A Solana wallet needs a little SOL even if you mostly hold other tokens. Here is what costs SOL and how much to leave in the wallet so transfers don't fail.
The transaction fee
A simple SOL transfer costs a base fee of 5,000 lamports per signature. A lamport is one billionth of a SOL, so that is 0.000005 SOL. Busy periods can add an optional priority fee that speeds up inclusion. Scrypt Wallet shows the fee before you confirm. See Solana transaction fees for the full breakdown.
Rent and token accounts
Everything on Solana is stored in an account, and each account must hold a minimum balance to stay open. This is called being rent-exempt. See what is a Solana account. It matters in two places:
- A new wallet address. Sending a very small amount of SOL to an address that has never held any can fail, because the account would start below the minimum. The minimum for a basic account is about 0.00089 SOL.
- A new SPL token. The first time you receive a token, an account for it is created. That costs roughly 0.002 SOL. It is held as a deposit and can be returned if the account is closed.
How much SOL to keep
A balance of around 0.01 SOL covers many transfers and a few new token accounts. If you plan to receive several different tokens or swap often, keep more. If your balance reaches zero, you can still hold tokens, but you can't send or swap them until you add SOL.
If a transfer fails
- Insufficient funds for rent means the account would drop or start below the minimum. Send a little more SOL, or leave enough in the sending wallet.
- Insufficient funds means your balance can't cover the amount plus the fee. Try a smaller amount.
- A failed transaction does not move your SOL, though a small fee may still be charged.
To see the status, follow how to check a SOL transaction. Back to the Solana wallet.