Dust Classification
"Dust" refers to very small amounts of cryptocurrency that are too small to transact economically due to network fees.
What is Dust?
When a transaction's value is less than or comparable to the network fee required to send it, the amount is classified as "dust." These amounts are essentially locked in place because moving them would cost more than they are worth.
Dust Thresholds
Dust thresholds vary by network and asset:
| Network | Asset | Dust Threshold | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | BTC | 546 satoshi (0.00000546 BTC) | Protocol minimum output |
| Ethereum | ETH | ~0.0001 ETH | Gas cost exceeds value |
| Ethereum | USDT (ERC-20) | ~$1-2 | Gas cost for token transfer |
| Tron | USDT (TRC-20) | ~$0.10 | Low fees, lower dust threshold |
| Solana | SOL | 0.00089 SOL | Rent exemption minimum |
| BSC | BNB | ~0.0001 BNB | Gas cost |
How WickiePay Handles Dust
Deposits
Small deposits below the dust threshold are:
- Accepted and credited to your balance
- Not consolidated automatically (consolidation would cost more than the amount)
- Accumulated over time until they exceed the threshold
Withdrawals
Withdrawal requests below the dust threshold will be rejected with an error:
AMOUNT_BELOW_DUST_THRESHOLD
Consolidation
During auto-consolidation, addresses with only dust amounts are skipped to avoid uneconomical transactions.
Viewing Dust Balances
In the portal, dust amounts are flagged with a dust indicator. You can view total dust across your asset pools under Asset Pools > Summary.
Reducing Dust
- Tron (TRC-20): Use Tron for stablecoin operations — lower fees mean lower dust thresholds
- Batching: Batch small amounts before withdrawing
- Consolidation: Periodic consolidation sweeps up accumulated dust