So, you died.
People are sad, your body is dealt with, and the world keeps spinning. But what happens to your crypto?
Digital assets become part of your estate — and the gears of the legal system creak into motion to handle this digital body, now legally distinct from the one headed six feet under. The problem? Crypto inheritances are often less like accessing gold bullion in a safe, and more like inheriting a buried treasure — it can be entirely on the inheritor to actually find it!
This starting guide is for those planning their estate, inheritors, and executors — anyone who might one day be responsible for figuring out what to do with digital wealth that doesn’t sit in a bank account.
Though legal systems vary, crypto is usually treated as property, not currency. As such, upon death it must be inventoried and valued in the same way as precious metals, and distributed according to the will — if one exists — and local inheritance laws. This will usually be done by an estate administrator or executor, who will need to figure out the estate’s value at the time of death. Taxes may also be payable, depending on jurisdiction. Once settled, the estate ceases to be.
Bitcoin inheritance: The Bitcoin Executor
A situation like this is depicted in a forthcoming independent movie, The Bitcoin Executor, featuring Heartland’s Graham Wardle. In the film, a skeptical economics professor becomes the executor of his Bitcoin-loving colleague’s estate. The deceased left behind several hardware wallets, and as the professor attempts to distribute the coins, he learns about the technology while confronting the philosophy behind it.
For those thinking about passing on their crypto, Producer Cristopher Arcella has a simple piece of advice:
“Find someone you can trust, and then figure out how to trust them when you are gone”
Locate and access the deceased’s crypto assets
Losing a loved one is traumatic, and sets in motion a surprising amount of logistics.
“After the initial shock, families start thinking what needs to be done — they aren’t sure if they need to contact the bank,” says Joonatan Lamsa, Hedge Fund Relationship Manager at Wealthrone, who has a decade of prior experience in banking in Finland where he dealt with new estates on a monthly basis.The first step, he would tell them, is to get a death certificate, the provision of which results in freezing of the deceased accounts. “Crypto exchanges work the same way,” he says.
The first challenge in a crypto inheritance situation is often simply figuring out whether any crypto exists, and if so, how it was stored. If the deceased ever talked about crypto, there’s a chance they owned some — but unlike traditional assets, digital wealth may leave no clear paper trail.
Unless held in a financial institution via a crypto ETF like Purpose (Canada) or ProShares (U.S.), there’s no paper trail. Exchanges don’t send letters.In the case of self-custody — whether on a phone, USB stick, or piece of paper — there is no company or institution to contact. If no one knows to look — or even what to look for — the assets may remain undiscovered and permanently inaccessible.
Once you’ve found signs of crypto, you’ll need to determine whether the assets were held on a centralized exchange (custodial) or in a personal wallet (non-custodial). This distinction is crucial, as it affects not only access, but also the logistical and/or technical complexity of inheritance.
If stored on a centralized & regulated exchange like Coinbase, Binance, or Crypto.com, the approach is comparable to the access of a bank account as these companies hold custody of the digital assets on behalf of the client.
Lamsa emphasises that in order for estate matters to proceed, documents need to be in order. “The death certificate, proof that you are involved with the estate, and valid ID,” he lists as the basic requirements. “The best place to start is customer service, they are used to these requests.” Once the documents are confirmed, banks, brokerages, and exchanges will share information about assets held.
If the deceased left behind login credentials, it may be technically possible to log in and transfer the funds — but that doesn’t mean you’re legally entitled to do so. In many jurisdictions, accessing someone else’s account after death — even with their password — can be considered unauthorized use unless you’re acting with proper legal authority, such as through a will or probate appointment. Some exchanges may also consider accessing a deceased person’s exchange account without informing the platform as a Terms of Service…
cointelegraph.com