I have created a private blockchain as follows:

geth --rpc --nat none --dev --ipcpath "geth.ipc" init genesis.json

Then ran the following commands to enter the geth console and query the balance of an account:

geth attach ipc:\\.\pipe\geth.ipc

However, this brings back '0' as the balance of the account, though in my genesis.json I give it an allocation of 300000. Adding 0x before the account in genesis.json or in the eth.getBalance command makes no difference.

My genesis.json file referenced here is as follows:

    "config": {
        "chainId": 15,
        "homesteadBlock": 0,
        "eip155Block": 0,
        "eip158Block": 0
    "difficulty": "0x400",
    "gasLimit": "2100000",
    "alloc": {
        "4666f1ee6a79121e1cc0f98fa020c6be13052c8b": { "balance": "300000" },
        "f41c74c9ae680c1aa78f42e5647a62f353b7bdde": { "balance": "400000" }
  • Did you reset your blockchain after modifying your genesis.json? I've tried your genesis.json and it worked correctly with geth 1.6.5. – Ismael Jul 2 '17 at 4:36

I believe the issue was I needed to create an account first with geth account new then put that account in the genesis.json file.

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