Process to find out an account's balance in the past

Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

What would be the process to find out the balance of an account at a specific point in the past?

Is it correct to say that we have to get the balance from the current World State Trie and then roll back every single transaction involving the account from previous blocks until we reach the point in the past (block) that we want?

solidity transactions blockchain

share|improve this question

asked Sep 1 at 19:02

Ethersworn Canonist

422

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have a blockchain -> SQL converter with historic balances, if interested , let me know. Its an open source project that is coming soon.
  – Nulik
  Sep 1 at 23:04
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

What would be the process to find out the balance of an account at a specific point in the past?

Is it correct to say that we have to get the balance from the current World State Trie and then roll back every single transaction involving the account from previous blocks until we reach the point in the past (block) that we want?

solidity transactions blockchain

share|improve this question

asked Sep 1 at 19:02

Ethersworn Canonist

422

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have a blockchain -> SQL converter with historic balances, if interested , let me know. Its an open source project that is coming soon.
  – Nulik
  Sep 1 at 23:04
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

What would be the process to find out the balance of an account at a specific point in the past?

Is it correct to say that we have to get the balance from the current World State Trie and then roll back every single transaction involving the account from previous blocks until we reach the point in the past (block) that we want?

solidity transactions blockchain

share|improve this question

asked Sep 1 at 19:02

Ethersworn Canonist

422

What would be the process to find out the balance of an account at a specific point in the past?

Is it correct to say that we have to get the balance from the current World State Trie and then roll back every single transaction involving the account from previous blocks until we reach the point in the past (block) that we want?

solidity transactions blockchain

share|improve this question

asked Sep 1 at 19:02

Ethersworn Canonist

422

share|improve this question

share|improve this question

asked Sep 1 at 19:02

Ethersworn Canonist

422

asked Sep 1 at 19:02

Ethersworn Canonist

422

asked Sep 1 at 19:02

Ethersworn Canonist

422

422

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have a blockchain -> SQL converter with historic balances, if interested , let me know. Its an open source project that is coming soon.
  – Nulik
  Sep 1 at 23:04
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have a blockchain -> SQL converter with historic balances, if interested , let me know. Its an open source project that is coming soon.
  – Nulik
  Sep 1 at 23:04
  
  

  
  
  
  

I have a blockchain -> SQL converter with historic balances, if interested , let me know. Its an open source project that is coming soon.
– Nulik
Sep 1 at 23:04

I have a blockchain -> SQL converter with historic balances, if interested , let me know. Its an open source project that is coming soon.
– Nulik
Sep 1 at 23:04

add a comment | 

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

up vote
0
down vote



accepted

Yes, this is right to say, you need to write your own function to restore this or use your ethereum client with "archive" option to remember past blocks when syncing (in geth --gcmode archive).

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 22:24

jabone

664

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

The second parameter to eth_getBalance is a block number. That will give you the account's balance at that block.

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 19:08

smarx

16.1k1515

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I'd like to know how eth_getBalance get that information... what the function does behind the curtains...
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:12
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  You'd have to check the specific software you were curious about, but presumably the balances are just stored in a local database.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:15
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  If you're interested in geth's implementation, you might want to start reading here: github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/internal/ethapi/….
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:20
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I don't believe any client would store balance history. Probably this information is retrieved some other way.
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:22
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I suspect you'll find that in popular nodes like geth and Parity, none of the state trie is ever deleted, so as long as you know the root hash (e.g. from the block headers), you can easily query the state at any block.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:32
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 5 more comments

Your Answer

StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "642"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);

else
createEditor();

);

function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: false,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);



);

 

draft saved

draft discarded

Sign up or log in

StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Name Email

StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fethereum.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f57897%2fprocess-to-find-out-an-accounts-balance-in-the-past%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest

Name Email

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

up vote
0
down vote



accepted

Yes, this is right to say, you need to write your own function to restore this or use your ethereum client with "archive" option to remember past blocks when syncing (in geth --gcmode archive).

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 22:24

jabone

664

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote



accepted

Yes, this is right to say, you need to write your own function to restore this or use your ethereum client with "archive" option to remember past blocks when syncing (in geth --gcmode archive).

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 22:24

jabone

664

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote



accepted

up vote
0
down vote



accepted

Yes, this is right to say, you need to write your own function to restore this or use your ethereum client with "archive" option to remember past blocks when syncing (in geth --gcmode archive).

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 22:24

jabone

664

Yes, this is right to say, you need to write your own function to restore this or use your ethereum client with "archive" option to remember past blocks when syncing (in geth --gcmode archive).

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 22:24

jabone

664

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 22:24

jabone

664

answered Sep 1 at 22:24

jabone

664

answered Sep 1 at 22:24

jabone

664

664

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

The second parameter to eth_getBalance is a block number. That will give you the account's balance at that block.

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 19:08

smarx

16.1k1515

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I'd like to know how eth_getBalance get that information... what the function does behind the curtains...
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:12
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  You'd have to check the specific software you were curious about, but presumably the balances are just stored in a local database.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:15
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  If you're interested in geth's implementation, you might want to start reading here: github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/internal/ethapi/….
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:20
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I don't believe any client would store balance history. Probably this information is retrieved some other way.
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:22
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I suspect you'll find that in popular nodes like geth and Parity, none of the state trie is ever deleted, so as long as you know the root hash (e.g. from the block headers), you can easily query the state at any block.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:32
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 5 more comments

up vote
3
down vote

The second parameter to eth_getBalance is a block number. That will give you the account's balance at that block.

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 19:08

smarx

16.1k1515

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I'd like to know how eth_getBalance get that information... what the function does behind the curtains...
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:12
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  You'd have to check the specific software you were curious about, but presumably the balances are just stored in a local database.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:15
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  If you're interested in geth's implementation, you might want to start reading here: github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/internal/ethapi/….
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:20
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I don't believe any client would store balance history. Probably this information is retrieved some other way.
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:22
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I suspect you'll find that in popular nodes like geth and Parity, none of the state trie is ever deleted, so as long as you know the root hash (e.g. from the block headers), you can easily query the state at any block.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:32
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 5 more comments

up vote
3
down vote

up vote
3
down vote

The second parameter to eth_getBalance is a block number. That will give you the account's balance at that block.

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 19:08

smarx

16.1k1515

The second parameter to eth_getBalance is a block number. That will give you the account's balance at that block.

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 19:08

smarx

16.1k1515

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered Sep 1 at 19:08

smarx

16.1k1515

answered Sep 1 at 19:08

smarx

16.1k1515

answered Sep 1 at 19:08

smarx

16.1k1515

16.1k1515

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I'd like to know how eth_getBalance get that information... what the function does behind the curtains...
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:12
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  You'd have to check the specific software you were curious about, but presumably the balances are just stored in a local database.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:15
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  If you're interested in geth's implementation, you might want to start reading here: github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/internal/ethapi/….
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:20
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I don't believe any client would store balance history. Probably this information is retrieved some other way.
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:22
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I suspect you'll find that in popular nodes like geth and Parity, none of the state trie is ever deleted, so as long as you know the root hash (e.g. from the block headers), you can easily query the state at any block.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:32
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 5 more comments

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I'd like to know how eth_getBalance get that information... what the function does behind the curtains...
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:12
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  You'd have to check the specific software you were curious about, but presumably the balances are just stored in a local database.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:15
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  If you're interested in geth's implementation, you might want to start reading here: github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/internal/ethapi/….
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:20
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I don't believe any client would store balance history. Probably this information is retrieved some other way.
  – Ethersworn Canonist
  Sep 1 at 19:22
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I suspect you'll find that in popular nodes like geth and Parity, none of the state trie is ever deleted, so as long as you know the root hash (e.g. from the block headers), you can easily query the state at any block.
  – smarx
  Sep 1 at 19:32
  

  
  
  
  

I'd like to know how eth_getBalance get that information... what the function does behind the curtains...
– Ethersworn Canonist
Sep 1 at 19:12

I'd like to know how eth_getBalance get that information... what the function does behind the curtains...
– Ethersworn Canonist
Sep 1 at 19:12

You'd have to check the specific software you were curious about, but presumably the balances are just stored in a local database.
– smarx
Sep 1 at 19:15

You'd have to check the specific software you were curious about, but presumably the balances are just stored in a local database.
– smarx
Sep 1 at 19:15

If you're interested in geth's implementation, you might want to start reading here: github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/internal/ethapi/….
– smarx
Sep 1 at 19:20

If you're interested in geth's implementation, you might want to start reading here: github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/internal/ethapi/….
– smarx
Sep 1 at 19:20

I don't believe any client would store balance history. Probably this information is retrieved some other way.
– Ethersworn Canonist
Sep 1 at 19:22

I don't believe any client would store balance history. Probably this information is retrieved some other way.
– Ethersworn Canonist
Sep 1 at 19:22

I suspect you'll find that in popular nodes like geth and Parity, none of the state trie is ever deleted, so as long as you know the root hash (e.g. from the block headers), you can easily query the state at any block.
– smarx
Sep 1 at 19:32

I suspect you'll find that in popular nodes like geth and Parity, none of the state trie is ever deleted, so as long as you know the root hash (e.g. from the block headers), you can easily query the state at any block.
– smarx
Sep 1 at 19:32

 | 
show 5 more comments

 

draft saved

draft discarded

 

draft saved

draft discarded

Sign up or log in

StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Name Email

StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fethereum.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f57897%2fprocess-to-find-out-an-accounts-balance-in-the-past%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest

Name Email

Sign up or log in

StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Name Email

Sign up or log in

StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Name Email

Sign up or log in

StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Name Email

Name Email

Name

Email

Name Email

Name

Email