Burner Wallet
A wallet with minimal balance created for a single risky action — claiming an airdrop, minting an unverified collection, connecting to a new dApp. After the action, leftover funds are swept out and the wallet is abandoned.
Aliases: throwaway wallet, single-use wallet
A burner wallet is a wallet created for one specific action with deliberately small balance. If the action turns out to be a phishing or malicious operation, only the burner’s balance is at risk; the main wallet stays untouched.
When you want a burner
- Airdrop claims, especially ones requiring you to sign a message or approve a jetton.
- Minting fresh, no-reputation NFT collections.
- Connecting to a new dApp you haven’t vetted.
- Receiving from an unknown sender — sometimes attackers send a bait transaction with a malicious payload.
How to do it properly
- Generate a fresh seed (NOT derived from your main one).
- Send only enough TON for gas.
- Execute the operation.
- Sweep any remaining funds back to a safe wallet.
- Don’t reuse the burner for unrelated tasks — generate a new one each time.
Context on TON
Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet and Telegram’s Wallet allow multiple accounts inside one app — useful for burner workflows, but double-check that each account uses its own seed, not just a different derivation path.
Risks
- Approve exploits. Even a tiny balance can be used to sign an
approvethat later drains other wallets in the same app. - Address linkage. On-chain analytics can tie a burner to your main wallet if both eventually withdraw to the same CEX account.