What Happens to Your Crypto When You Die?

Typical assets include tangible items such as cash, property, jewelry and art, in addition to stocks and bonds. Recently, more and more people are adding digital assets to their portfolios, usually in the form of cryptocurrency tokens like Ethereum, Bitcoin or Solana. 

Some of the leaders in the crypto world have advised investors to ensure that their cryptocurrency fortune remains in the family and doesn’t disappear. They claim that the smartest way to do this is to share your private crypto keys with a trusted family member or friend.

However, results from an Angus Reid study in Canada revealed that only one in four people had shared all of their account and password information with another person. If your account and password details remain a secret, then what happens to your digital assets when you die? Should your will include instructions for Bitcoin inheritance?

Cryptocurrency is open-source, meaning no one person or company owns or controls the currency, and everyone can access it. And because crypto doesn’t operate under a central authority or bank, it instead utilizes peer-to-peer technology ithrough which investors buy and manage digital assets over a secure network.

The crypto wallet app makes it easy for investors to make secure electronic transactions and control their assets, while also providing protection against fraud. The only way to access the virtual currency is with a private key, which is usually a 64-digit passcode.

It’s estimated that tens of billions in unclaimed assets are lost after someone dies, either because no one else is aware of the accounts or because nobody has the credentials to access them. After you die, will your beneficiaries have access to your cryptocurrency private key to inherit your Bitcoin?