Dust Attack
A privacy attack where tiny amounts of crypto are sent to wallets so the attacker can track when they are later spent.
A dust attack happens when someone sends a very small amount of cryptocurrency, often worth less than a cent, to one or many wallet addresses. This tiny amount is called dust because it is too small to be useful on its own and may even cost more in fees to move than it is worth. The goal is usually not to steal funds directly, but to watch what happens next on a public blockchain.
It matters because spending that dust can help an attacker or analytics firm link addresses that belong to the same person or organization. For example, on Bitcoin-like networks, if a wallet later combines the dust with other coins in a transaction, observers may infer that the inputs are controlled by the same wallet. Dust can also be used as a nuisance or to draw users toward scam links on some token networks. Practical defenses include ignoring unknown tiny deposits, using wallets with coin control, marking dust as unspendable when possible, and being cautious with unsolicited tokens.
Other terms in Wallets & Security
Address Poisoning
A wallet scam where attackers plant lookalike addresses in your transaction history so you might copy the wrong recipient later.
Approval Phishing
A scam that tricks users into granting a malicious wallet or smart contract permission to spend tokens from their wallet.
BIP-39
A standard for turning wallet backup data into a human-readable seed phrase, usually 12 or 24 words.
Crypto Wallet
A tool that stores and manages the private keys needed to access and use cryptocurrency on a blockchain.