In Filecoin, wallet balance and market balance serve different purposes in the network's economy:
## Wallet Balance
- **Location**: Stored directly in your wallet address on the Filecoin blockchain
- **Purpose**: General-purpose FIL tokens for network transactions
- **Usage**:
- Sending/receiving FIL
- Paying gas fees for transactions
- General storage and transfers
- Staking for storage providers
## Market Balance
- **Location**: Held in escrow by Filecoin's built-in storage market actors/smart contracts
- **Purpose**: Specifically for storage deal transactions
- **Usage**:
- **For clients**: Funds set aside to pay storage providers for data storage deals
- **For storage providers**: Earnings from completed storage deals that haven't been withdrawn yet
## Key Differences
1. **Accessibility**: Wallet balance is immediately spendable, while market balance is locked in escrow until deals complete or you withdraw it
2. **Function**: Wallet balance is for general blockchain operations, market balance is exclusively for the storage marketplace
3. **Movement**: You must explicitly move funds between wallet and market balance using commands like `lotus wallet market add` or `lotus wallet market withdraw`
4. **Deal Requirements**: To make storage deals as a client, you need sufficient market balance (not just wallet balance) to cover the deal costs
Think of it like having money in your checking account (wallet) versus money deposited with a specific service provider (market balance) - both are yours, but they're held in different places for different purposes.