RPC error -32000: insufficient funds for gas * price + value

Last updated: September 16, 2026

At a glance

Cause

A node admits a transaction only if the balance covers value + gasLimit × maxFeePerGas — the worst case, not the fee you expect to pay. A transaction that would succeed at the current base fee is still refused when the limit multiplied by the cap exceeds the balance. Triport relays the refusal unchanged.

Solution

1. Compute the requirement as value + gasLimit × maxFeePerGas and compare it with eth_getBalance; the reservation uses the cap, not the expected price.
2. Lower maxFeePerGas towards the current base fee, or lower gasLimit to the value eth_estimateGas returns plus a margin.
3. On an L2, remember that gas is paid in the chain's native currency — on Base and Robinhood Chain that is ETH, on Polygon POL, on BNB Smart Chain BNB.
4. Top up the sender before retrying: the check is arithmetic, so an unchanged retry is refused identically.

Example

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "error": {
    "code": -32000,
    "message": "insufficient funds for gas * price + value"
  }
}