# Sell or burn Solana dust: the rule and the break-even

> Sell dust when the sale brings clearly more than its transaction costs, and burn it otherwise. Raven’s line is twice the cost: 0.000026 SOL at Normal speed, about a quarter of a cent on 30 October 2026. Either way the coin’s account closes and the rent comes back.

Page: https://ravenwallet.pro/blog/sell-or-burn-solana-dust
Updated: 2026-10-30

## The rule Raven uses

Raven's [Clean up docs](/docs/cleanup) put it this way: "A sale goes ahead only when it brings in at least twice what its own transaction costs. Otherwise the coin is burned and only the rent comes back."

In the code the check is one line: if the least a sale can bring is under twice its network fee, it refuses and says "would cost about what it brings". Three details make the rule what it is:

- **It uses Jupiter's quote, not the listed price.** The number compared is the minimum the route guarantees after 1.5% slippage. A coin showing $0.50 with no buyers can quote far less, or nothing. Then it is burned, and the review says why.
- **It only applies to dust.** By default that means coins worth $1 or less. You can change this limit in Settings. USDC and USDT are protected by default, and coins above the limit are left alone.
- **A coin with no price starts unticked,** because it may be worth something. It is burned only if you tick it. A coin frozen by its creator is left alone.

For the wider job of clearing a wallet, see [how to clean up a Solana wallet](/blog/clean-up-solana-wallet). This page is only about the sell or burn decision.

## Where the line falls

A sale gets a transaction to itself, because a route is large. Raven budgets it at 406,300 compute units for a plain token account. The cost is 5,000 lamports per signature plus that budget times your [speed](/docs/moves) setting's price.

| Speed | Sale costs | Line (twice that) | At $97.17 | With a [gas wallet](/docs/gas) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Slow | 0.000005 SOL | 0.00001 SOL | $0.0010 | 0.00002 SOL, $0.0019 |
| Normal (default) | 0.000013 SOL | 0.000026 SOL | $0.0026 | 0.000036 SOL, $0.0035 |
| Fast | 0.000168 SOL | 0.000335 SOL | $0.0326 | 0.000345 SOL, $0.0335 |

_Worked out from Raven's code on 30 October 2026, using a 5,000 lamport base fee. A gas wallet adds a second signature. SOL price from CoinGecko, same day. Coins on the newer token program use more compute units, so their line is a little higher._

So at Normal, almost anything that quotes more than a third of a cent gets sold. At Fast the line is about three cents.

## A break-even table

Here is what you end with from one coin at Normal speed, paying your own fee, on an account holding today's 0.00148844 SOL of rent.

| Coin brings | In SOL | Rule says | End with if sold | End with if burned |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $0.001 | 0.0000103 | Burn | 0.00148561 | 0.00146818 |
| $0.002 | 0.0000206 | Burn | 0.00149590 | 0.00146818 |
| $0.003 | 0.0000309 | Sell | 0.00150619 | 0.00146818 |
| $0.01 | 0.000103 | Sell | 0.00157823 | 0.00146818 |
| $0.10 | 0.001029 | Sell | 0.00250444 | 0.00146818 |
| $1.00 | 0.010291 | Sell | 0.01176656 | 0.00146818 |

_Sold: rent plus sale, less 0.00001313 SOL network fee. Burned: rent, less Raven's 1% of that rent and a 0.00000537 SOL network fee. Burns share a transaction, so several together cost less each._

Two things show up here.

**The rent matters more than the dust.** Below about ten cents, the coin adds less than the rent you get back either way. The rent is the prize. See [how to get SOL back from empty token accounts](/blog/reclaim-solana-rent).

**Near the line, the choice barely matters.** Under the line a sale would often end slightly ahead, because Raven's 1% applies to rent from accounts it closes or burns, and not to an account closed in a sale. The gap is a fraction of a cent. The 2x margin is Raven's choice, not a rule of the chain. It leaves room for a price that slips, and for a sale that costs as much as it brings.

## What a sale costs Raven's users

Raven takes nothing on a dust sale itself: no [swap fee](/docs/fees), and no 1% on the rent from that account. A burn pays the 1% on its rent. Selling can also need some SOL in the wallet for a moment, because Jupiter opens a temporary SOL account. If the wallet is short and has no gas wallet, the coin is burned instead.

## If you are not using Raven

The same sum works anywhere. Before you sell a dust coin, compare:

- **What the swap screen says you will get at least**, not the coin's listed value.
- **The network fee**, which is usually a fraction of a cent. See [Solana network fees](/blog/solana-network-fees).
- **Your app's swap fee.** At [Phantom's 0.85%](/blog/phantom-fees), a $0.10 coin costs under a tenth of a cent, so the percentage rarely decides it.
- **The close.** A swap may leave the empty account open. You need to close it to get the rent, and a rent tool may take a cut of that.

If the "at least" number is not clearly above the fees, burn it. Burning only destroys coins in your own account. The risk is a site asking you to sign something else while claiming to burn, so read what you sign.

## Questions

### Is Solana dust worth selling?

Usually yes, if it has a route and quotes more than a fraction of a cent, because network fees are so low. But the amount is tiny next to the rent in its account. Whether you sell or burn, close the account.

### Does burning dust return the rent?

Burning alone does not. Burning empties the account so it can be closed, and closing returns the rent. Raven does both in one step.

### What counts as dust in Raven?

A coin worth $1 or less by default, and you can change that limit in Settings. Stablecoins on your protect list never count.

### Can I turn selling off?

Yes. Turn off Sell dust when it pays in Settings, and dust is burned instead.

### Why was my coin burned when it shows a value?

Its quote was under the line, it had no route, or the route did not fit one transaction. The review shows the reason before you sign, and you can tap the coin to leave it out.

## Sources

- [Helius: Solana fees in theory and practice](https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-fees-in-theory-and-practice)
- [QuickNode: Optimizing Solana transactions](https://www.quicknode.com/guides/solana-development/transactions/how-to-optimize-solana-transactions)
- [Solana mainnet RPC](https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com)
- [CoinGecko: SOL price](https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/simple/price?ids=solana&vs_currencies=usd)