Some Bitcoin takes are bad. Others are so fundamentally flawed that they expose how little people think about the system they’re trying to criticize.
Here’s a perfect example from Samantha LaDuc:
“If one Bitcoin is sold in units of ‘Sats,’ and there are over 2 quadrillion of those, HOW can they claim scarcity, lack of dilution, hedge against inflation/DEBASEMENT? This would seem to be common knowledge and well, ‘MATH’?”
At first glance, this might sound like a reasonable concern. But the premise is entirely wrong. It confuses divisibility with supply expansion, and the math here doesn’t say what she thinks it says.
According to her logic, we could feed the world with one pizza. Just cut it into an infinite number of pieces. You see what the problem is with that reasoning? Let’s break it down.
Divisibility Doesn’t Equal Inflation
This is the key issue: Bitcoin’s total supply is 21 million BTC—hard-capped. That does not change just because it can be divided into smaller units.
Think about dollars:
- A dollar is made up of 100 cents.
- If we started using half-cents, does that mean we printed more money? No.
- Dividing an existing thing into smaller parts doesn’t create more of it.
Bitcoin is the same.
- Each BTC is divisible into 100 million satoshis.
- That gives us 2.1 quadrillion satoshis total.
- But the total BTC supply remains 21 million BTC—forever.
Saying Bitcoin isn’t scarce because it has many sats is like saying gold isn’t scarce because we can measure it in milligrams instead of ounces.
And look.. there are discussions to be had about where the decimal points of Bitcoin actually should be. Bitcoin doesn’t exist on its network.
The Statement in the Tweet is Wrong for Several Reasons
This idea that satoshis somehow “dilute” Bitcoin’s scarcity misunderstands multiple key concepts:
1. Confusing Scarcity with Divisibility
- Bitcoin is scarce because only 21 million BTC will ever exist. This is coded into the protocol.
- The fact that BTC can be divided into satoshis does not increase the total supply.
- Just like 1 dollar can be divided into 100 cents, but the total supply of dollars does not increase because of it.
2. No Dilution or Inflation
- Bitcoin cannot be printed or inflated beyond 21 million BTC.
- Dividing an asset does not dilute its value.
- Breaking a $100 bill into ten $10 bills doesn’t mean you have more money—it’s just in smaller units.
3. Logical Fallacy
This argument is like saying:
- “There are 100 trillion pennies in circulation, so how can the U.S. dollar be scarce?”
- That’s obviously nonsense—the number of pennies does not change the total supply of U.S. dollars.
- Similarly, 2.1 quadrillion satoshis exist because Bitcoin is divisible, not because the supply is increasing.
Scarcity is About Total Supply, Not Sub-Units
If Bitcoin had been designed differently—let’s say:
- 21,000 BTC, each divisible into 100 billion satoshis
- Or 21 trillion BTC, but each one was only divisible into 100 units
Would that make Bitcoin more or less scarce?
The total supply is what matters, not how we count it.
We already measure scarcity in different ways:
- Gold: Ounces, grams, or milligrams—but the amount of gold stays the same.
- Stocks: Companies can split shares into smaller units, but that doesn’t change the total value of the company.
Bitcoin’s 2.1 quadrillion satoshis exist to allow for smaller transactions—not because its supply is expanding.
The Real Takeaway
Scarcity isn’t about how small the units are—it’s about whether new supply can be created.
- Bitcoin = 21 million BTC, forever.
- Each BTC = 100 million satoshis.
- The total supply never increases.
No matter how many times someone tries to frame divisibility as dilution, it doesn’t make Bitcoin any less scarce.
So, the tweet misinterprets how scarcity and divisibility work in Bitcoin, leading to a false conclusion. And the fact that people are still making this argument in 2025 just proves how much more education is needed.