diff --git a/packages/stargate/src/queries/bank.ts b/packages/stargate/src/queries/bank.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3fa8f3b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/stargate/src/queries/bank.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import { Bech32, toAscii } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
+
+import { cosmos } from "../generated/codecimpl";
+import { QueryClient } from "../queryclient";
+
+export interface BankExtension {
+  readonly bank: {
+    readonly balance: (address: string, denom: string) => Promise<cosmos.ICoin>;
+  };
+}
+
+export function setupBankExtension(base: QueryClient): BankExtension {
+  return {
+    bank: {
+      balance: async (address: string, denom: string) => {
+        // balance key is a bit tricker, using some prefix stores
+        // https://github.com/cosmwasm/cosmos-sdk/blob/80f7ff62f79777a487d0c7a53c64b0f7e43c47b9/x/bank/keeper/view.go#L74-L77
+        // ("balances", binAddress, denom)
+        // 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);
+        return cosmos.Coin.decode(responseData);
+      },
+    },
+  };
+}
diff --git a/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts b/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
index 566c0602..4532b8b3 100644
--- a/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
+++ b/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/naming-convention */
-import { Bech32, toAscii, toHex } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
+import { Bech32, toHex } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
 import {
   Block,
   Coin,
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { assert, assertDefined } from "@cosmjs/utils";
 import Long from "long";
 
 import { cosmos } from "./generated/codecimpl";
+import { BankExtension, setupBankExtension } from "./queries/bank";
 import { QueryClient } from "./queryclient";
 
 /** A transaction that is indexed as part of the transaction history */
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ export interface PrivateStargateClient {
 
 export class StargateClient {
   private readonly tmClient: TendermintClient;
-  private readonly queryClient: QueryClient;
+  private readonly queryClient: QueryClient & BankExtension;
   private chainId: string | undefined;
 
   public static async connect(endpoint: string): Promise<StargateClient> {
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ export class StargateClient {
 
   private constructor(tmClient: TendermintClient) {
     this.tmClient = tmClient;
-    this.queryClient = QueryClient.withExtensions(tmClient);
+    this.queryClient = QueryClient.withExtensions(tmClient, setupBankExtension);
   }
 
   public async getChainId(): Promise<string> {
@@ -192,24 +193,11 @@ export class StargateClient {
   }
 
   public async getBalance(address: string, searchDenom: string): Promise<Coin | null> {
-    // balance key is a bit tricker, using some prefix stores
-    // https://github.com/cosmwasm/cosmos-sdk/blob/80f7ff62f79777a487d0c7a53c64b0f7e43c47b9/x/bank/keeper/view.go#L74-L77
-    // ("balances", binAddress, denom)
-    // 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(searchDenom)]);
-
-    const responseData = await this.queryClient.queryVerified("bank", bankKey);
-    const { amount, denom } = cosmos.Coin.decode(responseData);
-    if (denom === "") {
+    const balance = await this.queryClient.bank.balance(address, searchDenom);
+    if (!balance.denom) {
       return null;
     } else {
-      return {
-        amount: amount,
-        denom: denom,
-      };
+      return coinFromProto(balance);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/stargate/types/queries/bank.d.ts b/packages/stargate/types/queries/bank.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e55feda0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/stargate/types/queries/bank.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import { cosmos } from "../generated/codecimpl";
+import { QueryClient } from "../queryclient";
+export interface BankExtension {
+  readonly bank: {
+    readonly balance: (address: string, denom: string) => Promise<cosmos.ICoin>;
+  };
+}
+export declare function setupBankExtension(base: QueryClient): BankExtension;