Crypto dust is small amounts of cryptocurrency sent to a large number of wallet addresses with benevolent or malicious purposes. Generally, dust is considered the amount of cryptocurrency equal to or lower than a transaction fee. Bitcoin, for example, has a dust limit imposed by Bitcoin Core, the Bitcoin blockchain software, of around 546 satoshis (0.00000546 BTC), the smaller denomination of Bitcoin (BTC). The wallets’ nodes that apply such a limit may reject transactions equal to or smaller than 546 satoshis. Dust could also be the small amount of cryptocurrency that remains after a trade as a result of rounding errors or transaction fees and can accumulate over time. That small amount is not tradeable but can be converted into the exchange’s native token. Crypto dust should not pose a significant threat, as it has mainly been used for legitimate rather than malicious purposes. For example, reaching out to wallet holders via dusting can be an alternative advertising method to more traditional mailshots. The dust transactions can contain promotional messages, so dusting is used instead of mailshots. Despite not being a major concern, crypto users should still know what a dust attack is and take measures to protect themselves should it occur. A dusting attack occurs when small amounts of crypto assets, called dust, are sent by malicious actors to multiple wallet addresses — just like dust — scattered across blockchain networks.
Read more : What is a crypto dusting attack, and how do you avoid it?
