What is a withdrawal whitelist? How it protects your account
Short answer
A withdrawal whitelist, also called an allowlist, is a list of withdrawal addresses you've approved. Once it's on, crypto can only go to those addresses, and adding a new one takes another security check. If your password leaks, it's one more lock in a thief's way.
- Copy addresses from the receiving side instead of typing them, and check every character before you add one.
- If someone asks you to add their address to your whitelist, it's almost certainly a scam.
In one line
A withdrawal whitelist is a list of the only addresses your crypto can be withdrawn to, and you decide what goes on it.
An example
You only ever withdraw to your own wallet, so that’s the only address on your whitelist.
- You withdraw to your wallet: it goes through as usual.
- Someone steals your password, logs in and tries to withdraw to their own address: it isn’t on the list, so it won’t go through. To add it, they’d have to get past your two-factor authentication (2FA) too.
Related
FAQ
Can I still withdraw to a new address with the whitelist on?
Yes. Add the address to the list first. You'll need to pass a security check, and some exchanges make a new address wait a while before you can use it.
What if I added the wrong address?
Delete it and add the right one. Check the address and network again before every withdrawal: once crypto is sent, you can't take it back.
Someone asked me to add their address to my whitelist. Should I?
No. Exchange support will never ask you to do that. Anyone who contacts you first and asks you to add an address or send crypto is a scammer.