Millisatoshi
Web3 / cryptocurrency types
A millisatoshi is the smallest practical unit of account in the Bitcoin Lightning Network, equal to one-thousandth of a single satoshi (0.00000000001 BTC). Since traditional Bitcoin transactions operate in satoshi units and the Lightning Network enables micropayments with fractional amounts, the millisatoshi provides necessary granularity for everyday transactions and automated payments. This subdivision allows the Lightning Network to price services and payments with extreme precision, enabling use cases like streaming payments, automated machine-to-machine transactions, and pay-per-byte data services. The millisatoshi represents the practical limit of meaningful subdivisions for Lightning Network applications while maintaining usability. Example: A Lightning Network service might charge millisatoshis per kilobyte of data transferred, allowing IoT devices to automatically pay for bandwidth consumption with sub-cent accuracy. This pricing precision enables previously impossible business models where microtransactions occur continuously without accumulating to economically wasteful amounts. Why it matters for cryptocurrency: Millisatoshis demonstrate how layer-2 protocols extend Bitcoin's utility beyond traditional transaction scales, enabling new economic models where fractional payments become practical. This precision supports the vision of Bitcoin as a foundational settlement layer supporting numerous value-transfer applications.
Explore the full Web3 Glossary — 2,062+ expert-curated definitions. Need guidance? Talk to our consultants.