What is dust?

Understanding UTXO dust on Bitcoin

Bitcoin transactions use the Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) model. Each UTXO represents spendable Bitcoin. Dust refers to very small leftover amounts of BTC that are not economical to spend because the transaction fee would cost more than the amount itself.

These tiny balances are effectively unusable and remain stuck in the wallet until they are either consolidated or left behind.

Why does dust matter?

Dust can cause several issues:

Network clutter: Excessive dust creates more UTXOs, making the blockchain larger and slower to sync.

Wallet confusion: Dust can make your wallet look like it has more available BTC than you can realistically spend.

Fee inefficiency: Spending dust increases transaction size and therefore raises fees.

Minimum UTXO value

Dust is defined by the relationship between fee rates and input size. For example:

At 10 sats/vByte, a standard input (~148 bytes) costs about 1,480 sats.

Any UTXO smaller than that is considered dust, since it costs more to spend than its value.

How dust is created

Micropayments: Small transactions leaving negligible amounts.

Change outputs: Leftover BTC from a transaction may be too small to use.

Promotions or airdrops: Services sometimes send tiny BTC amounts that qualify as dust.

Managing dust in Wraith Wallet

Wraith Wallet helps you manage dust more effectively:

Consolidation: Combine small UTXOs into one during low-fee periods.

Dynamic fee calculation: The wallet warns if spending an output is uneconomical.

Avoiding clutter: Try not to accept tiny payments that would only generate dust.

Final thoughts

Dust may seem small, but it impacts both your wallet efficiency and the Bitcoin network. By consolidating dust when fees are low, you keep your wallet streamlined and costs manageable. Wraith Wallet gives you the tools to handle dust so you stay in control of your Bitcoin.

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