In the crypto space, a whitelist could act as a shortlist, where users signing up for email updates from a crypto project are considered trustworthy. The term whitelist or whitelisting is mainly used within the context of ICOs, where potential investors are whitelisted after they share their personal information with the crypto company.
A new crypto startup in its whitelisting phase will allow investors to sign up to participate in its upcoming public token sale. Only whitelisted users will be eligible to buy the initial round of tokens the project offers and become early investors in the company.
Whitelisting could also refer to considering some wallet addresses as trustworthy. Whitelisted addresses can safely withdraw funds from crypto exchanges.
In both these contexts, whitelisting is the process of verification and ensuring safety. In addition to whitelisting users’ information and crypto wallet addresses, the process can also be used to verify and approve devices, services, companies, and computer code.