Understanding Your Transaction Status

Understanding Your Transaction Status

This article explains what each BitGo transaction status means, whether it signals something you need to act on, and roughly how long it takes to resolve.

Every transfer you send or receive through BitGo moves through a status, shown in your wallet activity. This article explains what each one means, whether you need to do anything, and how long it typically takes.

The quick answer

Most transactions are simple: they're created, approved automatically, sent to the network, and confirmed, usually within a few minutes. If yours falls outside that, it's likely waiting on an admin's approval, or it's run into an issue that needs a closer look. Find your status below.

If your transaction is moving normally

These four statuses are the steps every standard transaction passes through, in order. If you're seeing one of these, nothing is wrong: it's simply in progress.

Initialized - Your transaction has just been created. BitGo hasn't checked it against any policies or sent it anywhere yet. This step is nearly instant: you shouldn't see it for more than a few seconds.

Signed - Your transaction has cleared any required approvals and has been cryptographically signed. It's ready to be sent out to the network. This is typically also very quick.

Unconfirmed - Your transaction has been sent to the network and is waiting to be included in a block. This is often called being "in the mempool": think of it as a queue of transactions waiting their turn. How long this takes depends on how busy the network is and the fee attached to your transaction; during busy periods, transactions with lower fees may take longer to confirm.

Confirmed - Your transaction has been included in a block and is complete. This is the status you're looking for: it means the funds have successfully moved. Additional confirmations continue to accumulate afterward, which further secures the transaction, but one confirmation is generally enough to consider it done.

If your transaction needs approval

Some transactions are held for review before they're sent: this is usually because of a spending limit, an address that hasn't been approved in advance, or a rule requiring more than one admin to sign off. This is a normal part of how your wallet's security policies work, not an error.

Pending Approval - Your transaction is waiting for a wallet admin to approve or reject it. Any admins on the wallet will be notified automatically and can approve it from the BitGo app. If a transaction sits here for 30 days without enough approvals, it will automatically be canceled, so it's worth following up with your admins if you're waiting on one.

Rejected - A wallet admin declined the transaction, or it didn't meet a security policy that required it to be automatically declined. This status is final: a rejected transaction can't be revived. If you still want to send the funds, you'll need to create a new transaction that satisfies whatever condition caused the rejection.

If something went wrong

These statuses are uncommon, but they do happen from time to time. None of them mean your funds are lost: they just mean the transaction didn't go through the way it normally would, and in most cases there's a clear next step.

Failed - The transaction could not be confirmed on the network. This can happen if it was dropped, if the fee was too low to be processed in time, or if it conflicted with another transaction. If you see this status, we recommend double-checking your balance to confirm the funds didn't move before sending a new transaction.

Removed - This is rare. Occasionally, the network briefly reorganizes which transactions are officially part of the confirmed history (this is sometimes called a "reorg"), and a transaction that was previously confirmed is no longer part of the accepted chain. If you ever see this status, please reach out to BitGo Support so we can review the impact on your account together.

Replaced - Your original transaction was taking too long to confirm because of a low fee, so it was superseded by a new transaction with a higher fee to help it go through faster. Only the newer, replacement transaction will confirm: this is expected, and mainly happens with Bitcoin and similar currencies.

Matching what you see in the app to what it means

A few of these statuses go by more familiar names in everyday conversation. Here's how they line up:

• Declined → Rejected

• Processing or Pending → could be Pending Approval or Unconfirmed, depending on where it's stuck

• Completed or Done → Confirmed

Still not sure, or need help?

If your transaction has been sitting in one status for longer than expected, or you're just not sure what's going on, our support team is happy to take a look with you. You can reach us through the Help section in the BitGo app or at support.bitgo.com.