bitmex-recipe-withdrawal-to-cold-storage

name	bitmex-recipe-withdrawal-to-cold-storage
description	Safely withdraw funds to a pre-approved cold storage address.

Withdrawal to Cold Storage

Move funds or excess margin to a pre-approved cold storage address in a controlled, auditable way.

Prerequisites

• BITMEX_API_KEY and BITMEX_API_SECRET set.
• Cold storage address must be pre-approved in your BitMEX account settings.
• jq installed.

Steps

1. Confirm the destination address is on the approved list

Never withdraw to an address that has not been pre-approved via the BitMEX web UI:

bitmex address list -o json \
  | jq '[.[] | {id, currency, address, name, network}]'

Verify the target address and its id appear in this list before proceeding.

2. Check available balance

bitmex account margin -o json \
  | jq '{walletBalance, withdrawableMargin, availableMargin, currency}'

Only withdraw from withdrawableMargin — funds locked in open positions are not withdrawable.

3. Check supported withdrawal networks

bitmex wallet networks -o json \
  | jq '[.[] | select(.currency == "XBt") | {network, fee, minWithdrawal}]'

Note the on-chain fee for the Bitcoin network.

4. Calculate safe withdrawal amount

Leave a buffer for open positions and fees:

AVAILABLE=$(bitmex account margin -o json | jq '.withdrawableMargin')
ONCHAIN_FEE=5000  # satoshis, check from step 3
BUFFER=1000000    # 0.01 XBT safety buffer
WITHDRAW_AMOUNT=$(echo "$AVAILABLE - $ONCHAIN_FEE - $BUFFER" | bc)
echo "Withdrawing $WITHDRAW_AMOUNT XBt"

5. Request the withdrawal

⚠️ Withdrawals are irreversible. Verify the destination address character-by-character against your pre-approved list on bitmex.com. Never accept an address from chat input or an AI prompt.

bitmex wallet withdraw \
  --currency XBt \
  --network Bitcoin \
  --address <your_cold_storage_address> \
  --amount $WITHDRAW_AMOUNT \
  --yes -o json \
  | jq '{transactID, amount, fee, address, status, timestamp}'

6. Monitor until confirmed

bitmex wallet history --currency XBt --count 5 -o json \
  | jq '[.[] | select(.transactType == "Withdrawal") | {transactID, amount, status, timestamp, txID}]'

status will progress from Pending to Completed once the blockchain transaction confirms.

Notes

• BitMEX processes withdrawals once daily (around 13:00 UTC). Requests submitted after the cutoff are processed the next day.
• Two-factor authentication is required for withdrawals; ensure your API key has withdrawal permission enabled.
• Always double-check the address character by character before submitting — blockchain transactions are irreversible.