<p>I don't know of any comments Satoshi left himself about the choice of 8 decimal places, but <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=819656.msg9170781#msg9170781" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this comment</a> on bitcointalk.org alleges that it was the result of a computation involving the M1 world fiat currency supply. Supposedly if all of that were to be replaced with BTC, the value of 1 unit (10<sup>-8</sup> BTC) would be below a US penny.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-20T19:23:48.653Z
Maybe true, but not a technical reason. So I assume there is no technical reason?
Arnor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-30T15:17:22.610Z
2021-11-30T15:17:22.610Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>Is there a technical reason why Satoshi implemented Bitcoin with just 8 decimal places? The max number of 64-bit signed integers is usually 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 ; so with the 21 million cap an overflow can't happen even for 11 decimal places if I'm correct? So why not go with a more handy amount of decimal places like 9 or the maximum possible for 64-bit 11?</p>

<protocol><satoshi><divisibility>
Is there a reason why 1 bitcoin = 100000000 sats?
Arnor
# Is there a reason why 1 bitcoin = 100000000 sats?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-30)

Is there a technical reason why Satoshi implemented Bitcoin with just 8 decimal places? The max number of 64-bit signed integers is usually 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 ; so with the 21 million cap an overflow can't happen even for 11 decimal places if I'm correct? So why not go with a more handy amount of decimal places like 9 or the maximum possible for 64-bit 11?

**Tags:** protocol, satoshi, divisibility


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-11-30. Score: 1

I don't know of any comments Satoshi left himself about the choice of 8 decimal places, but [this comment](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=819656.msg9170781#msg9170781) on bitcointalk.org alleges that it was the result of a computation involving the M1 world fiat currency supply. Supposedly if all of that were to be replaced with BTC, the value of 1 unit (10-8 BTC) would be below a US penny.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Maybe true, but not a technical reason. So I assume there is no technical reason?  

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