The Fee Balance is the small pot of Canton Coin your wallet spends on network fees. This page explains what it is, why it sits apart from your main balance, and what to do when it runs out.
What it is
The Canton network charges a fee for every transaction submitted to it. That fee belongs to the network. Loop does not add anything on top of it.
Your Fee Balance is a small amount of Canton Coin set aside in advance to cover those fees. It sits separately from your main CC balance. When you make a transaction, the fee comes out of the Fee Balance, not out of the amount you are sending.
Fee Balance activates automatically. There is nothing to switch on. You only need to keep enough CC in it to keep transacting.
A top-up cannot be reversed
CC credited to your Fee Balance stays there. It is set aside for fees, and it cannot be moved back to your main balance or refunded.
So add what you expect to use rather than moving your whole balance across, and add more later if you need it. There is no advantage to holding a large Fee Balance.
Why it sits apart
So the network fee stays independent of the money you are moving. Your transfers arrive at their full amount, and you can see exactly what you paid in fees.
What you see before you sign
Most actions show you an estimated fee and your current Fee Balance before you confirm.
The estimate is an estimate. The actual fee can come out slightly higher or lower, because the network prices each transaction by its real size. Some flows show a live estimate, others show a typical figure, and a few cannot show one at all until the transaction is prepared.
The three states
State | What it means |
Healthy | Nothing to do. Carry on. |
Warning | Running low. You can still transact, but you may be asked to top up if an action would leave you too low. |
Critical | Not enough to cover the next action. You will be asked to top up before continuing. |
What happens if it runs out?
Your wallet and your funds are untouched. What stops is submitting new transactions, until the balance is topped up again.
That includes accepting an incoming transfer by hand, because accepting is itself a transaction. So money sent to you waits rather than arriving, unless one-step transfers are switched on for that asset.
If you cannot top up either
Topping up is itself a transaction, so it needs a little Fee Balance of its own. The wallet tries to stop you before you fall below what a top-up costs. It does not always manage it, and if your balance has gone below that point you cannot fix it from inside the wallet. Retrying will not change anything.
Message us from this page, or write to support@looptech.io, with your party ID. We credit your Fee Balance by hand, at no charge, and you carry on from there. Your party ID is at the top of your wallet, with a copy button beside it.
Full detail is in How to top up your Fee Balance.
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