How to send USDC through geth CLI?

Question

I had 100 USDC transferred to a local Ethereum wallet I control. It shows up as a valid token when I view it in Etherscan. I normally use geth CLI for all Ethereum transactions, but I'm not sure how to go about sending tokens to a different Ethereum address in this case.

The only suggestion I've found so far suggests the below as the method for sending USDC:

geth console

Then create contract wrapper class like this:

var erc20 = web3.eth.contract ([{"constant": false, "inputs": [{"name": "_to", "type": "address"}, {"name": "_value", "type": "uint256"}], "name": "transfer", "outputs": [{"name": "", "type": "bool"}], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "nonpayable", "type": "function"}]);

And instantiate it at token smart contract address (The contract address for the received USDC as shown in etherscan.io):

var myToken = erc20.at ("0x<token smart contract address here>");

now unlock your "from" account (the Ethereum wallet that holds the USDC/tokens):

personal.unlockAccount ("0x<from address>");

and finally send your tokens:

myToken.transfer ("0x<to address>", "<amount in basic units>", {from: "0x<from address>"});

The to address is the Ethereum wallet that will be receiving the tokens, the amount in basic units would be 100 (to send all USDC) and the from address would be the same as the unlocked account.

Is the above correct and do I need to have an Eth balance to pay for gas for the contract etc?

Answer 1

You need ether to pay the transaction's fee. The USDC contract uses 6 decimals so to transfer 100 USDC the amount parameter should be 100 * 1000000.