Tokens and Cycles

This is a command reference for managing ICP tokens and cycles. If you’re deploying to mainnet for the first time, start with Deploying to Mainnet instead.

The Internet Computer uses two primary currencies:

Currency	Purpose	Used For
ICP	Governance token	Trading, staking, converting to cycles
Cycles	Computational fuel	Running canisters, paying for storage and compute

Canisters consume cycles to operate on mainnet. To obtain cycles, you convert ICP tokens at the current ICP/XDR exchange rate. XDR (Special Drawing Rights) is an international reserve asset used for stable pricing. One trillion cycles (1T) costs approximately 1 XDR worth of ICP.

Amount Format

All cycle and token amounts support human-readable suffixes for convenience:

k or K = thousand (1,000)
m or M = million (1,000,000)
b or B = billion (1,000,000,000)
t or T = trillion (1,000,000,000,000)

Suffixes are case-insensitive. Examples: 1.5T, 500m, 1_234.5B, 2K

Network and Environment Flags

Understanding when to use -n (network) vs -e (environment) is essential:

Flag	Purpose	Used With	Example
`-n ic`	Network flag	Token and cycles operations	`icp token balance -n ic` `icp cycles mint -n ic`
`-e ic`	Environment flag	Deployment and canister operations	`icp deploy -e ic` `icp canister status my-canister -e ic`

For canister operations:

The flag you use depends on whether you’re referencing canisters by name or by ID:

Canister names (like my-canister) — Must use -e <environment>
- Environment knows about your project’s canister mappings
- Examples: icp canister status my-canister -e ic
Canister IDs (like ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai) — Can use either -e or -n
- Use -e when working within your project context
- Use -n when working with arbitrary canisters on a network
- Examples: icp canister status ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai -n ic

# ✓ Works - canister name with environment
icp canister status my-canister -e ic
icp canister top-up my-canister --amount 1T -e ic

# ✗ Fails - canister name with network (no project context)
icp canister status my-canister -n ic

# ✓ Works - canister ID with network
icp canister status ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai -n ic
icp canister top-up ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai --amount 1T -n ic

# ✓ Also works - canister ID with environment
icp canister status ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai -e ic

Checking Balances

Check your ICP balance:

# On IC mainnet
icp token balance -n ic

# On local network (for testing)
icp token balance

Check your cycles balance:

# On IC mainnet
icp cycles balance -n ic

# On local network
icp cycles balance

Check a canister’s cycles balance:

# By canister name (in your project environment)
icp canister status my-canister -e ic

# By canister ID (on any network)
icp canister status ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai -n ic

The output includes the canister’s cycles balance.

Converting ICP to Cycles

Convert ICP tokens to cycles for use with canisters:

# Convert a specific amount of ICP
icp cycles mint --icp 5 -n ic

# Or request a specific amount of cycles (ICP calculated automatically)
icp cycles mint --cycles 5T -n ic

Verify your cycles balance:

icp cycles balance -n ic

Transferring ICP Tokens

Send ICP tokens to another principal:

# The 'icp' token is used by default
icp token transfer <AMOUNT> <RECEIVER> -n ic

# Explicitly specifying 'icp' is equivalent
icp token icp transfer <AMOUNT> <RECEIVER> -n ic

Examples:

# Send 1 ICP
icp token transfer 1 aaaaa-aa -n ic

# Send 0.5 ICP
icp token transfer 0.5 xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-cai -n ic

# Using human-readable amounts
icp token transfer 1.5m xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-cai -n ic

The receiver can be a principal ID or canister ID.

Getting Account Identifiers

To get your ICP ledger account identifier (for transfers to/from exchanges or wallets that don’t support principals yet):

icp identity account-id

See Managing Identities for more details on account identifiers.

Working with ICRC-1 Tokens

icp-cli supports ICRC-1 tokens by specifying the token’s ledger canister ID. ICRC-1 is a fungible token standard on the Internet Computer, which means all ICRC-1 tokens work with the same commands.

To transfer ICRC-1 tokens, specify the ledger canister ID. Example with ckBTC (ledger: mxzaz-hqaaa-aaaar-qaada-cai):

# Check ckBTC balance
icp token mxzaz-hqaaa-aaaar-qaada-cai balance -n ic

# Transfer 0.001 ckBTC
icp token mxzaz-hqaaa-aaaar-qaada-cai transfer 0.001 xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-cai -n ic

This works with any ICRC-1 compatible token ledger on the Internet Computer.

Finding Token Ledger IDs: You can find ledger canister IDs for various tokens on the ICP Dashboard.

Transferring Cycles

Transfer cycles directly to another principal via the cycles ledger:

icp cycles transfer <AMOUNT> <RECEIVER> -n ic

Examples:

# Transfer 1 trillion cycles
icp cycles transfer 1T aaaaa-aa -n ic

# Transfer 500 million cycles
icp cycles transfer 500m xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-cai -n ic

The receiver can be a principal ID or canister ID.

Monitoring Canister Cycles

Regularly check canister cycles to avoid running out. If a canister runs out of cycles, it will be frozen and eventually deleted along with all its code and state.

# Check all canisters in an environment
icp canister status -e ic

# Check specific canister by name (in your project)
icp canister status my-canister -e ic

# Check specific canister by ID (on any network)
icp canister status ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai -n ic

Topping Up Canisters

Add cycles to a canister to keep it running:

# Top up by canister name (in your project)
icp canister top-up my-canister --amount 1T -e ic

# Top up by canister ID (on any network)
icp canister top-up ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai --amount 1T -n ic

The --amount is specified in cycles (not ICP) and supports human-readable suffixes like 1T, 500m, etc.

Cycles Transfer vs Canister Top-Up

Understanding the difference between these two commands helps you choose the right one for your use case.

The cycles ledger is an ICP system canister that tracks cycles balances for principals, similar to how the ICP ledger tracks ICP token balances.

There are two ways to send cycles:

Command	Destination	Use Case
`icp cycles transfer`	Recipient’s cycles balance	Transfer cycles to another principal’s cycles ledger balance (similar to sending tokens)
`icp canister top-up`	Canister’s operating balance	Add cycles directly to a canister to pay for its compute and storage

When to use each:

cycles transfer: Send cycles to another person/identity through the cycles ledger, similar to how you transfer ICP tokens
canister top-up: Directly fund a canister to keep it running (most common for maintaining canisters)

Using Different Identities

Specify which identity to use for token operations:

# Check balance for a specific identity
icp token balance --identity my-other-identity -n ic

# Transfer using a specific identity
icp token transfer 1 <RECEIVER> --identity my-wallet -n ic

See Managing Identities for more details.

Fees and Safety

Transaction Fees

All transfers incur small fees:

ICP transfers: 0.0001 ICP fee
Cycles transfers: Small fee in cycles (varies by operation)
ICRC-1 tokens: Fee varies by token (typically minimal)

Fees are automatically deducted from your balance when you initiate a transfer.

Safety Considerations

Transfers are irreversible. Once sent, transactions cannot be undone. To minimize risk:

Verify receiver addresses — Double-check the principal or canister ID before sending
Test with small amounts — For large transfers or new recipients, send a small test amount first
Confirm the target network — -n ic targets IC mainnet; omitting it uses your local network

Insufficient balance: If you don’t have enough funds (including fees), the transfer will fail with an error.

Troubleshooting

“Insufficient balance”

Your account doesn’t have enough ICP or cycles. Check your balance:

icp token balance -n ic
icp cycles balance -n ic

“Canister out of cycles”

Top up the canister:

# By canister name (in your project environment)
icp canister top-up my-canister --amount 1T -e ic

# By canister ID (on any network)
icp canister top-up ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai --amount 1T -n ic

Transfer fails

Verify:

The receiver address is correct
You have sufficient balance (including fees)
You’re using the correct identity

Next Steps

Deploying to Mainnet — Complete mainnet deployment guide
Managing Identities — Manage keys and principals

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