Dusting Token
A dusting token is a tiny, unsolicited amount of crypto or an unknown token sent to your wallet, usually to lure you to a scam website or to help track who owns which addresses.
Two kinds of dust attack
Dust originally meant amounts so small they cost more in fees to spend than they are worth. On Bitcoin, attackers send dust to many addresses and then watch how it moves. If you later spend that dust together with other coins, the transaction can reveal that several addresses belong to the same person. This is a privacy attack, not theft, and it works because of how Bitcoin's UTXO model combines inputs.
On Ethereum and other smart-contract chains, a newer form is common: scammers airdrop worthless tokens with names like a website address or a message such as visit this site to claim your reward. The goal is to get you to visit a phishing site and connect your wallet.
An example
Say you open your wallet and see 5,000 units of a token you never bought, apparently worth thousands of dollars. Its name points to a claim website. When you try to sell it, the swap fails or the site asks you to approve your other tokens first. That approval is the real trap: it lets a drainer empty your wallet. The displayed value was fake all along.
Related tricks
Address poisoning is a close cousin. An attacker sends a zero-value or tiny transfer from an address that looks almost identical to one you often use, hoping you later copy it from your transaction history and send real funds to the attacker.
What to do
Ignore it. Do not visit links in token names, do not try to sell or swap unknown tokens, and do not approve anything to make them disappear. Many wallets let you hide spam tokens, which is safe because hiding is only a display setting. Always copy addresses from a trusted source rather than from recent transaction history.
For Bitcoin privacy, wallets with coin control let you mark dust outputs as do not spend, so they are never merged with your other coins.
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Frequently asked questions
Can a dusting token steal my funds on its own?
Receiving it cannot. The danger comes when you interact with it, for example by visiting its website, approving a contract or trying to swap it.
Should I send the dust back?
No. Interacting costs fees, can reveal information and may involve a malicious contract. Hiding the token in your wallet is the safest choice.
Why does the unknown token show a high value?
Scam tokens can fake prices or have no real liquidity. A displayed value means nothing if no genuine buyer exists.
Related terms
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