Glossary

Dust

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If a piece of bitcoin, called a UTXO, is small enough, it may cost more in fees to spend it than it is worth. As fees rise, more and larger amounts of bitcoin may become dust. To avoid bitcoin turning into dust, it is a good practice to consolidate very small amounts of bitcoin into a single larger amount at a time when bitcoin fees are low.

Related Terms
Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO)
A UTXO is a discrete piece of bitcoin. Bitcoin does not use accounts and balances. Instead, individual pieces of bitcoin are owned by individuals, analogous to physical coins or cash.
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Change Output
When bitcoin is sent, a piece of bitcoin is broken up into the amount to be sent to the receiver, and the amount to be returned to the sender, like the change you receive from a store when paying with cash. This change is called a change output, and is identical to other bitcoin you may receive.
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Bitcoin Transaction Fee
All Bitcoin transactions must pay a fee to be included in the blockchain. The fee is paid to the miners. The higher the fee, the faster the transaction will be confirmed. Fees are measured based on the data size of the transaction.
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