Rare Sats (Rare Satoshi) FAQ

A systematic guide to collecting, authenticating, and trading rare satoshis

Satoshi (sat) is the smallest unit of Bitcoin. 1 BTC = 100,000,000 sats.

Rare Sats are satoshis that are labeled and collected based on Ordinals/inscription (ordinal theory) as "sats at special positions or with special historical semantics."

When a sat meets certain verifiable mathematical/on-chain positional conditions (or clearly defined community semantic rules), it is considered "rare."

1) Protocol/ordinal-layer "positional attributes" (mathematically provable):

Examples: Uncommon (first sat of each block), Alpha (first sat of each bitcoin), Omega (last sat of each bitcoin), Black (last sat of each block), etc.

2) Community-defined "semantic/theme attributes" (consensus-driven):

Examples: Palindrome (palindromic sequences), Vintage (vintage ranges), Pizza / Block 9 / Block 78 / Sequence, etc.

As long as the criteria are clear and reproducible, such classes of Rare Sats can form market consensus and be traded.

1) Rodarmor's Five Tiers of Rarity (emphasizing key signals in time/block height):

  • Common: the vast majority of sats
  • Uncommon: the first sat of each block (block-height related; block-level event)
  • Rare: the first sat of the first block in each difficulty adjustment period (2016 blocks)
  • Epic / Legendary / Mythic: first sats at larger time scales (halvings/cycles/genesis-level)

This framework stresses important boundaries on the time axis—collecting logic akin to "time markers + scarcity thresholds."

2) Widely used "attribute categories" (positionally verifiable or semantic consensus):

  • Alpha: the first sat in each bitcoin (1e8 sats per coin). Total supply: 21,000,000
  • Omega: the last sat in each bitcoin (position 1e8 − 1). Also 21,000,000
  • Black Uncommon: the last sat of each block
  • Uncommon: the first sat of each block (same as Rodarmor's "Uncommon")
  • Uncommon + Alpha: a "dual-attribute mirror" where a block's first sat also happens to be a coin's first sat
  • Black Uncommon + Omega: a "dual-attribute mirror" where a block's last sat also happens to be a coin's last sat
  • Palindrome: sat numbers/sequences that are symmetrical palindromes
  • Vintage Palindrome: palindromes constrained to a defined "vintage range"
  • Block 9 / Block 78 / Pizza / Silk Road / Sequence: sets defined by historical events/heights/ranges/semantics

Key point: Uncommon/Alpha/Omega/Black are mathematically verifiable positional attributes; Block 78, Pizza, etc., are theme sets—community-defined but tradable provided rules are public and reproducible.

Uncommon + Alpha: occurs when a block's first sat (Uncommon) is also a coin's first sat (Alpha).

Black Uncommon + Omega: occurs when a block's last sat (Black) is also a coin's last sat (Omega).

Important characteristics:

  • Final supply magnitudes are symmetric, both around ≈ 630,000—logical mirrors with equal set sizes
  • In the current halving epoch (block subsidy 3.125 BTC/block), Black Uncommon + Omega appears once every 8 blocks
  • Community tracking is especially active for Uncommon + Alpha (supply, circulation, dashboards, activity stats)

These two dual-attribute sets are most favored because they are strictly determinable + size-symmetric + supply path is predictable.

Uncommon + Alpha (dual attribute) statistics:

  • Total: 628,419
  • Mined: 587,308 (93.5%)
  • Active Epoch: 440,413 (75%)
  • Active 365 Days: 242,569 (41.3%)
  • Found / Labeled: 85,985 (14.6%)
  • Inscribed: 10,463 (1.8%)
  • Holders of discovered Uncommon+Alpha sats: 11,404
  • Total Uncommon+Alpha holders: 164,309
  • Movable supply estimate: ≈ 340k–380k (via multiple estimation approaches)

Cutoff date: 11/4/2025

1) Mathematical tests for positional attributes (core idea):

  • Alpha: global sat number n satisfies n % 100_000_000 == 0
  • Omega: (n + 1) % 100_000_000 == 0
  • Uncommon: the sat is the first sat supplied in a given block within the global supply order
  • Black: the sat is the last sat of the block
  • Dual attributes: both corresponding conditions above hold simultaneously (set intersection)

In practice, you typically rely on an ordinals indexer/block scanner/third-party lookup tool rather than hand calculation.

2) Tests for community semantic attributes:

  • Palindrome / Vintage Palindrome: apply the agreed reading of the number to check symmetry
  • Block 78 / Pizza / Block 9, etc.: must satisfy rules defined by number/height/time/transaction history

Key is: rules are public + reproducible, and counterparties can verify independently.

On-chain "mining/screening":

Scan the full sat sequences within your UTXO set to flag matches (Found). When withdrawing "whole coins" from exchanges or receiving funds, you may accidentally acquire dual-attribute/theme sats—this is a major source of "Found."

Secondary market purchases:

Buy already labeled target sats directly, or arrange OTC/escrow trades.

UTXO swapping/splitting/recombination:

Isolate the target sat into its own UTXO for precise transfer and clean presentation.

Goal: keep the target rare sat cleanly isolated in an independent, controllable, and easily identifiable UTXO.

Practical tips:

  • Use wallets that support Ordinals/Rare Sats visualization and UTXO selection
  • 1 rare sat = 1 dedicated UTXO (or small cluster); freeze/tag that UTXO
  • Disable auto change merging; avoid CoinJoin/mixers; avoid "smart/auto-merge" modes
  • Address separation: public display (hot) / cold storage / swap transit addresses
  • Do a small test before moving larger amounts; enable RBF for fee adjustments
  • Inscriptions do not change the sat's inherent attribute, but they make it "heavier" and "notable"
  • Before trading, export/screenshot the UTXO list as an evidence chain

Most common pitfalls:

  • Wallet auto-generates change and your rare sat goes to change by mistake
  • Merging multiple UTXOs into one large UTXO, diluting the attribute and making later precise transfers hard

Six key drivers:

  • Scarcity: final set size (smaller cap → rarer), appearance frequency
  • Verifiability/clarity: the clearer and more reproducible the rules, the easier the market consensus
  • Narrative & culture: strength of ties to historical/cultural symbols (e.g., Pizza Day, Genesis, early miners)
  • Discovery & dispersion: discovered/labeled ratio, holder counts, distribution
  • Liquidity & visibility: steady trades, leaderboard exposure, tool support
  • Technical preparation quality: clean isolated UTXO, certificate/visualization, attached inscriptions/art

Common valuation methods:

  • Floor-price approach: align to the lowest active listings/trades for comparable sets
  • Scarcity conversion: anchor to comparable sets and adjust for final supply and production frequency
  • Narrative premium: apply a premium factor for historically themed subsets
  • Bundle premium: dual attributes > single attributes > generic themes

Reminder: price volatility can be high—watch for cyclical sentiment, liquidity mismatches, and leaderboard effects.