---
eip: 3014
title: eth_symbol JSON-RPC method
author: Peter Grassberger (@PeterTheOne)
discussions-to: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/issues/3012
status: Stagnant
type: Standards Track
category: Interface
created: 2020-09-30
---

## Simple Summary
Add `eth_symbol` method to the JSON-RPC that returns the symbol of the native coin of the network.

## Abstract
The new method `eth_symbol` (`eth_`-namespaced) has no parameters and returns a string of the native coin of the network. For the Ethereum mainnet this will be `ETH`, other networks will have other symbols.

## Motivation
Wallets that deal with multiple networks need some basic information for every blockchain that they connect to. One of those things is the symbol of the native coin of the network. Instead of requiring the user to research and manually add the symbol it could be provided to the wallet via this proposed JSON-RPC endpoint and used automatically. There are lists of networks with symbols like https://github.com/ethereum-lists/chains where a user can manually look up the correct values. But this information could easily come from the network itself.

## Specification
Method: `eth_symbol`.

Params: none.

Returns: `result` - the native coin symbol, string

Example:

```js
curl -X POST --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_symbol","params":[],"id":1}'

// Result
{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": "ETH"
}
```

## Rationale
This endpoint is similar to [EIP-695](./eip-695.md) but it provides the symbol instead of `chainId`. It provides functionality that is already there for [ERC-20](./eip-20.md) tokens, but not yet for the native coin of the network. Alternative naming of `eth_nativeCurrencySymbol` was considered, but the context and the fact that it just returns one value makes it clear that that it returns the symbol for the native coin of the network.

## Security Considerations
It is a read only endpoint. The information is only as trusted as the JSON-RPC node itself, it could supply wrong information and thereby trick the user in believing he/she is dealing with another native coin.

## Copyright
Copyright and related rights waived via [CC0](../LICENSE.md).