Transfer Tokens

Send CW20 tokens to another address

Transfer Tokens

The xyz token transfer command sends CW20 tokens from your account to another address.

Usage

xyz token transfer <contract> <recipient> <amount> --from <key>

Arguments

Argument	Description
contract	Token contract address
recipient	Destination address
amount	Amount to send (in smallest unit)

Flags

Flag	Description	Required
--from	Your signing key	Yes
--dry-run	Simulate only	No

Examples

Basic Transfer

xyz token transfer xyz1tokencontract... xyz1recipient... 1000000 --from mykey

Transfer All Tokens

First check your balance:

xyz token balance xyz1tokencontract... --key mykey
# Balance: 5000000

Then transfer:

xyz token transfer xyz1tokencontract... xyz1recipient... 5000000 --from mykey

Dry Run

xyz token transfer xyz1tokencontract... xyz1recipient... 1000000 --from mykey --dry-run

Output:

Dry run mode - transaction not broadcast

Estimated gas: 120,000
Estimated fee: 1,200 uxyz

Transfer Details:
  Token: xyz1tokencontract...
  From: xyz1youraddress...
  To: xyz1recipient...
  Amount: 1,000,000

Output

Successful transfer:

Tokens Transferred Successfully!

Token:     xyz1tokencontract...
From:      xyz1youraddress...
To:        xyz1recipient...
Amount:    1,000,000
TxHash:    ABC123DEF456...
Gas Used:  115678
Block:     12345

Verify Transfer

Check balances after transfer:

# Your balance
xyz token balance xyz1tokencontract... --key mykey

# Recipient balance
xyz token balance xyz1tokencontract... xyz1recipient...

Amount Calculation

Amount is in the token’s smallest unit. For 6 decimals:

Display	Amount (base)
1 MTK	1,000,000
0.5 MTK	500,000
100 MTK	100,000,000

Example: Send 10 tokens:

xyz token transfer xyz1contract... xyz1recipient... 10000000 --from mykey
#                                                  ^ 10 * 10^6

Batch Transfers

Sequential

xyz token transfer xyz1contract... xyz1addr1... 1000000 --from mykey
xyz token transfer xyz1contract... xyz1addr2... 2000000 --from mykey
xyz token transfer xyz1contract... xyz1addr3... 3000000 --from mykey

Script

#!/bin/bash
CONTRACT="xyz1tokencontract..."
KEY="mykey"

# Recipients and amounts
declare -A TRANSFERS=(
  ["xyz1addr1..."]="1000000"
  ["xyz1addr2..."]="2000000"
  ["xyz1addr3..."]="3000000"
)

for addr in "${!TRANSFERS[@]}"; do
  amount=${TRANSFERS[$addr]}
  echo "Sending $amount to $addr..."
  xyz token transfer $CONTRACT $addr $amount --from $KEY
  sleep 1
done

Error Handling

Error	Meaning	Solution
”insufficient token balance”	Not enough tokens	Check balance first
”invalid address”	Bad recipient format	Verify address format (xyz1…)
“contract not found”	Wrong contract address	Verify contract exists

Check Balance Before Transfer

# Check your balance
BALANCE=$(xyz token balance xyz1contract... --key mykey --output json | jq -r '.balance')

# Compare with amount
if [ "$BALANCE" -lt "1000000" ]; then
  echo "Insufficient balance: $BALANCE"
  exit 1
fi

Under the Hood

xyz token transfer executes a MsgExecuteContract:

{
  "contract": "xyz1tokencontract...",
  "msg": {
    "transfer": {
      "recipient": "xyz1recipient...",
      "amount": "1000000"
    }
  },
  "funds": []
}

Transfer vs Send

CW20 has two transfer methods:

Method	Use Case
transfer	Send to regular address
send	Send to contract with callback

The xyz token transfer command uses transfer. For contract interactions, use xyz program execute.

Troubleshooting

Insufficient balance

Check your current balance:

xyz token balance xyz1contract... --key mykey

You can only transfer what you have.

Invalid recipient

Ensure the address:

• Starts with xyz1
• Is the correct length
• Has valid checksum

Transaction timeout

The node may be slow. Check status:

curl http://localhost:26657/status | jq '.result.sync_info'

Retry the transfer if needed.