Before we get started let’s first acknowledge that the term whitelist can have several different meanings. In this article, we’ll flesh out the various definitions and explain how they are used in various contexts. A whitelist can refer to a verified list of the following depending on what context they are used:
- Email addresses
- Computer programs
- Institutions or individuals
- Cryptocurrency wallet addresses
Email Addresses
A whitelist in a company setting refers to users who have signed up to the company’s mailing list and are added to the whitelist in order to avoid the mails going straight to their spam folders. In other cases, companies may pay internet service providers to whitelist them so that their emails also don’t get marked as spam.
Whitelist in a company setting refers to emails not automatically getting marked as spam.
Computer Programs
A whitelist of computer programs indicates that the programs are considered to be safe to use. This is often created by an antivirus software program that predetermines which applications to scan when completing network security checks. Alternatively, users can create the whitelist manually.
Institutions And Individuals
Whitelists in the cryptocurrency realm refer to both institutions and individuals or crypto wallet addresses.
In terms of institutions and individuals, this generally refers to a group of participants that have expressed interest in taking part in an initial coin offering (ICO). On some occasions, a project will open a whitelisting phase where individuals can sign up to participate prior to the launch.
This will require an identity verification process where the interested parties provide their personal information in order to get accepted and verified before the launch. This allows for quick and seamless onboarding of the cryptocurrency once the ICO goes live.
Cryptocurrency Wallet Addresses
In the context of wallet addresses, a whitelist refers to a list of wallet addresses that have been deemed trustworthy and are allowed to be used to withdraw funds from an exchange account. This is a security measure put in place by some exchanges to add an extra layer to the prevention of hacks or stolen funds.