How do you return ETH balance for account in hardhat test? (convert hex value into ETH value)

Question

How do you return ETH balance in hardhat test?

This snippet works but returns a BigNumber hex value.

const balance = await ethers.provider.getBalance(owner.address);
console.log(balance);

Answer 1

If the value is smaller than 64 bits, covert to a number: balance.toNumber(). If it larger than 64 bits, cast it as a string to avoid bigger numbers from being cut off: balance.toString().

Answer 2

ethers provides a function to format the BigNumber:

ethers.utils.formatEther(balance)

Link to docs (v5): https://docs.ethers.io/v5/api/utils/display-logic/#utils-formatEther

Answer 3

The snippet returns the ethereum balance of owner.address in units of WEI

in order to transform this into units of ETH, divide the number by 1000000000000000000