Understand existential deposit

Understand what an existential deposit is and its importance in token transfers.

The existential deposit (ED) refers to the minimum amount of native tokens required to keep an address or account active on Polkadot and most Substrate-based networks.

If an account's balance falls below this value, the account is reaped (or "deactivated"), and any remaining funds are permanently lost.

The address can be reactivated anytime by depositing an amount greater than the ED, but the lost funds can't be recovered.

The ED exists so that accounts with very small balances or completely empty do not "bloat" the state of the blockchain. This limit allows the network to maintain high performance and reduce fees.

Here's the information about the existential deposit for native tokens on popular networks:

Network
Native token
Existential deposit

Polkadot

DOT

1 DOT

Polkadot Asset Hub

DOT

0.01 DOT

Kusama

KSM

0.000333333 KSM

Hydration

HDX

1 HDX

Vara

VARA

1 VARA

Acala

ACA

0.1 ACA

Bifrost Polkadot

BNC

0.01 BNC

Bittensor

TAO

0.0000005 TAO

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