It is not 0 USDC or any other supported crypto that you received. It is a balance of less than a zero, for example, 0.00000564 USDC.
In crypto, dust is just a ridiculously tiny amount of a coin or token sitting in a wallet. So small that it’s basically useless—too little to trade, swap, or even move without paying more in fees than it’s worth.
Think of it as loose change glued to the bottom of your pocket. It’s money in theory, lint in practice.
Why dust appears (simple reasons):
First, leftovers from transactions.
When you trade or swap crypto, prices move, decimals get chopped, and tiny remainders stay behind. Those crumbs don’t disappear—they become dust.
Second, fees and rounding.
Blockchains work with many decimal places. After fees are calculated, microscopic leftovers can remain.
Third, airdrops you didn’t ask for.
Some projects send tiny amounts of tokens to thousands of wallets. Often this is harmless marketing. Sometimes it’s not.
Fourth—and this one matters—dust attacks.
Someone sends you a very small amount on purpose. The goal isn’t to give you money; it’s to track what you do next. If you move that dust, analysts may link multiple addresses together and learn more about your wallet activity. Creepy, but real.
Is dust dangerous?
Usually no. Most dust is boring and harmless.
But random tokens you don’t recognize should be treated like suspicious flyers shoved under your door. Don’t interact unless you know what they are.
What people usually do with dust:
They ignore it.
Some wallets hide it automatically.
Some chains let you “burn” it or convert it into fees.
Touching unknown dust just to “clean up” is often not worth the risk.