Tracking Super Token Balances
Super Token balances can dynamically change every second, presenting unique challenges and considerations for tracking them within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Compatibility with ERC20
Super Tokens, while being ERC20 compatible, have some nuances in terms of forward compatibility with Ethereum infrastructure and tools.
Key Points
- Backward Compatibility: Super Tokens work with existing Ethereum tools like Metamask and Gnosis Safe. You can view balances in Metamask, transfer funds using Gnosis Safe, and even swap Super Tokens on platforms like Uniswap.
- Forward Compatibility: While tools like Metamask and Gnosis Safe can display balances accurately, they do not support all functionalities of Super Tokens. For example, you cannot swap your streamed money on Automated Market Makers (eg. Uniswap).
Balance Tracking Considerations
Tracking the balance of Super Tokens requires a more nuanced approach than traditional ERC20 tokens.
Challenges
- Event-Based Tracking Limitation: Some applications, like Etherscan, use
transfer
events to track user balances. However, due to scalability concerns, Super Tokens don't emittransfer
events with every balance change, leading to potential discrepancies in displayed balances. - Multi-source updates: Super Tokens can be updated from multiple sources, from Money Streaming, but also Distributions.
Solution 1 (recommended): Using balanceOf
As we mentioned earlier, Super Tokens are ERC20 compatible, so you can use the balanceOf
function from the token smart contract to get the real time aggregated balance of a user.
The Superfluid Protocol modifies the balanceOf
function to account for the various fund movement methods unique to Super Tokens including Money Streaming and Distributions.
You can simply call this function to get the real time aggregated balance of a user like so:
const fetchBlockchainBalance = async () => {
setLoading(true);
setError("");
try {
const provider = new ethers.providers.JsonRpcProvider(
"YOUR PROVIDER URL"
);
const contractAddress = "0x5D8B4C2554aeB7e86F387B4d6c00Ac33499Ed01f"; //fake DAIx contract address on Mumbai
const contractABI = [
"function transferFrom(address from, address to, uint value)",
"function balanceOf(address owner) view returns (uint balance)",
];
const contract = new ethers.Contract(
contractAddress,
contractABI,
provider
);
const userAddress = liveAddress;
const balance = await contract.balanceOf(userAddress);
return(ethers.utils.formatEther(balance.toString()));
} catch (error) {
console.error("Error fetching blockchain balance:", error);
}
};
We recommend this solution because it guarantees the most accurate result. However, it is important to note that this method is not always possible depending on your application architecture design.
Solution 2: Using queries from the Subgraph
To accurately track Super Token balances, you can use the queries below to get inflows and ouflow object from Superfluid's Subgraph.
Getting all the inflows for user
query allReceivedStreams($receiver: String) {
cfaStreams: streams(where: {receiver: $receiver}) {
currentFlowRate
streamedUntilUpdatedAt
updatedAtTimestamp
}
gdaStreams: poolMembers(where: {account: $receiver}) {
pool {
totalUnits
flowRate
totalAmountDistributedUntilUpdatedAt
updatedAtTimestamp
}
units
totalAmountReceivedUntilUpdatedAt
poolTotalAmountDistributedUntilUpdatedAt
updatedAtTimestamp
}
}
Getting all the outflows for user
query allSentStreams($sender: String) {
cfaStreams: streams(where: {sender: $sender}) {
currentFlowRate
streamedUntilUpdatedAt
updatedAtTimestamp
}
gdaStreams: poolDistributors(where: {account: $sender}) {
flowRate
updatedAtTimestamp
totalAmountDistributedUntilUpdatedAt
}
}
Doing this allows you to do the following:
- Get the data related to each stream a user is receiving : This allows us to calculate the positive balance associated with each stream they receive.
- Get the data related to each pool where the user is connected : This allows us to calculate the positive balance associated with each membership in a pool.
- Get tthe data related to each stream a user is sending : This allows us to calculate the negative balance associated with each stream they send.
- Get the data related to each pool where the user is distributing : This allows us to calculate the negative balance associated with each distribution they make.
The rule of thumb for calculating each one of these balances is the following:
The Balance = FlowRate * (CurrentTime - LastUpdatedAtTime) + StreamedUntilUpdatedAt.
Once we have the balance from each stream and each pool/distribution, we can sum them up to get the net aggregated balance of a user.
An implementation of this can be seen in the NetBalance
component below.
Click here to show NetBalance
component
const NetBalance = ({ liveAddress }) => {
const [realTimeBalance, setRealTimeBalance] = useState(null);
const [blockchainBalance, setBlockchainBalance] = useState(null);
const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false);
const [error, setError] = useState("");
async function fetchSubgraphBalance() {
setLoading(true); // Assuming setLoading is a function that updates loading state
setError(""); // Assuming setError is a function that clears any previous errors
const endpoint = "https://polygon-mumbai.subgraph.x.superfluid.dev";
const provider = new ethers.providers.JsonRpcProvider(
"https://polygon-testnet.public.blastapi.io"
);
const currentTimestamp = (await provider.getBlock("latest")).timestamp;
const inflowQuery = {
query: `query allReceivedStreams($receiver: String) {
cfaStreams: streams(where: {receiver: $receiver}) {
currentFlowRate
streamedUntilUpdatedAt
updatedAtTimestamp
}
gdaStreams: poolMembers(where: {account: $receiver}) {
pool {
totalUnits
flowRate
totalAmountDistributedUntilUpdatedAt
updatedAtTimestamp
}
units
totalAmountReceivedUntilUpdatedAt
poolTotalAmountDistributedUntilUpdatedAt
updatedAtTimestamp
}
}`,
variables: { receiver: liveAddress },
};
const outflowQuery = {
query: `query allSentStreams($sender: String) {
cfaStreams: streams(where: {sender: $sender}) {
currentFlowRate
streamedUntilUpdatedAt
updatedAtTimestamp
}
gdaStreams: poolDistributors(where: {account: $sender}) {
flowRate
updatedAtTimestamp
totalAmountDistributedUntilUpdatedAt
}
}`,
variables: { sender: liveAddress },
};
try {
const inflowResponse = await fetch(endpoint, {
method: "POST",
headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
body: JSON.stringify(inflowQuery),
});
const outflowResponse = await fetch(endpoint, {
method: "POST",
headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
body: JSON.stringify(outflowQuery),
});
const inflowData = await inflowResponse.json();
const outflowData = await outflowResponse.json();
let netBalance = 0;
// Calculate inflow balance
inflowData.data.cfaStreams.forEach((stream) => {
netBalance +=
parseInt(stream.currentFlowRate) *
(currentTimestamp - parseInt(stream.updatedAtTimestamp)) +
parseInt(stream.streamedUntilUpdatedAt);
});
inflowData.data.gdaStreams.forEach((pool) => {
const balance =
(parseInt(pool.units) / parseInt(pool.pool.totalUnits)) *
parseInt(pool.pool.flowRate) *
(currentTimestamp - parseInt(pool.updatedAtTimestamp)) +
parseInt(pool.totalAmountReceivedUntilUpdatedAt);
netBalance += balance;
});
// Calculate outflow balance (as negative)
outflowData.data.cfaStreams.forEach((stream) => {
netBalance -=
parseInt(stream.currentFlowRate) *
(currentTimestamp - parseInt(stream.updatedAtTimestamp)) +
parseInt(stream.streamedUntilUpdatedAt);
});
outflowData.data.gdaStreams.forEach((pool) => {
const balance =
parseInt(pool.flowRate) *
(currentTimestamp - parseInt(pool.updatedAtTimestamp)) -
parseInt(pool.totalAmountDistributedUntilUpdatedAt);
netBalance -= balance;
});
setRealTimeBalance(ethers.utils.formatEther(netBalance.toString())); // Assuming setRealTimeBalance is a function that updates the balance state
} catch (error) {
console.error("Error calculating net balance:", error);
setError("Failed to calculate net balance."); // Assuming setError is a function that sets error state
} finally {
setLoading(false); // Assuming setLoading is a function that updates loading state
}
}
const fetchBlockchainBalance = async () => {
setLoading(true);
setError("");
try {
const provider = new ethers.providers.JsonRpcProvider(
"https://polygon-testnet.public.blastapi.io"
);
const contractAddress = "0x5D8B4C2554aeB7e86F387B4d6c00Ac33499Ed01f"; //fake DAIx contract address on Mumbai
const contractABI = [
"function transferFrom(address from, address to, uint value)",
"function balanceOf(address owner) view returns (uint balance)",
];
const contract = new ethers.Contract(
contractAddress,
contractABI,
provider
);
const userAddress = liveAddress;
const balance = await contract.balanceOf(userAddress);
setBlockchainBalance(ethers.utils.formatEther(balance.toString()));
} catch (error) {
console.error("Error fetching blockchain balance:", error);
setError("Failed to fetch blockchain balance.");
} finally {
setLoading(false);
}
};
const handleFetch = async () => {
await fetchSubgraphBalance();
await fetchBlockchainBalance();
};
return (
<div
style={{
display: "flex",
flexDirection: "column",
alignItems: "center",
justifyContent: "center",
fontFamily: "Arial",
}}
>
<h1>Real-Time Balance</h1>
<div
style={{
border: "1px solid #ccc",
padding: "20px",
borderRadius: "5px",
marginBottom: "20px",
}}
>
<p>
Enter your <strong>liveAddress</strong> in the code editor, then click
"Fetch Balance" to compare your real-time balance from the subgraph
with the blockchain balance.
</p>
</div>
<button
onClick={handleFetch}
disabled={loading}
style={{
padding: "10px",
fontSize: "16px",
margin: "10px 0",
cursor: loading ? "not-allowed" : "pointer",
backgroundColor: "#4CAF50",
color: "white",
border: "none",
borderRadius: "5px",
outline: "none",
}}
>
{loading ? "Loading..." : "Fetch Balance"}
</button>
{error && <p style={{ color: "red" }}>{error}</p>}
{realTimeBalance !== null && (
<p>Real-Time Balance from Subgraph: {realTimeBalance} fake DAIx</p>
)}
{blockchainBalance !== null && (
<p>Balance from Blockchain: {blockchainBalance} fake DAIx</p>
)}
</div>
);
};
Furthermore, you can use the live code block below to see the NetBalance
component in action:
- Enter your
liveAddress
in the code editor. - Click "Fetch Balance" to compare your real-time balance from the subgraph with the blockchain balance.
function UserBalance() { const yourAddress="0x5e48a37d34d93778807ef19d74e06128252bab45"; return ( <div> <RealTimeBalance liveAddress={yourAddress} /> </div> ); }
Please keep in mind that in the example above we make the assumption that the user is only using Money Streaming and Distributions in the form of the GDA, but not Distributions in the form of the IDA. If you are using IDA, you will need to add a new query to get the data related to each transfer a user is distributing.