Gas Tank Automated — BitGo

Context

BitGo is a leading platform for securing and managing digital assets. Trusted by global institutions, it provides enterprise-grade wallets, custody, and financial infrastructure for billions in crypto assets.

In blockchain transactions, “gas” refers to the network fee required to process and validate transactions. For institutional clients on BitGo, gas usage can be substantial and varies based on the assets they manage and the volume of their transactions.

To streamline this process, BitGo introduced Gas Tanks—a prepaid account from which gas fees are deducted whenever transactions occur. This ensures clients don’t need to calculate or pay gas manually for each transaction, making operations faster and more reliable.

The Problem

Initially, funding Gas Tanks was a manual and repetitive process. Clients had to:

• Monitor gas usage themselves.

• Refill their Gas Tanks manually to keep transactions running.

• Handle invoices in an inconsistent and time-consuming way.

This manual workflow not only created friction for clients managing large transaction volumes but also increased the risk of transaction failures if gas tanks weren’t funded on time. For institutional users handling millions of dollars, these interruptions translated to operational inefficiency and potential financial risk.

The Solution

To solve this, I designed Automated Gas Tank Payments, fully integrating the workflow into the BitGo Wallets ecosystem.

Key design improvements included:

• Automated Billing & Statements: Clients now receive a monthly statement based on actual gas usage.

• Auto-Payment Flow: Payments are processed automatically, eliminating the need for manual refills.

• Usage Visibility: A redesigned dashboard (see attached screens) displays gas consumption trends, balances, and historical invoices, making the process transparent.

• Fail-Safe Design: Clients are notified of pending payments with clear warnings; if unpaid after a set grace period, accounts are temporarily blocked to maintain operational integrity.

Impact

The automated system transformed the gas payment experience for BitGo clients:

• 2x faster finance reconciliation cycles, as automated statements simplified accounting.

• Client satisfaction improved (measured via direct feedback sessions), with users citing reduced stress and fewer operational delays.

Conclusion

By automating Gas Tank Payments, BitGo eliminated one of the most frustrating operational bottlenecks for institutional clients. The new system balanced automation with transparency, enabling clients to focus on high-value financial activities instead of repetitive administrative tasks.

Takeaways

• Automating repetitive financial workflows significantly increases client trust and efficiency.

• Transparency (through usage dashboards and statements) is key to adoption in institutional fintech products.

• Well-designed fail-safes protect both the client and the platform from operational risks.