Wallet Archiving

Wallet Archiving

This guide covers how to safely drain funds, archive a wallet, handle policies and pending approvals, and restore an archived wallet if needed.

Draining Funds

A wallet cannot be archived while it holds a balance. Move all funds out first:

1. Identify a destination wallet. Use another wallet you control. If the wallet you're draining has a whitelist policy, make sure the destination address is whitelisted before you attempt the withdrawal.
2. Withdraw all funds. Send the full spendable balance to your destination. If the wallet has multiple token types enabled (e.g., ERC-20 tokens on an ETH wallet), withdraw each token type separately.
3. Watch for network-specific minimum balances. Some blockchains require a minimum reserve that can't be withdrawn. XRP is the most common example — the ledger requires a base reserve to keep the account active. Your spendable balance may show 0, but the on-chain balance is not truly zero. In this case, the archive option will remain disabled because BitGo checks the total on-chain balance, not just the spendable balance. Contact BitGo Support if you're blocked by this.
4. Wait for all transactions to confirm. Ensure every outgoing transaction is fully confirmed on-chain. Pending or unconfirmed transactions will prevent archiving.
5. For custodial wallets: Remember that withdrawals go through the standard approval workflow — admin approval, Liveness Check (or Video ID verification). If your withdrawals exceed $250,000 in a rolling 24-hour period, the transaction will be stuck and require additional identity verification. Plan accordingly, as draining a custodial wallet may take multiple days. Note that the $250k is the default threshold and enterprise admins can adjust it.

How to Archive a Wallet

Once the wallet has a zero balance and no pending transactions:

1. Navigate to Wallets and select the wallet.
2. Go to the Settings tab (visible only to wallet administrators).
3. Select the option to archive or remove the wallet.
4. Confirm and authenticate.

Archiving removes the wallet from your active dashboard but does not delete the wallet data. Your keys, addresses, and full transaction history are preserved.

What Happens to Policies and Whitelists

Wallet-level policies (whitelists, spending limits, admin approval rules, final approver designations) remain on the wallet record after archiving. Enterprise-level policies are unaffected and continue to apply to your other active wallets.

Policy and Wallet Archiving Order

If users need to archive a policy that references wallets which are already archived, there is a specific workflow order to follow:

1. Unarchive any archived wallets that are associated with the policy.
2. Archive the policy.
3. Re-archive the wallets.

Attempting to archive a policy while it still references archived wallets will fail. This ordering requirement exists because the policy system needs to validate against active wallet records during the archiving process.

Locked Policies

Policies lock 48 hours after they are first created. If you need to modify a policy before archiving (for example, to adjust a whitelist or spending limit to facilitate draining), and the policy is already locked, contact BitGo Support to request a policy unlock. Support will need:

• The wallet ID (for wallet-level policies) or enterprise ID (for enterprise-level policies)
• The policy ID (visible in the Policies section of your enterprise settings)

A Video ID verification call will be required as part of the unlock process.

Handling Pending Approvals

Resolve all pending approvals before archiving:

• Pending transactions — Any withdrawals awaiting admin approval, final approver sign-off, or Video ID verification will not be processed after the wallet is archived. Approve or reject them first.
• Pending policy changes — Any in-progress policy modifications that haven't been approved will not take effect. Resolve these before proceeding.

Check the Activity page for any outstanding pending approvals associated with the wallet.

Can Archived Wallets Be Restored?

Yes. Archived wallets can be restored. Contact BitGo Support if you need to regain access — for example, to recover funds that were sent to the wallet after it was archived, or to review historical transaction data. The wallet's keys, addresses, policies, and transaction history are all preserved and will be available upon restoration.

Special Considerations

Wallets with Paired Custodial Relationships

If your wallet is part of a paired custodial setup (a self-custody hot wallet paired with a BitGo-managed cold wallet), coordinate with BitGo Support before archiving either side. The cold wallet's whitelist is permanently locked to the paired hot wallet, and archiving one half without properly handling the other can create complications.

Go Accounts

Go Accounts (off-chain wallets) are not covered by "all wallets" enterprise policies and require their own policy configuration. Ensure all balances are withdrawn and any pending settlements are resolved before archiving.

Archiving Checklist

• [ ] Withdraw all funds, including all token types, to a destination wallet
• [ ] Confirm all outgoing transactions are fully confirmed on-chain
• [ ] Resolve all pending approvals (transactions and policy changes)
• [ ] If archiving policies that reference wallets: follow the unarchive-wallets → archive-policy → re-archive-wallets sequence
• [ ] Remove any webhooks configured on the wallet (optional, for clean-up)
• [ ] Document the wallet ID and relevant transaction history for your records
• [ ] Archive the wallet from Settings
• [ ] Verify the wallet no longer appears on your active dashboard

Need Help?

If you encounter issues — such as the archive button being disabled despite a zero spendable balance, or if you need to restore a previously archived wallet — contact BitGo Support at support@bitgo.com or through your enterprise support channel.