How to check your wallet balance
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 5 min
In short
You normally read the balance from the wallet's own list, but when the display looks wrong, look your address up directly in a block explorer. The chain's record is the fact; the app's display is just one reading of it. Fiat-converted figures are indicative only and vary with the price source used.
Key points
- When the app shows nothing, check the address directly in an explorer
- Most zero balances come down to the wrong network, the wrong account, or an unregistered token
- Fiat conversions are indicative and differ by price source
- Looking up an address never requires a private key or seed phrase
Definition
Reading how much of each coin or token your address holds on chain, either through your wallet or through a block explorer.
Opening the wallet shows your holdings on the selected network. Those numbers come from querying the chain through whichever RPC the wallet is connected to — they are a reading of the chain's record, not figures the app maintains itself. Keeping that relationship in mind tells you what to suspect when something does not appear.
When the display disagrees with your expectation, the checks are fixed. First, is the right network selected? Second, are you looking at the right account index? Third, is the token registered in the app at all? Those three resolve nearly every 'my balance disappeared'. Each is handled in 'How to switch networks', 'How to use multiple accounts' and 'How to display a custom token'.
If all three check out, use a block explorer. Paste in your receiving address and it shows that address's balance and transaction history. This requires no private key and no seed phrase whatsoever, because addresses are public information anyone can look up. A site that asks you to enter a phrase to 'check a balance' is not a lookup tool; it is a scam. 'How to read a block explorer' covers the details.
A word on fiat figures. When a wallet says an amount is worth so many yen, that is a conversion against some price source. The number moves with the source and the time it was fetched, and for thinly traded tokens there is no guarantee you could actually sell at that price. Treat displayed values as a rough guide.
For routine checking, you can use a watch-only wallet or a bookmarked explorer page and read balances without opening the app that holds your keys. Fewer occasions handling keys means fewer chances for accidents. 'How to use a watch-only wallet' goes further.
Watch out for
- · Checking a balance never needs a seed phrase or private key; any site asking for one is a scam
- · Fiat conversions are a rough guide and do not mean you could sell at that price
- · Unfamiliar tokens appearing in your balance are not necessarily worth anything — leave them alone
Frequently asked questions
My wallet and the explorer disagree. Which is right?
The chain's record is the fact, so a value that agrees across more than one explorer is the reliable one. Wallets sometimes show stale data; waiting a while, or switching to another RPC listed in the official documentation, usually brings them back into line.