eth_getBalance

The eth_getBalance method returns the balance of a specified Ethereum address in wei. This essential method forms the foundation of wallet applications, financial dashboards, and any DApp that needs to display or work with user account balances.

Use Cases

• Wallet balance monitoring and notifications
• Payment verification and confirmation
• Account analytics and portfolio tracking
• DApp balance displays and interactive UIs
• Transaction validation before submission
• Financial reporting and tax calculations
• Historical balance analysis at specific blocks
• Smart contract balance monitoring

Method Details

This method queries the balance of any Ethereum address at a specified block, allowing for both current and historical balance checks.

Response Example

{
	"jsonrpc": "2.0",
	"id": 1,
	"result": "0x1B1AE4D6E2EF500000" // 500 ETH in wei
}

Understanding the Result

The balance is returned in wei (the smallest unit of ether) as a hexadecimal string. To convert to ether:

1. Convert the hexadecimal to decimal: parseInt("0x1B1AE4D6E2EF500000", 16) = 500000000000000000000
2. Divide by 10^18: 500000000000000000000 / 1e18 = 500 ETH

For user interfaces, always display balances in a readable format (ETH) rather than the raw wei value.

Block Tag Options

The blockNumber parameter accepts these special tags:

• latest: The most recently mined block (current balance)
• earliest: The genesis block (initial state)
• pending: The pending state/transactions
• safe: The latest "safe" head block (Ethereum only)
• finalized: The latest "finalized" block (Ethereum only)

Common Use Case Example

// Example of checking multiple account balances
const addresses = [
	'0xF977814e90dA44bFA03b6295A0616a897441aceC', // Binance Hot Wallet
	'0x42cC527cD31Eb1479ae27Cb4A5eec6a023Cd2E', // Example address
];

for (const address of addresses) {
	const balance = await provider.send('eth_getBalance', [address, 'latest']);
	console.log(`Balance of ${address}: ${parseInt(balance, 16) / 1e18} ETH`);
}

See also

• eth_getCode - Returns the code stored at a specific address
• eth_getTransactionCount - Returns the number of transactions sent from an address
• eth_call - Executes a call to get token balances or other information
• eth_getStorageAt - Returns the value from contract storage