diff --git a/packages/stargate/src/queries/bank.ts b/packages/stargate/src/queries/bank.ts
index 2207f8e6..4266f288 100644
--- a/packages/stargate/src/queries/bank.ts
+++ b/packages/stargate/src/queries/bank.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,8 @@
-import { Bech32, toAscii } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
+import { toAscii } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
 
 import { cosmos } from "../generated/codecimpl";
 import { QueryClient } from "../queryclient";
-
-/**
- * Use this to convert a protobuf.js class to the interface (e.g. Coin to ICoin)
- * in a ways that makes Jasmine's toEqual happy.
- */
-// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/ban-types
-function toObject<I extends object>(thing: I): Omit<I, never> {
-  return { ...thing };
-}
+import { toAccAddress, toObject } from "./utils";
 
 export interface BankExtension {
   readonly bank: {
@@ -42,14 +34,13 @@ export function setupBankExtension(base: QueryClient): BankExtension {
         // it seem like prefix stores just do a dumb concat with the keys (no tricks to avoid overlap)
         // https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/blob/2879c0702c87dc9dd828a8c42b9224dc054e28ad/store/prefix/store.go#L61-L64
         // https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/blob/2879c0702c87dc9dd828a8c42b9224dc054e28ad/store/prefix/store.go#L37-L43
-        const binAddress = Bech32.decode(address).data;
-        const bankKey = Uint8Array.from([...toAscii("balances"), ...binAddress, ...toAscii(denom)]);
-        const responseData = await base.queryVerified("bank", bankKey);
+        const key = Uint8Array.from([...toAscii("balances"), ...toAccAddress(address), ...toAscii(denom)]);
+        const responseData = await base.queryVerified("bank", key);
         return responseData.length ? toObject(cosmos.Coin.decode(responseData)) : null;
       },
       unverified: {
         allBalances: async (address: string) => {
-          const { balances } = await queryService.allBalances({ address: Bech32.decode(address).data });
+          const { balances } = await queryService.allBalances({ address: toAccAddress(address) });
           return balances.map(toObject);
         },
       },
diff --git a/packages/stargate/src/queries/index.ts b/packages/stargate/src/queries/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..07dc15ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/stargate/src/queries/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export { BankExtension, setupBankExtension } from "./bank";
diff --git a/packages/stargate/src/queries/utils.ts b/packages/stargate/src/queries/utils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0466765e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/stargate/src/queries/utils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { Bech32 } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
+
+/**
+ * Takes a bech32 encoded address and returns the data part. The prefix is ignored and discarded.
+ * This is called AccAddress in Cosmos SDK, which is basically an alias for raw binary data.
+ * The result is typically 20 bytes long but not restricted to that.
+ */
+export function toAccAddress(address: string): Uint8Array {
+  return Bech32.decode(address).data;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Use this to convert a protobuf.js class to the interface (e.g. Coin to ICoin)
+ * in a ways that makes Jasmine's toEqual happy.
+ */
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/ban-types
+export function toObject<I extends object>(thing: I): Omit<I, never> {
+  return { ...thing };
+}
diff --git a/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts b/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
index 64e34451..8d8d147b 100644
--- a/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
+++ b/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import { assert, assertDefined } from "@cosmjs/utils";
 import Long from "long";
 
 import { cosmos } from "./generated/codecimpl";
-import { BankExtension, setupBankExtension } from "./queries/bank";
+import { BankExtension, setupBankExtension } from "./queries";
 import { QueryClient } from "./queryclient";
 
 /** A transaction that is indexed as part of the transaction history */
diff --git a/packages/stargate/types/queries/index.d.ts b/packages/stargate/types/queries/index.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..07dc15ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/stargate/types/queries/index.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export { BankExtension, setupBankExtension } from "./bank";
diff --git a/packages/stargate/types/queries/utils.d.ts b/packages/stargate/types/queries/utils.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3d99f5c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/stargate/types/queries/utils.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+/**
+ * Takes a bech32 encoded address and returns the data part. The prefix is ignored and discarded.
+ * This is called AccAddress in Cosmos SDK, which is basically an alias for raw binary data.
+ * The result is typically 20 bytes long but not restricted to that.
+ */
+export declare function toAccAddress(address: string): Uint8Array;
+/**
+ * Use this to convert a protobuf.js class to the interface (e.g. Coin to ICoin)
+ * in a ways that makes Jasmine's toEqual happy.
+ */
+export declare function toObject<I extends object>(thing: I): Omit<I, never>;