HAMSON SOFTWARE / BITCOIN BASICS / 01

YOU DO NOT NEED
A WHOLE BITCOIN

One of the easiest ways to misunderstand Bitcoin is to think that owning Bitcoin means buying one complete BTC.

It does not.

Bitcoin can be divided into much smaller amounts. You can understand £5, £20, £100 or any other sterling amount as a fraction of one Bitcoin.
WHAT YOU KNOW

£20

Twenty pounds is familiar. You already understand what that amount means in everyday British life.

BITCOIN

A FRACTION OF 1 BTC

If one whole Bitcoin is worth tens of thousands of pounds, £20 naturally represents only a small fraction of one BTC.

SMALLER UNIT

SATOSHIS

That same fraction of Bitcoin can also be expressed as satoshis, which are smaller units of Bitcoin.

THE IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE / 02

£1 DOES NOT MEAN
THE SAME THING AS 1 BTC

A pound and a Bitcoin are different units with completely different market values.

The fact that both can be written as the number "1" does not make them financially equivalent.
£1

ONE POUND

£1 is one unit of sterling. It can be represented by a coin, or simply as part of a digital bank balance.

1 BTC

ONE WHOLE BITCOIN

1 BTC means one complete Bitcoin. Its value in pounds changes with the Bitcoin market and can be worth tens of thousands of pounds.

KEY POINT

YOU CAN OWN A FRACTION

You do not need to own 1 BTC. A Bitcoin balance can be 0.1 BTC, 0.001 BTC or a much smaller amount.

£20 EXAMPLE / 03

WHY DOES £20 TURN INTO
0.000... BTC?

Because £20 is being measured against the value of one whole Bitcoin.

The small decimal does not mean your money has disappeared or become less important. It simply shows what fraction of one BTC has approximately the same value.
STEP / 01

START WITH £20

Begin with the amount you already understand: twenty pounds.

STEP / 02

TRANSLATE IT INTO BTC

The live Bitcoin price determines what fraction of one BTC corresponds approximately to £20 at that moment.

STEP / 03

SHOW IT IN SATOSHIS

The same Bitcoin amount can also be displayed in satoshis, which can make a small BTC decimal easier to read.

SAME VALUE / DIFFERENT UNITS
£20 ≈ A SMALL FRACTION OF 1 BTC ≈ THOUSANDS OF SATOSHIS

The exact BTC and satoshi amounts change as the Bitcoin market price changes. The important idea is that all three can describe approximately the same value.

SATOSHIS / 04

WHAT IS A SATOSHI?

A satoshi is a smaller unit of Bitcoin.

1 Bitcoin = 100,000,000 satoshis.
WHOLE UNIT

1 BTC

One complete Bitcoin.

SMALLER UNITS

100,000,000 SATOSHIS

The same one Bitcoin expressed in its smaller standard units.

IMPORTANT

NOT THE SAME AS PENCE

A pound contains 100 pence. Bitcoin works differently: one Bitcoin contains 100,000,000 satoshis. The useful comparison is simply that both systems have smaller units.

HAMSON SOFTWARE / 05

NOW TRANSLATE YOUR OWN POUNDS INTO BITCOIN

The Hamson Software Bitcoin in Pounds calculator links pounds, Bitcoin and satoshis using a live BTC/GBP market reference.

Enter a pound amount you already understand. The system translates the rest automatically.
01

ENTER POUNDS

Start with £5, £20, £50, £100 or another amount that makes sense to you.

02

SEE THE BTC FRACTION

Hamson Software automatically shows approximately what fraction of one Bitcoin that amount represents.

03

SEE THE SATOSHIS

The same Bitcoin amount is also shown in satoshis so the smaller unit is easy to understand.

OPEN BITCOIN IN POUNDS
HAMSON SOFTWARE / EDUCATION

This page explains Bitcoin units and fractions in plain English. Bitcoin market values can rise or fall substantially. Hamson Software's Bitcoin in Pounds calculator provides an approximate market reference and does not execute Bitcoin purchases or sales.