Proof of Reserves

Overview

You can take steps to provide assurances and transparency to your clients and end users by verifying proof of reserves (PoR). Providing PoR is especially important for cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms, as it enables you to prove liquidity and solvency.

BitGo offers multiple REST APIs that you can use to return your balances and other wallet details. In its most basic form, PoR entails sharing your balances and public addresses. Clients and end users can then confirm your balances on their respective blockchains. If you require more in depth PoR, you can partner with third-party auditors. Using a Merkle tree, auditors can anonymize data and confirm ownership of individuals' funds within your wallets.

Prerequisites

Steps

1. List Wallets

Get a list of your wallets, and determine which among these constitute your reserves. BitGo recommends that you use custodial wallets for your reserves, as these provide maximum security.

  • API
1 GET /api/v2/wallets

Step Result

Save the id for the wallets that make up your reserves.

  • API
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 { "wallets": [ { "id": "62f0418088859b0007ad2c1337e402f0", "users": [ { "user": "62ab90e06dfda30007974f0a52a12995", "permissions": [ "admin", "view", "spend" ] } ], "coin": "btc", "label": "Cold BTC Wallet", "m": 2, "n": 3, "keys": [ "62f04084d540700007a1da45e6a4d28e", "62f040cce56ef50007af49c09cafaf90", "62f040e05eec400007bd55f532d86fac" ], "keySignatures": {}, "enterprise": "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7", "tags": [ "62f0418088859b0007ad2c1337e402f0", "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7" ], "disableTransactionNotifications": false, "freeze": {}, "deleted": false, "approvalsRequired": 1, "isCold": true, "coinSpecific": {}, "admin": {}, "clientFlags": [], "walletFlags": [], "allowBackupKeySigning": false, "startDate": "2022-08-07T22:49:36.000Z", "type": "cold", "buildDefaults": {}, "customChangeKeySignatures": {}, "hasLargeNumberOfAddresses": false, "multisigType": "onchain", "config": {}, "balance": 1256709, "confirmedBalance": 1256709, "spendableBalance": 1256709, "balanceString": "1256709", "confirmedBalanceString": "1256709", "spendableBalanceString": "1256709" }, { "id": "62f03dee8d13be0007894b3dbc21be17", "users": [ { "user": "62ab90e06dfda30007974f0a52a12995", "permissions": [ "admin", "view", "spend" ] } ], "coin": "dot", "label": "TSS DOT Wallet", "m": 2, "n": 3, "keys": [ "62f03dee8d13be0007894b41f63bc504", "62f03dee8d13be0007894b43cb0f65d0", "62f03dee8d13be0007894b3f8024e0e8" ], "keySignatures": {}, "enterprise": "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7", "tags": [ "62f03dee8d13be0007894b3dbc21be17", "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7" ], "disableTransactionNotifications": false, "freeze": {}, "deleted": false, "approvalsRequired": 1, "isCold": true, "coinSpecific": { "pendingChainInitialization": false, "rootAddress": "5G4oQ1xMu5V4y9Cdp9zPnVR57Nh8vsbYRRTei7MmQU6e1DHv", "lastNonce": 0, "lastChainIndex": { "0": 1, "1": -1 } }, "admin": {}, "clientFlags": [], "walletFlags": [], "allowBackupKeySigning": false, "startDate": "2022-08-07T22:34:22.000Z", "type": "custodial", "buildDefaults": {}, "customChangeKeySignatures": {}, "hasLargeNumberOfAddresses": false, "multisigType": "tss", "config": {}, "balanceString": "2000000000000", "confirmedBalanceString": "2000000000000", "spendableBalanceString": "0" }, { "id": "62c75ed042852800082440d8d63a4319", "users": [ { "user": "62ab90e06dfda30007974f0a52a12995", "permissions": [ "admin", "view", "spend" ] } ], "coin": "btc", "label": "Hot BTC Wallet", "m": 2, "n": 3, "keys": [ "62c75ecf871f420008f23497a2ea1174", "62c75ecfd2d04f000858d79f4ee278ae", "62c75ecf3f7ede0007f9b398aafdf07b" ], "keySignatures": { "backupPub": "209faade005392cf930a2325db3dfba92cfa90fb27971c2b842768059f9caf653a1b76d893c3442b83549c82b8c97580948d3208d4b6e81e49c02dbb7648db1d99", "bitgoPub": "2089747b9eee580371691db42a85a7f3b93fd1b8be30dacdcfe537e5b48291b1462ea34afbbbc26ba11dbb5f2077843915ea812c1a6268b89d9977511563be241e" }, "enterprise": "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7", "tags": [ "62c75ed042852800082440d8d63a4319", "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7" ], "disableTransactionNotifications": false, "freeze": {}, "deleted": false, "approvalsRequired": 1, "isCold": false, "coinSpecific": {}, "admin": {}, "clientFlags": [], "walletFlags": [], "allowBackupKeySigning": false, "startDate": "2022-07-07T22:31:44.000Z", "type": "hot", "buildDefaults": {}, "customChangeKeySignatures": {}, "hasLargeNumberOfAddresses": false, "multisigType": "onchain", "config": {}, "balance": 232687, "confirmedBalance": 232687, "spendableBalance": 232687, "balanceString": "232687", "confirmedBalanceString": "232687", "spendableBalanceString": "232687" }, { "id": "62c60db8b19ca800088f8ed53eb2e628", "users": [ { "user": "62ab90e06dfda30007974f0a52a12995", "permissions": [ "admin", "view", "spend" ] } ], "coin": "xrp", "label": "Cold XRP Wallet", "m": 2, "n": 3, "keys": [ "62c60db8b19ca800088f8edd5ae4d4e7", "62c60db8b19ca800088f8ee378424d5f", "62c60db9b19ca800088f8f5f7ec220db" ], "keySignatures": {}, "enterprise": "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7", "tags": [ "62c60db8b19ca800088f8ed53eb2e628", "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7" ], "disableTransactionNotifications": false, "freeze": {}, "deleted": false, "approvalsRequired": 1, "isCold": true, "coinSpecific": { "rootAddress": "rM2ESyPZwycfRwQvNo8MHKi5hAXZgjpj1X", "pendingChainInitialization": false, "creationFailure": [] }, "admin": {}, "clientFlags": [], "walletFlags": [], "allowBackupKeySigning": false, "startDate": "2022-07-06T22:33:28.000Z", "type": "custodial", "buildDefaults": {}, "customChangeKeySignatures": {}, "hasLargeNumberOfAddresses": false, "multisigType": "onchain", "config": {}, "balanceString": "12000000", "confirmedBalanceString": "12000000", "spendableBalanceString": "0" }, { "id": "62c5b5c9d0ece30007cec9616ff29edc", "users": [ { "user": "62ab90e06dfda30007974f0a52a12995", "permissions": [ "admin", "view", "spend" ] } ], "coin": "btc", "label": "My Demo BTC Wallet", "m": 2, "n": 3, "keys": [ "62c5b54a8ec0290007324c0fab5337f6", "62c5b54a8a0c5200071e49a857e50b0e", "62c5b54bd0ece30007ce8377f23f264f" ], "keySignatures": {}, "enterprise": "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7", "tags": [ "62c5b5c9d0ece30007cec9616ff29edc", "62c5ae8174ac860007aff138a2d74df7" ], "disableTransactionNotifications": false, "freeze": {}, "deleted": false, "approvalsRequired": 1, "isCold": false, "coinSpecific": {}, "admin": {}, "clientFlags": [], "walletFlags": [], "allowBackupKeySigning": false, "startDate": "2022-07-06T16:18:17.000Z", "type": "hot", "buildDefaults": {}, "customChangeKeySignatures": {}, "hasLargeNumberOfAddresses": false, "multisigType": "onchain", "config": {}, "balance": 1089773, "confirmedBalance": 1089773, "spendableBalance": 1089773, "balanceString": "1089773", "confirmedBalanceString": "1089773", "spendableBalanceString": "1089773" }, ] }

2. List Addresses

Using the wallet ids, get all the addresses for your reserve wallets.

  • API
1 GET /api/v2/{coin}/wallet/{walletId}/addresses?includeBalances=true

Step Result

Save each address that contains a balance. These are public addresses that can anyone can search for on their respective block chains.

  • API
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 { "coin": "btc", "totalAddressCount": 3, "addresses": [ { "id": "62f0418088859b0007ad2c23dd2a316e", "address": "2MxNxcyy4Jt4NQGkwR8bVD6pYPDSMhQqkmr", "chain": 10, "index": 1, "coin": "btc", "wallet": "62f0418088859b0007ad2c1337e402f0", "coinSpecific": { "redeemScript": "00201ca0444be0e22067cf8ed6cbc81268ade365e0559844d00eedf3b0af22e9bfc0", "witnessScript": "5221020292b2ee9c27e3d1425b8516ebd43351b2d163b7dfb839a36b9c73e40afe043021029b387b9a41acbcf0f6c8c0fd72247a0670dcc7bcf0e0c19d466253b6e8b6cbb821023f3e4bec6ff7d805f168e7ce80a813c3f0df26f4b29e1dea3bbeda90291d1e8f53ae" }, "balance": { "updated": "2022-08-31T16:07:28.000Z", "balance": 1256709, "balanceString": "1256709", "totalReceived": 1256709, "totalSent": 0, "confirmedBalanceString": "1256709", "spendableBalanceString": "1256709", "tokens": {} } }, { "id": "630f8734f2d4160007837e4c34a1a9b2", "address": "2N3oMXAzeU6XBBBFmWJiFDbwtVxRiUprsv6", "chain": 10, "index": 2, "coin": "btc", "wallet": "62f0418088859b0007ad2c1337e402f0", "coinSpecific": { "redeemScript": "0020a9f3c4d917a9094193fe8baaf88844ff42ea96de1a1fee92fdc9e84093794395", "witnessScript": "5221022c9f415e4c7491fb6f87dad25294f6e083bd9511bf50f94e031e0d387740f7c121035da85278e3d4dc17100b4fb1f591d552d64e74501a7b9927f69e9385f82946fe2103b569f313c45d577f56f38efb163d4d86d32b2281f4d605a2eb4e6102cc118fbc53ae" }, "balance": { "balance": 0, "balanceString": "0", "totalReceived": 0, "totalSent": 0, "confirmedBalanceString": "0", "spendableBalanceString": "0", "tokens": {} } }, { "id": "630fc9fe7db3fd0007157e7b0867d82b", "address": "tb1qkzkvluehktkcrx6y85yjlqyal558j9nk4garzghyfjtkwyw73prsvvzcwf", "chain": 21, "index": 1, "coin": "btc", "wallet": "62f0418088859b0007ad2c1337e402f0", "coinSpecific": { "witnessScript": "52210319a0ad3dda87215d90a195e074f0f053d393cc55dd43c742e2d59bca9c8f495921033ebb11af652e887e17be2b8e029b792318426e136439d0cbb0a86d3645617620210319128393716221430d05a29930e75cabaf9fae741f0c0882030fb26b2e42c2b953ae" }, "balance": { "balance": 0, "balanceString": "0", "totalReceived": 0, "totalSent": 0, "confirmedBalanceString": "0", "spendableBalanceString": "0", "tokens": {} } } ], "count": 3 }

Repeat this step for each wallet in your reserve.

3. Aggregate Balances

Write a script that aggregates the balances for your coin or tokens. Ensure that you're adding the balances of every address in your reserve wallets.

4. Share Balances

Once you aggregate your balances, you can share your reserves, along with the public addresses. Your clients and end users can search for the public addresses on their respective block chains and confirm their balances.

If you need to confirm individuals' funds within your reserves, you can share you PoR with a third-party auditor.

See Also