📝 Description
Learn what a negative balance warning on Waltio indicates, along with a detailed method to identify its root cause and correct it effectively.
⚖ Definition of a Negative Balance
A negative balance warning is triggered when a transaction appears impossible based on the data recorded on your account: you are withdrawing or disposing of more crypto assets than you hold in your inventory.
Example: You withdraw 2 ETH when Waltio only records 1 ETH in your inventory at that date.
Negative balances are always calculated per Token / Platform pair (Example: Negative balance of 2 ETH on Coinbase).
This warning means that your holdings for a specific crypto asset on a given platform fall below zero at an exact point in time. In most cases, this is caused by missing, duplicated, or misordered transactions.
Three primary reasons explain a negative balance warning:
One or more deposit or trade transactions are missing from Waltio.
One or more withdrawal or trade transactions are duplicated (or surplus) on Waltio.
Transactions are not recorded in the correct chronological sequence (for instance, a withdrawal is logged before its corresponding deposit).
👉 To diagnose your situation, check your stock sheet.
📂 Filter Your Negative Balance Warnings
Go to your Warnings page.
Apply the filter:
Warning type includes Negative balance.
Review the list of transactions triggering this warning.
📤 Step 1: Check the Chronological Order of Transactions
Open your stock sheet.
Verify that each withdrawal is recorded after its corresponding deposit.
If a withdrawal appears before a deposit, edit the date or time of the transaction to restore the correct chronology.
In most cases, a withdrawal appears before a deposit due to identical timestamps. Simply shift the deposit time forward by a few seconds so that Waltio registers it first.
Example: In a Coinhouse file, all transactions on a given day may be logged at the exact same hour and minute. If a withdrawal of 2 ETH is processed before a deposit of 3 ETH, a negative balance appears. Advance the deposit time by a few seconds to restore logical sequence.
📂 Step 2: Check for Missing Deposit or Trade Transactions
Make sure you have connected all your platforms and wallets to Waltio.
Verify that you have imported all necessary files and linked all required APIs, in accordance with our integration guides.
Compare the data recorded on Waltio with your platform account statements or your transaction history on a blockchain explorer to spot any discrepancies.
Manually add any missing transactions if needed.
When adding a platform, you must import the complete history of your operations. Also ensure that Waltio supports every transaction type for that platform by consulting the dedicated article.
Example: Deposits from Launchpads on Binance are not transmitted via API. To include them in your account, you must import the Complete Statement file.
If a transaction type is not supported automatically:
Add the transaction manually.
Or import it using a Waltio-formatted file.
If a transaction is clearly present in your file or API but is not recognized by Waltio, reach out to our support team via the chatbot located at the bottom right of your screen.
⚠️ Important: Make sure to include all blockchains used across your wallets. If you connect a MetaMask wallet with the Ethereum and Polygon networks, but omit the BNB Smart Chain on which you conducted transactions, it will trigger negative balances and distort your tax report.
⚠️ Step 3: Check for Duplicate Transactions
Open your stock sheet.
Select the token in question.
Sort operations by descending value to readily identify potential duplicates.
Delete any duplicate transactions.
Duplicates most commonly occur when the same platform is synced via API while also having a file manually uploaded. Two transactions sharing an identical amount, token, and timestamp are highly likely to be duplicates. When in doubt, check directly on your exchange account.
👉 Step 4: Generate a New Tax Report
Trigger the generation of a new report on Waltio.
Verify that the negative balance warnings have been cleared from your warnings page.
⚠️ If negative balances persist:
You can reach out to our support team via the chatbot.
You have the option to compensate a negative balance within the tool. We recommend doing so only for negligible amounts (< €100) and once the underlying cause is understood.
If you do not resolve a negative balance, Waltio defaults to assuming your starting balance was 0 in its calculations.
💡 Additional Information
Platform Name Spelling: When creating manual transactions, ensure exact spelling for platform names and correct punctuation for amounts. A typo can trigger a negative balance (e.g., typing "Binanc" instead of Binance, or entering 1 BTC instead of 0.1 BTC).
Display Threshold: Waltio does not display negative balances smaller than -€10, as their impact on total capital gains is negligible.
Waltio File Format: A custom file that is incomplete or contains syntax errors can create negative balances.
Multiple Balances on One Platform: If you notice negative balances across multiple tokens on the same platform, the root issue is usually identical across all assets.
Negative Balances on a Wallet: On a wallet, negative balances are frequently caused by unsynced bridge transactions. If applicable, follow this dedicated guide.
Special Case of a Flagged Deposit: A deposit may display a negative balance warning if it follows a balance that is already negative (Example: Balance at 0 BTC; Withdrawal of 2 BTC; Balance becomes -2 BTC; followed by Deposit of 1 BTC; Balance remains at -1 BTC, triggering a warning on this deposit).