Right then, coin clipping, that old chestnut, was a crafty little scheme where folks would shave slivers off gold or silver coins, pocket the trimmings, and pass the clipped coin on at full face value. Over time, if enough people did it, the currency became dodgy. Still stamped by the Crown, but not worth its weight in metal. It was theft by erosion, really. Quiet, cumulative, and profitable, until you were caught and hanged, of course.
Now, Bitcoin doesn’t have physical edges to shave, but it has its own subtle equivalent, known as dust collection. That’s when small fragments of bitcoin, so tiny they’re nearly worthless on their own, get scooped up when transaction fees are low. They’re called dust because they’re like crumbs under the table. Not worth much individually, but if you know what you’re doing, you can sweep them into something spendable.
You see, Bitcoin transactions create these tiny leftovers all the time. Most folks ignore them, but savvy players, usually bots, wait for quiet periods, consolidate that dust, and walk off with a tidy little gain. No rule-breaking, mind you. Just a cheeky nibble here and there.
So clipping a coin and hoovering up dust both involve taking value the system didn’t quite intend to give away. One with a knife. The other with a script. Neither changes the face value directly, but both nibble at the margins.
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