Topic: Who Controls your Crypto Funds after Death? - page 2. (Read 1016 times)

Very good question.
Right now only I have all the information.
I should teach my wife how to use my btc wallet but she don't likes cypto and she is also very skeptical about it.
I hope, I will be able to change her mind otherwise all my crypto funds will be lost when I die. 

Im sure the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto still thinking a brilliant idea how he can pass his bitcoins into his relatives without revealing his identity as the creator of Bitcoin and for me of course my wife and my son/daughter will be the one who will control my crypto funds I dont care if how they will handle it but I just want them to remember me and my hard earned crypto if ever. 

It’s a tough question tho since i have a lot of trustees lol but its gonna be a challenge of course by the time of my death I’ve got more than billions already so the luckiest who will control my crypto fund will be one of my relatives who knew the best of me.

I’ll be staring to note down my journey, how did i  started and to the point on how to get my account in a scribbled way. I’m getting excited whil imagining this omg.

This would be some sort of journey and will make sure that the one who will control my funds is gonna be challenged first before getting my funds coz that’s how it started and should be ended by me.

No one is planning to die early. I want to say since you have taken the step to show them that means you don't have trust issue with them, then you can still go ahead to educate the more knowledgeable one among your family at least.

You can't be too sure of the people you are leaving to teach them after you die. Keeping things like that in trust with some people not your family members can also be risky.

Well I have left my private keys etc to my family, they actually do not know how to access but someone will show them I am sure. I got some friends working with this stuff who would not betray me..

However, I hope we don't die that fast 

Someone should definitely be able to access them after I die, but at the moment, I don't trust anyone.

I have written a medium post published by The Startup on this topic before here https://medium.com/swlh/who-gets-control-of-your-crypto-assets-after-you-die-766b84da361d

You could make a list of your total current holdings, where they’re held (wallets, exchanges, etc) and the current value and yes do this privately.
As for keeping coins on exchange, its not advisable to store funds on exchange for long intervals. The undiluted truth is that if you don’t own the private keys then you do not have control. Funds on exchange should just be for transactions.
It is important to plan around what kinds of storage you’re currently using. What do you like about it? What’s not working for you? How could it be better? Could your heirs access your storage devices and/or passwords if needed?.By using a hardware wallet or a paper wallet, or some other safer means to store your private keys, you can ensure that family has access to it.
Decide who gets what? Do you want one person to inherit all of your crypto? If you want more than one person or organization to get a share, use percentages instead of hard values (10% not 10 Bitcoin).
Also consider the following questions in your planning; Do your heirs understand this technology? Can they create and provide their own addresses for transfer? Or will the assets be liquidated to fiat currency that will be distributed to your heirs?Who will help your heirs through the process?
It might be helpful if you could take your take time to enlighten your relatives on what bitcoin/blockchain technology is all about, how to access crypto wallets and how to move the funds.This would help them when you’re gone because they wont have to over-rely on third parties to access their inheritance as there is a risk of being cheated in the process.
Then lastly, store backups. Store your backups in geographically-diverse, secure, access-controlled locations. I would use facilities such as bank vaults (most banks offer safer custody facilities for such matters), safes at home, and/or attorneys or accountants.

I wrote about this a few months ago and provided information on how to protect yourself - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.50703294

Yes, this a soul searching question because death is inevitable. I think the people close to you should know about it. Someone you trust, a wife or siblings.


Please, do that quick with a lawyer, you never can tell. Procrastination is a killer of desire  

She only might but chances for her to do it is very small because she loves you foe sure and will not do such crazy thing to harm you. Well, unless you're aware that you married a psychopath gold digger .

Don't be so self-centered mate, your family is your last resort when you die. You can entrust all of your btc savings to them before you die but make sure you teach them first about this technology or at least find someone who is really willing to learn. You know what, you are lucky if you have a family because people who don't have are absolutely dying for it. Actually, if I die right now I would love to give all of my btc to my family but since my mother deceased already, my father got a new family and my siblings are too young for this matter then probably I let my girlfriend handle it for the meantime.
Wise choice, don't worry too much because everyone is interested when it comes to money lol.

LOL, well said. Maybe I should give my decision a second thought and tell the very closest ones in my family about the bitcoin and how the ones that I hold may be accessed.

Thank you, but I'm surprised that you are more generous to me than to the people close to you.

I'm amazed that nobody has quoted the following in this thread till now:


After my death, I lose my coins completely as I don't like to share my private key with anyone other than myself. So consider it as a donation to y'all!

It should be treated as traditional funds. And family members should be believed and trusted. If you think your wife will cheat on you and have fun with her boyfriend with your crypto, I'm sorry to say, you don't have a successful marriage. If I can build a good enough portfolio in future, I'll donate a significant amount to charities and leave a good amount for my offspring (and parents). I'll teach my future kids about technology and other stuffs so they would know how to cash it out lol.

Currently no one in my family who can understand this all but now I am trying to teach my kids about this technology even they are not interested because of age factor and some community activities but now I am trying my hard for this because if they are not able to understand this all then surely this all is going to be waste.

Right now, no one knows of my family for what I'm doing it now. Its hard to explain to them neither to the person to whom I trust about this matter actually. Though, I have a girlfriend so far but I still had a doubt to tell her all the coins I hold and store it into my wallet erc20 which is MEW and even for Bitcoin wallet such as Electrum maybe later.

I would hope someone leaves their private key inside their will. Otherwise the funds will be stagnant and hodled

Reminds me of that story about the owner of a crypto exchange who had a sudden heart attack. Unfortunately, the circumstances being so unexpected, he had never had a backup plan for his death. I don't think they were every able to access the hundreds of millions of dollars locked behind his password protected account. But that's the risk that comes with complete sovereignty, you have COMPLETE control. That's obviously dependent on you being alive, if no one knows how to access your account. Most people I find that have a lot of money in Bitcoin are somewhat paranoid to begin with, decreasing the chances of someone else knowing their keys.

If you die with your money on an exchange, then it is not lost forever because it is held by the exchange, who at some point will hand it over to the heirs, hand it over to the state, or just take it.

Personally, right now, it would be my siblings. I usually tell them about cryptocurrency especially bitcoin. And what's made me sure of it that they'd be my "heir" is that, they're showing interest on it. Whenever they see me post things here in bitcointalk, they ask me things which, fortunately, I can answer. And if I lack the knowledge, I just advise them to consult Mr. Google.

Right now,  they already know my username and password here in this forum. And they know the passcode in my wallet. Lucky for me, I have good brothers who know their limits and not mess with my things unless they're told to do so.