What the error means
Every Solana account must hold a minimum SOL balance, called the rent-exempt balance. A transaction fails if it would create an account without enough SOL to cover it, or leave one below the minimum.
Common causes
- Your wallet is nearly empty and cannot pay rent for a new token account (about 0.002 SOL each).
- You sent almost all your SOL, leaving the wallet below the minimum.
- A launch or airdrop needs SOL for many new accounts at once.
Fix
- Check your SOL balance and add a small buffer.
- Retry the transaction.
- For airdrops, add up the rent for every new recipient account before you start.
Background: what Solana rent is. You can recover locked rent with empty account cleanup.