Burn Stablecoins

Overview

Burning is the process of permanently removing stablecoin tokens from circulation in exchange for fiat currency. Each burn order reduces the total token supply by an amount equal to the redeemed value, preserving the 1:1 relationship between issued tokens and backing reserves.

You can redeem your stable coins for fiat currency by submitting a burn order request from your Go Account. Once you initiate a burn order request, BitGo validates the transaction on-chain, following successful decommissioning of the tokens. The corresponding fiat currency deposits into your Go Account balance.

All burn orders are subject to validation, authorization, and reconciliation controls to ensure that token supplies and reserve balances remain aligned throughout the redemption process.

Prerequisites

• Stablecoin Overview

Burn Order Lifecycle

A burn order lifecycle tracks your request from the initial stablecoin deposit to the delivery of fiat currency in your Go Account. The diagram below provides a high-level overview of the stages a burn order progresses through from initiation to final fulfillment.

Burn Status Lifecycle

Cookbook

Need just the steps? Expand the cookbook below to get started:

1. List Available Stablecoins

View a comprehensive list of all stablecoins available for burning.

Endpoint: List Supported Stablecoins

export BITGO_ENV="test"  # or "prod" for production
export ACCESS_TOKEN="<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"

curl -X GET \
  https://app.bitgo-$BITGO_ENV.com/api/stablecoin/v1/assets \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN"

import * as BitGoJS from 'bitgo';
import { common } from '@bitgo/sdk-core';
require('dotenv').config({ path: '../../../.env' });

// Configuration
const accessToken = '';
const enterpriseId = '';
const walletId = '';
const walletPassphrase = '';

const bitgo = new BitGoJS.BitGo({ env: 'test' });
bitgo.authenticateWithAccessToken({ accessToken });

const baseUrl = common.Environments[bitgo.getEnv()].uri + '/api/stablecoin/v1';

async function main() {
  // Step 1: Fetch assets to get IDs and treasury wallet
  const assets = (await bitgo.get(`${baseUrl}/assets`)).body;
  const usdAsset = assets.find((a: any) => a.token === 'tfiatusd');
  const stablecoinAsset = assets.find((a: any) => a.token === 'tbsc:usd1');

  const treasuryWalletId = stablecoinAsset.treasuryAccountWalletId;

Step Result

You receive treasuryAccountWalletId values. Save this for use in the following step.

[
  {
    "id": "08c1271e-b15d-4af8-8929-f75383903da4",
    "token": "tfiatusd",
    "name": "Testnet US Dollar",
    "decimals": 2,
  },
  {
    "id": "bfd0daec-f849-4b96-bdb6-6373bffeb9b6",
    "token": "tbsc:usd1",
    "name": "Testnet BSC USD1",
    "decimals": 18,
    "chain": "tbsc",
    "backingAsset": "tfiatusd",
    "treasuryAccountWalletId": "67c1a025f9999f485f7a71aa26a1da4c"
  },
  {
    "id": "49ff49ea-3355-4717-bbb0-5e8f5cae2202",
    "token": "hteth:gousd",
    "name": "Testnet goUSD",
    "decimals": 6,
    "chain": "hteth",
    "backingAsset": "tfiatusd",
    "treasuryAccountWalletId": "6698e670115059e2efe672436a3aea3b"
  }
]

2. Get Treasury Wallet ID

Locate the treasuryAccountWalletId field within the stablecoin asset object returned by the List Supported Stablecoins. This UUID represents the destination treasury wallet required for the redeem requests.

3. Calculate Redeem Amount

When initiating a redemption, the amount of stablecoins to be burned must be expressed in the token's native Base Units. Because stablecoins typically utilize higher precision (6 or 18 decimals), the resulting integer will be significantly larger.

Formula: Base Units = Amount * 10^Decimals

Example (Stablecoin): A redemption of 100 stablecoin tokens occurs for an asset with 6 decimals:

• Amount: 100
• Decimals: 6
• Calculation: 100 * 10⁶ = 100,000,000
• Result: 100,000,000 base units

# Calculate programmatically  
DECIMALS=6  # From assets API response for stablecoin
AMOUNT_BASE_UNITS=$(($AMOUNT_IN_FULL_UNITS * 10**$DECIMALS))
echo "Amount in base units: $AMOUNT_BASE_UNITS"

const fromAmount = (100 * Math.pow(10, stablecoinAsset.decimals)).toString(); // 100 stablecoin in base units

4. Create Burn Order

By submitting a burn order, you are creating a "Pending" record that BitGo uses to track the movement of stablecoin tokens for fiat currency.

Endpoint: Create Stablecoin Order

export BITGO_ENV="test"  # or "prod" for production
export ACCESS_TOKEN="<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
export ENTERPRISE_ID="<ENTERPRISE_ID>"
export WALLET_ID="<YOUR_WALLET_ID>"
export WALLET_PASSPHRASE="<YOUR_WALLET_PASSPHRASE>"

curl -X POST \
  https://app.bitgo-$BITGO_ENV.com/api/stablecoin/v1/enterprise/$ENTERPRISE_ID/order \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "sourceWalletId": "'"$WALLET_ID"'",
    "destinationWalletId": "'"$WALLET_ID"'", 
    "destinationType": "go_account",
    "fromAssetId": "stablecoin_asset_id", // The stablecoinAssetId in Step 1.
    "toAssetId": "usd_asset_id", // The usdAssetId in Step 1.
    "fromAmount": "'"$AMOUNT_BASE_UNITS"'",
    "type": "burn"
  }'

const order = (await bitgo.post(`${baseUrl}/enterprise/${enterpriseId}/order`).send({
    sourceWalletId: walletId,
    destinationWalletId: walletId,
    destinationType: 'go_account',
    fromAssetId: stablecoinAsset.id,
    toAssetId: usdAsset.id,
    fromAmount,
    type: 'burn',
  })).body;

console.log('Order created:', order.id);

5. Transfer Stablecoin to BitGo

BitGo Express is required to sign the transaction and process the burn order request. The following example shows the minimum required parameters for sending an asset.

• Endpoint: Send Transaction
• Install BitGo Express

export BITGO_EXPRESS_HOST="<YOUR_LOCAL_HOST>"
export COIN="<ASSET_ID>"
export WALLET_ID="<YOUR_WALLET_ID>"
export ACCESS_TOKEN="<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
export WALLET_PASSPHRASE="<YOUR_WALLET_PASSPHRASE>"
export SEQUENCE_ID="<ORDER_ID>"

curl -X POST \
  http://$BITGO_EXPRESS_HOST/api/v2/$COIN/wallet/$WALLET_ID/sendcoins \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "address": "'"$ADDRESS"'",
    "amount": "'"$AMOUNT"'",
    "walletPassphrase": "'"$WALLET_PASSPHRASE"'",
    "sequenceId": "'"$SEQUENCE_ID"'" // This is the id from the Create Burn Order results.
}'

const wallet = await bitgo.coin('ofctbsc:usd1').wallets().get({ id: walletId });
  await wallet.sendMany({
    recipients: [{ address: treasuryWalletId, amount: fromAmount }],
    sequenceId: order.id,
    walletPassphrase,
  });

6. Check Order Status

Retrieves the real-time status and detailed metadata for a specific burn order.

Endpoint: Stablecoin Order by ID

export BITGO_ENV="test"  # or "prod" for production
export ACCESS_TOKEN="<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
export ENTERPRISE_ID="<ENTERPRISE_ID>"

curl -X GET \
  https://app.bitgo-$BITGO_ENV.com/api/stablecoin/v1/enterprise/$ENTERPRISE_ID/orders/$ORDER_ID \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN"

const finalOrder = (await bitgo.get(`${baseUrl}/enterprise/${enterpriseId}/orders/${order.id}`).send()).body;
  console.log('Order status:', finalOrder.status);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Step Result

{
  "id": "order_id_12345",
  "type": "burn",
  "status": "fulfilled",
  "fromAssetId": "usd_asset_id",
  "toAssetId": "stablecoin_asset_id",
  "fromAmount": "10000",
  "toAmount": "100000000"
}

See Also

• Create Stablecoin Order
• JS SDK Burn Order Working Example
• List Stablecoin Orders by Enterprise
• List Supported Stablecoins
• Send Transaction
• Stablecoin Order by ID