Why do I get Sender's Account Does Not Exist when I send ERC20 Token from a new account with tokens?

Question

I create my wallet like this

const wallet = ethers.Wallet.createRandom()

I use metamask to send RIF tokens to the public address. I confirm the new balance of the account and it is accurate, the ERC20 transaction worked.

When I try to send some of the RIF token from that wallet, like this:

const connectedWallet = await wallet.connect(provider)
const contract = new ethers.Contract(
      process.env.CONTRACT_ADDRESS,
      rifContractAbi,
      onlineWallet,
    )

await contract.transfer(to, tokens)

I get the following error:

error: Error: processing response error (body="{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":246,\"error\":{\"code\":-32010,\"message\":\"the sender account doesn't exist\"}}\n", error={"code":-32010}, requestBody="{\"method\":\"eth_sendRawTransaction\",\"params\":[\"0xf8a8808403e252e08290999419f64674d8a5b4e652319f5e239efd3bc969a1fe80b844a9059cbb00000000000000000000000010d158b42bfbf39641896ad8b8fd9cf7078d2f4e0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000de0b483f7abe82062a0175a2b6e35c1ff301ff45341bf5a63a3895a63404c78b6644cd2f8dee5b9a030a010fbbd608476a555bccd9f3ccf67ceac46183f1be4a82b14a46bbb78ba312fc9\"],\"id\":246,\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\"}", requestMethod="POST", url="https://public-node.testnet.rsk.co", code=SERVER_ERROR, version=web/5.7.0) 

As soon as I sent some RBTC to that account the transaction works.

Answer 1

Explanation

In order to successfully transfer ERC20 tokens, the EOA performing the transaction will need to satisfy 3 conditions:

1. Sufficient token balance --> this is what you are transferring
2. Sufficient RBTC balance --> to pay for gas fees
3. Submit a valid transaction --> transfers are only effected upon being added to a block, and that block being added to the consensus chain

---

Reproduce the problem

// assuming that values for `CONTRACT_ADDRESS` and `CONTRACT_ABI` are set

const wallet = ethers.Wallet.createRandom();
const fungibleToken = new ethers.Contract(
      CONTRACT_ADDRESS,
      CONTRACT_ABI,
      wallet,
    );

If you do the above, and then immediately execute the following:

// assuming that values for `toAddress` and `transferAmount` are set

await fungibleToken.transfer(toAddress, transferAmount);

... you have yet to satisfy conditions (1) and (2) above. Therefore (3) will also be rejected as a result.

---

Solution

To check if you have satisfied condition (1):

const tokenCount = await fungibleToken.balanceOf(wallet.getAddress());
console.log('sufficient token balance:', tokenCount > transferAmount);

If this value is insufficient, and you're on RSK Testnet, can visit faucet.rifos.org to obtain some tRIF tokens.

To check if you have satisfied condition (2):

// assuming value of `ERC20_TRANSFER_GAS_ESTIMATE` is set

const rbtcBalance = await wallet.getBalance();
console.log('sufficient cryptocurrency balance:', rbtcBalance > ERC20_TRANSFER_GAS_ESTIMATE);

Set the value of ERC20_TRANSFER_GAS_ESTIMATE by using a gas estimation method, or even hard-coding its value to a safe overestimate (e.g. 1e6)

If this value is insufficient, and you're on RSK Testnet, can visit faucet.rsk.co to obtain some tRBTC cryptocurrency.

After satisfying the above, and you subsequently execute the following once more:

// assuming that values for `toAddress` and `transferAmount` are set

await fungibleToken.transfer(toAddress, transferAmount);

... the transfer should succeed.