New Trade-Protected item category in CS2

While the problem of cheaters has been swept under the rug by Valve, the skin community hasn’t been left out in the cold when it comes to updates. Quite the opposite, Valve has continued to add more layers of protection to curb scams.

Deep in the log files of CS2, data miner GabeFollower unearthed a new "trade protection" item category. This setting, when applied to an item, is expected to lock it from being traded or sold. A game-changer in more ways than one.

Imagine you’ve landed an endgame item, something you’d never part with. It’s worth a small fortune, and you have no reason to trade or sell it. With this setting, all it takes is a single toggle to keep it under lock and key. No more losing sleep over scams or accidental trades, and certainly no chance for scammers to get their hands on it.

In recent years, Valve has been tightening the screws on item security. It all started back in 2011 with the introduction of the Steam authenticator, an added layer of protection to keep skins out of scammers’ clutches. Then in 2018, Valve rolled out a seven-day trade freeze on items after they changed hands and a 15-day trade hold for trades without an authenticator.

Fast forward to October 2024, and Valve extended the trade freeze to items bought from the Steam Market as well. These restrictions have been put in place to shore up security and slam the door shut on potential scams.