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Video ID Verification for First Withdrawal to a Whitelisted Address

Video ID Verification for First Withdrawal to a Whitelisted Address

Problem

Customers — predominantly FTX settlement recipients using Go Accounts — add a destination address to their whitelist and then see the message "BitGo requires video ID verification the first time you withdraw to a whitelisted recipient." They cannot find where to initiate the video verification, the whitelisted address shows as "Not Verified," and they believe they are blocked from withdrawing. In many cases, customers have not yet initiated a withdrawal transaction, which is the prerequisite for the verification prompt to appear. Some customers also encounter unrelated issues (settlement delay, incorrect wallet password, wrong network) that compound the confusion.

Diagnostics

  • Confirm the wallet type. Open the customer's enterprise/wallet in the admin tool and check whether it is a custodial wallet (including Go Accounts) or a hot wallet. Video ID verification applies only to custodial and Go Account wallets, not to self-managed hot wallets.
  • Check whether a withdrawal has been initiated. Look in the transaction history for a pending outbound transaction to the whitelisted address. The selfie liveness check / video ID prompt appears only after the customer initiates a withdrawal — not at the time of whitelisting.
  • Check whitelisted address status. In the Whitelist tab, verify the address was added correctly (correct chain/network, correct format including destination tags if applicable such as ?dt=123 for XRP).
  • Check the spendable balance. If the spendable balance shows 0 or the customer sees "insufficient balance" / "Enter an amount that doesn't exceed the maximum spendable balance," the funds may still be in settlement after a recent trade. Confirm settlement status before troubleshooting verification.
  • Confirm the asset network. Verify that the whitelisted address matches a supported withdrawal network. For FTX claims, BitGo supports USDT and USDC on the ETH blockchain. If the customer whitelisted an address on an unsupported network (e.g., Polygon for USDT), the address will not appear in the withdrawal "Send To" dropdown.
  • Check for wallet password errors. If the customer sees an error indicating an incorrect wallet password, the issue is authentication — not video verification.
  • Check the device/browser. At least one ticket confirmed that the iPad/mobile browser did not display the liveness check pop-up; switching to a laptop/desktop resolved the issue.

Resolution

Scenario: video-verification-whitelisted-requires#no-withdrawal-initiated

Trigger: Customer has whitelisted an address and sees "Not Verified" status but has NOT yet initiated a withdrawal transaction to that address.

Signals: Not Verified, video ID verification, no option to verify, where to upload video, cannot find video verification, whitelist not verified, first withdrawal

Steps:

  1. Explain to the customer that the verification step is triggered only after a withdrawal is initiated to a newly whitelisted address — it does not happen at the time of whitelisting.
  2. Instruct the customer to initiate a withdrawal to the whitelisted address from their Go Account or custodial wallet.
  3. After the withdrawal is submitted and confirmed (via 2FA), the platform will display a pop-up with options to complete verification:
    • Selfie Liveness Check (automated, default for first withdrawal to a new whitelisted address).
    • Video ID Call with BitGo Support (fallback if the automated liveness check is unsuccessful, or if configured by policy).
  4. If the liveness check fails, the customer will be presented with an option to schedule a video call with BitGo for verification.
  5. Recommend using a desktop/laptop browser rather than a mobile device or tablet, as some customers have reported that the verification pop-up does not appear on iPads or mobile browsers.

Notes: This is the most common scenario across the ticket cluster. The majority of customers misunderstand the order of operations — they expect to verify the address before initiating a withdrawal, but the platform requires the withdrawal to be initiated first.

"To ensure the security of your transactions, we require a selfie Liveness verification when you send funds to a newly whitelisted address. If the automated liveness test is unsuccessful, you can schedule a video call with our team for verification. Since you haven't initiated a transaction to a new address yet, this option isn't available at this time. You will see similar pop-ups post you have initiated the transaction to a newly whitelisted address." (ticket #27479)

"Please note that you only need to verify a whitelisted address after a withdrawal is initiated to the address. You will then see the withdrawal pending verification with options to verify the self-verify (Liveness Check) or meeting us in a call to do so." (ticket #213277)

"I was using my iPad to do the whitelist and the site was not showing me the window you indicated. I will try next week using my Mac... I managed to whitelist the withdrawal address and withdraw the funds successfully, using my laptop." (ticket #220278)

Scenario: video-verification-whitelisted-requires#settlement-delay-zero-balance

Trigger: Customer sees spendable balance of 0 or gets "insufficient balance" / "Enter an amount that doesn't exceed the maximum spendable balance" error after a recent trade, and conflates this with the video verification requirement.

Signals: spendable balance 0, insufficient balance, $0, cannot withdraw, Enter an amount, settlement, ErrorID, just traded

Steps:

  1. Confirm in the admin tool that the customer recently executed a trade (buy/sell) on their Go Account.
  2. Explain that funds are not immediately available for withdrawal after trading due to settlement processing time. The spendable balance may show as 0 until the funds are fully settled.
  3. Ask the customer to log out, log back in, and try the withdrawal again after settlement completes.
  4. If the withdrawal succeeds, the video/liveness verification prompt will then appear as described in the first scenario.
  5. If the issue persists after a reasonable settlement window, request the wallet ID and error details in plaintext and escalate.

Notes: Settlement delay is a separate issue from video verification. Many FTX claimants trade their received assets and then immediately attempt to withdraw, hitting the settlement hold. Address both concerns separately.

"Please note that funds are not immediately available for withdrawal after trading due to settlement processing time. This ensures that all transactions are properly recorded and processed. As a result, your spendable balance may show as 0 until the funds are fully settled." (ticket #214686)

Scenario: video-verification-whitelisted-requires#wrong-network-address

Trigger: Customer whitelisted an address on an unsupported or mismatched network (e.g., USDT on Polygon instead of Ethereum), and the address does not appear in the withdrawal "Send To" dropdown.

Signals: no address in dropdown, Whitelist dropdown empty, polygon:usdt, wrong network, Send To, POLYGON, cannot find address

Steps:

  1. Ask the customer which asset and network/chain the whitelisted address belongs to.
  2. Verify in the admin tool that the whitelisted address network matches a supported withdrawal network. For FTX claims, BitGo supports USDT and USDC on the ETH blockchain. Polygon-based USDT (polygon:usdt) is not supported for trading/withdrawal via the Trade function — only POL-USD (Sell or Buy) is available under Polygon.
  3. If the address is on an unsupported network, advise the customer to whitelist a new address on the correct (ETH) network.
  4. If the customer already received tokens on an unsupported network (e.g., they received USDT on Polygon), note that withdrawing requires network fees in the native token of that chain. Explain clearly: the funds are safe but the customer needs a small amount of the network's native fee token to move them.
  5. If the customer needs to re-add the address, instruct them to delete the existing whitelisted address and add the correct one. If they cannot find the option in the current UI, guide them to switch to the classic view:
    • Click on the profile icon in the top right corner.
    • Click on "Switch to classic view."
    • Navigate to the Go Account Wallet → Whitelist tab → click Whitelist and add the address.

Notes: Some customers may already be in classic view and not have the "Switch to classic view" option. In that case, the whitelist management should already be available directly in their current view.

"Reviewing we see you have POLYGON:USDT, however for FTX claims, we support USDT and USDC on ETH blockchain." (ticket #210401)

"Could you kindly delete the whitelisted address and add again through the classic view. Access to these settings is available in the classic (old) UI... Step 1 :- Click on the profile icon in the top right corner. Step 2:- Click on Switch to classic view." (ticket #210401)

Scenario: video-verification-whitelisted-requires#custodial-wallet-video-call-required

Trigger: Customer is using a custodial (non-Go Account) wallet where a video ID call with BitGo is required for withdrawal signing, rather than a selfie liveness check.

Signals: Pending Video ID, custodial wallet, video call, schedule, Calendly, video withdrawal, custody

Steps:

  1. Confirm the wallet is a custodial wallet (not a Go Account or hot wallet).
  2. For custodial wallets, BitGo may require a video ID call rather than a selfie liveness check, depending on the configured policy (e.g., first withdrawal to a new whitelisted address, or withdrawals exceeding $250,000 USD in a rolling 24-hour period).
  3. If the customer has initiated a withdrawal and it is in "Pending Video ID" status, they should receive a notification in the platform with an option to schedule the video call.
  4. If the customer missed their scheduled video call, provide the rescheduling link: https://calendly.com/bitgo-client-delivery/kyc
  5. Note: BitGo does not perform withdrawal signings on the test environment. If the customer is testing on testnet with a custodial wallet, advise them to use hot wallets for testing unless they are interested in paid custodial wallets on production.

Notes: This scenario applies to institutional/enterprise custodial wallets. Go Account (FTX) users typically go through the selfie liveness check flow instead. The video call scheduling link is specific to custodial withdrawal verification.

"This wallet [WALLET_ID] is a custodial wallet so it will require a video id, we do not perform withdrawal signings on test environment so these transactions cannot be processed. We recommend to use hotwallets for testing unless you are interested in our paid custodial wallets on production." (ticket #22225)

"If required, please use the following link to re-schedule a time: https://calendly.com/bitgo-client-delivery/kyc" (ticket #22225)

Scenario: video-verification-whitelisted-requires#video-completed-transaction-pending

Trigger: Customer completed the video verification or liveness check, but the withdrawal transaction remains pending and has not been signed/processed.

Signals: video verification completed, transaction pending, still pending, signed but not executed, not received

Steps:

  1. Confirm in the admin tool that the video verification or liveness check was successfully completed and recorded.
  2. Check the transaction status — determine whether it has been signed by BitGo's trust team.
  3. If the video was completed but the transaction has not been signed, there may be a processing delay (e.g., video rendering issues or missed signing window). Escalate to the Trust Operations team (trustoperations@bitgo.com) to confirm the signing status and expected timeline.
  4. If the transaction shows as signed/confirmed, provide the customer with the on-chain transaction hash so they can verify receipt at the destination.
  5. Communicate expected timelines to the customer — after video verification, the transaction will typically be signed in the next available signing window.

Notes: In at least one ticket, a video rendering issue caused a delay that resulted in a missed signing window. The transaction was signed in the next evening window after the issue was resolved internally.

"We apologize for the delayed response. We encountered challenges with the video rendering process, which resulted in a delay. We have since resolved the issue, accurately exported the video, and shared it with our trust team. Although we missed the initial signing window, we anticipate that the transaction will be signed and processed this evening." (ticket #224075)

Scenario: video-verification-whitelisted-requires#incorrect-wallet-password

Trigger: Customer attributes their failed withdrawal to video verification, but the actual error is an incorrect wallet password.

Signals: incorrect wallet password, wallet password, wrong password, withdrawal failed, error message

Steps:

  1. Ask the customer to share the exact error message or a screenshot (with sensitive data redacted).
  2. If the error indicates an incorrect wallet password, clarify that this is unrelated to video verification.
  3. Instruct the customer to retry with the correct wallet password.
  4. If the customer has forgotten their wallet password, direct them to: Trade > Wallet Details > Settings > Forgot Wallet Password.

Notes: Customers may conflate any withdrawal failure with the video verification note displayed on the whitelist page. Always check the actual error before assuming the issue is verification-related.

"The error message indicates that the wallet password used during the withdrawal request is incorrect. Please try again and make sure to use the correct wallet password. If you happened to forgot the wallet password you may goto Trade > Wallet Details > Settings > Forgot Wallet Password" (ticket #222074)

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