;
};
A balance read is a free, read-only call. You do not need a private key, a wallet, or SEI for gas.
## Try it live
This call runs from your browser against Sei Mainnet. It returns the balance in wei, the smallest unit of SEI. One SEI is 1018 wei.
## Install
```bash viem theme={"dark"}
npm install viem
```
```bash ethers theme={"dark"}
npm install ethers
```
```bash web3.py theme={"dark"}
pip install web3
```
The TypeScript examples use top-level `await`. Save each one as a `.mts` file, such as `script.mts`. Run it with `npx tsx script.mts` on Node.js 18 or later. In a new npm project, `tsx` compiles a plain `.ts` file as CommonJS, where top-level `await` does not work.
## Read a native balance
The native balance is the amount of SEI that an address holds.
```ts viem theme={"dark"}
import { createPublicClient, http, formatEther } from 'viem';
import { sei } from 'viem/chains';
const client = createPublicClient({ chain: sei, transport: http() });
// Replace with any Sei EVM address
const address = '0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000';
const wei = await client.getBalance({ address });
console.log(`${formatEther(wei)} SEI`);
```
```ts ethers theme={"dark"}
import { ethers } from 'ethers';
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider('https://evm-rpc.sei-apis.com');
// Replace with any Sei EVM address
const address = '0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000';
const wei = await provider.getBalance(address);
console.log(`${ethers.formatEther(wei)} SEI`);
```
```python web3.py theme={"dark"}
from web3 import Web3
w3 = Web3(Web3.HTTPProvider("https://evm-rpc.sei-apis.com"))
# Replace with any Sei EVM address
address = Web3.to_checksum_address("0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000")
wei = w3.eth.get_balance(address)
print(f"{w3.from_wei(wei, 'ether')} SEI")
```
**You are done when you see:**
```text theme={"dark"}
1384.115892177302953913 SEI
```
The number is illustrative. Each library returns the balance in wei: a `bigint` in viem and ethers, and an `int` in web3.py. The `formatEther` and `from_wei(…, 'ether')` helpers divide by 1018. They carry Ethereum names, but they apply to SEI because SEI also uses 18 decimals on the EVM.
EVM RPC methods take `0x` addresses. If you have a `sei1…` address, see [Accounts](/learn/accounts) to find the EVM address of the same account. web3.py also requires the checksummed form of an address, which `Web3.to_checksum_address` produces from a lowercase one.
## Read an ERC-20 balance
The token contract stores the token balances, so you call its `balanceOf` function. Then you scale the result by the token's `decimals`. This example reads USDC on Sei Mainnet at `0xe15fC38F6D8c56aF07bbCBe3BAf5708A2Bf42392`, which uses 6 decimals.
```ts viem theme={"dark"}
import { createPublicClient, http, parseAbi, formatUnits } from 'viem';
import { sei } from 'viem/chains';
const client = createPublicClient({ chain: sei, transport: http() });
const USDC = '0xe15fC38F6D8c56aF07bbCBe3BAf5708A2Bf42392';
const address = '0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000';
const abi = parseAbi([
'function balanceOf(address owner) view returns (uint256)',
'function decimals() view returns (uint8)',
]);
const [balance, decimals] = await Promise.all([
client.readContract({ address: USDC, abi, functionName: 'balanceOf', args: [address] }),
client.readContract({ address: USDC, abi, functionName: 'decimals' }),
]);
console.log(`${formatUnits(balance, decimals)} USDC`);
```
```ts ethers theme={"dark"}
import { ethers } from 'ethers';
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider('https://evm-rpc.sei-apis.com');
const USDC = '0xe15fC38F6D8c56aF07bbCBe3BAf5708A2Bf42392';
const address = '0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000';
const usdc = new ethers.Contract(
USDC,
['function balanceOf(address owner) view returns (uint256)', 'function decimals() view returns (uint8)'],
provider
);
const [balance, decimals] = await Promise.all([usdc.balanceOf(address), usdc.decimals()]);
console.log(`${ethers.formatUnits(balance, decimals)} USDC`);
```
```python web3.py theme={"dark"}
from decimal import Decimal
from web3 import Web3
w3 = Web3(Web3.HTTPProvider("https://evm-rpc.sei-apis.com"))
USDC = "0xe15fC38F6D8c56aF07bbCBe3BAf5708A2Bf42392"
address = Web3.to_checksum_address("0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000")
abi = [
{"type": "function", "name": "balanceOf", "stateMutability": "view",
"inputs": [{"name": "owner", "type": "address"}], "outputs": [{"name": "", "type": "uint256"}]},
{"type": "function", "name": "decimals", "stateMutability": "view",
"inputs": [], "outputs": [{"name": "", "type": "uint8"}]},
]
usdc = w3.eth.contract(address=USDC, abi=abi)
balance = usdc.functions.balanceOf(address).call()
decimals = usdc.functions.decimals().call()
print(f"{Decimal(balance) / 10**decimals} USDC")
```
The zero address holds no USDC, so the example prints `0 USDC`. ethers prints `0.0 USDC`, because `formatUnits` in ethers always includes a decimal place. To see a real balance, replace `address` with your own address.
## Read many balances at once
Each read above is a separate RPC request. To read dozens of balances in one request, batch them with [Multicall3](/evm/evm-parity/examples/multicall). Multicall3 is deployed at `0xcA11bde05977b3631167028862bE2a173976CA11` on Sei Mainnet and Sei Testnet.
## Related recipes
* [Send SEI](/evm/cookbook/send-sei): move SEI to another address
* [ERC-20 interaction](/evm/evm-parity/examples/erc20): token metadata, transfers, and approvals
* [Multicall](/evm/evm-parity/examples/multicall): batch many reads into one request
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