings in sats, not dollars
• •Compare costs across countries without exchange rates
• •Join the growing movement of people "stacking sats"

Purchasing power parity (PPP) is an economic theory that compares different currencies through a "basket of goods." SatsAtlas applies this concept using Bitcoin as the universal currency, revealing which countries offer the best purchasing power for sat holders.

• •Traditional PPP compares fiat currency buying power
• •Bitcoin PPP uses sats as the universal benchmark
• •A beer in Thailand costs fewer sats than in Norway
• •PPP in sats shows where your Bitcoin goes furthest

The Big Mac Index, created by The Economist, uses Big Mac prices to compare purchasing power between countries. SatsAtlas extends this idea to Bitcoin: how many sats does a Big Mac cost around the world? This simple metric reveals surprising economic insights.

• •Big Mac prices are standardized globally
• •Comparing in sats removes currency conversion complexity
• •Shows real-world purchasing power differences
• •A fun way to understand global economics through Bitcoin

Bitcoin mining requires energy, and energy costs vary dramatically by country. Mining economics show the cost to produce 1 BTC in different locations, revealing where mining is profitable and how energy prices affect the Bitcoin network.

• •Mining cost depends primarily on electricity price
• •Approximately 150,000 kWh needed to mine 1 BTC
• •Countries with cheap energy have mining advantages
• •Mining cost acts as a rough price floor for Bitcoin

Bitcoin is known for price volatility in USD terms. A beer might cost 5,000 sats today and 4,500 tomorrow. Short-term sats prices fluctuate with the BTC/USD rate, but long-term trends show sat prices decreasing as Bitcoin appreciates.

• •Short-term: sats prices move with BTC/USD rate
• •Long-term: sats prices trend downward
• •Volatility smooths out over longer time horizons
• •Focus on the trend, not the daily fluctuation