Bitcoin Forum

I was thinking the other day that if something happened to me and I was unable to speak or was in a coma, some of my BTC and 'alts' may be locked up forever...?

My brother is into cryptos, so he may be able to get into my Ledger Nano S w/the 24 word private key (which he would need to find), but there are other wallets w/pass phrases and keys to get into. He would need to search around for them on my PC, laptop, external HD, thumbdrive....  And if I placed a password to access them in a file, he would never get in...

Do people here have a plan to 'will' their cryptos to their families?  If your parents, brother, sister, etc.. are not technically inclined or do not know anything about BTC, are they even going to gain access to them? (If they even know you have them...)

Accidents happen and you really never know what is going to happen to you each and every day. (I'm >50 and can have a heart attack!)  Well actually I'm in decent shape b/c I'm a cyclist. That being said, I can have a cycling related accident... (both road and mtb for those interested)   :)

I'll probably end up producing a paper list to give to my brother. It's not really safe to have electronic copies of passwords/private keys lying around and on a PC that you connect on-line...

Ideas?  Do others have access to your crypto stash?

 

I've heard of many people writing out a step by step guide for their family members on how to cash out the crypto and where it is all located in case of death. You can store all this info in a bank vault or any secure place that can be transferred to a relative in the event of your death.

I'm younger than the author, but I thought about it myself. For this I did not invent anything too abstruse, but simply informed all my wallets and passwords to my beloved bride. So if, God forbid, something happens, she knows how to access my crypto accounts.

That will work in most cases.

But O.P you can do a last willing testament if ever anything happens to you the inheritance of your cryptocurrency will be divided to the heir of your choice. You can also specify how much they will be having to eradicate misunderstanding about cyrptocurrency, alternatively the safe is located in your respective bank along with the hardware wallet, paper wallet, or anything with password to access the funds, you can also specify the bank in each heir respectively.

It is not a bad idea to have someone you trust like a spouse or responsible offspring have an idea where your crypto private keys, pass phrases and/or passwords exist. In my opinion, there is no point dying for example and rendering your crypto portfolio inaccessible and locked up forever, where it could have been put to good use instead.

Many people involved in cryptocurrencies are starting to think also what will happen with their coins in case of their death, is it good to put that in the last will or not, to reveal that fact to their relatives and friends or not. And those who get the coins will they know what to do with them.
Personaly I think this is something you should share with the closest people you trust, because it would be too bad to waste the coins in the case of death.

My girlfriend of 10 years knows my wallet password & knows where my wallet backups are. I’m early 30’s so ain't writing no will yet. If I die she will be able to sell them in an OTC trade or something.

I have considered it for sure but I haven't gotten around to doing it quite yet don't know why actually. There should be a detailed video explaining how to obtain access into all the different wallets, but then again this doesn't cross my mind because I don't think I am going to die. Of course this could happen to anybody at any moment and therefore we should do our due diligence to protect ourselves no matter how unlikely the scenario. Thanks for bringing this up, I am going to look into ways of securing my crypto for my family now.

You can share your passwords and other necessary files with trusted family members. I think it is ok. In other case your criptocurrency could be lost

With my wife not wanting to hear of any word about "what if...", it's even harder to find a way to do this.
You are lucky, you have somebody in the family that understands crypto. I don't have this luck.

Bitcoin is not even my biggest concern (I'm not rich yet). It's the altcoins, of which some may have a future.
And with so many types of wallets laying around, making a list of coins, files, websites, passwords, would be too big and highly unsafe.

I would be happy to find a very good solution. For now the only one I have in mind is a text file with all the details I can gather, password protect that file and keep it somewhere at hand (USB stick?).
Of course it'll make sense only when she'll accept to talk on the "what if" subject, so I can tell her about the file and password. And actually get to make it.

The cryptosphere is relatively 'new', so many of the people who are into this market are probably in the middle years of their life. (My guess)  But in a decade or two, I'm sure there will be cases where wallets, trezors, ledgers have crypto locked up forever b/c no one knows either about them or how to access them.  I can see someone finding a Ledger Nano S and thinking that it is just a password protected USB thumb drive......toss it in the trash with the rest of the junk...

Guess it can be viewed as a death coin burn.... even if it is .01% or whatever amount.

Hmm, I do not even have a safety deposit box. I hate banks with a passion...........

Yeah, the alts and all of the individual wallets, especially if they are not ERC20. I think the text file that is password protected on a USB stick is good. Everything that is needed is written in the doc, maybe even instructions...)

No one really wants to talk about 'what if'........

Cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency trading is a taxable event in many countries. Hence, it is already officially listed in your documents and should be also named in your will. As there are many security measures necessary to access your coins and tokens (if you have done it right), one can think of telling someone who you really trust how to access your coins. It is also possible to do a 2 or 3 step approach: E.g. one close person gets the information about the wallet or part of the password, one other person gets the other part of the password and your will will state, were the (hardware) wallet can be found etc. Then it might be even more secure.
Overall, we should think about it sooner or later.

Yep, dude ))) But few days ago, we all talk about "What if"
I was really scared

Just trust your family because they are going to keep your belongings and keep your private key safe. i guess we need to show them our private key and files and supporting phrase password. Write down on how to open a your wallet so that it will have an easy access.

Well the alternative could be in a safe in your own home or any other secure location that a relative can have access to. The issues with these is that it could be costly to purchase one and depending on the size of the safe, it could be stolen from your home.

I have already prepared everything so if something would happen to me, there would be a second person that would know how to access my wallets.

I did thought of this recently and started acquainting my wife of my wallet details and really teaching her the way round the Cryptocurrency in itself. So, should in case anything happens, she knows how to make the withdrawal with ease. And also investments are not wasted away. I have a book I also write down these details.

Go to the lawyer and ask about it. Also you must leave your password and username in your will so that they can accessed your account and encash your coins. Put everything in safe place with the person whom you trusted. Having a will will make your investements worthy when you die because your beneficiaries can use them.

You'll also need the info for all of the exchanges that you have an account on. (If you have anything there...)   Your phone still needs to be active as well for 2FA.......hope no one wipes out that SIM card!

Exchanges will be long gone, there is a better method to storing your coins. It's just storing them on a simple computer.

Is a good topic and I haven't  ever taught of that. If I don't will my altcoins now I might end up in grave with it.  But the problem  is what if the one you will to don't have knowledge  in crypto  currency

I haven't quite thought about something like this. Maybe it's because my investments in BTC are not significant yet. It is a valid point you have raised however. I think one should make their wallet keys and other account access info secretly bailable to someone very trusted. I know it's hard to trust people but you just have to trust someone.

My parents told me few month ago "Hey, son! We know you are in cryptos. Its very interesting. Can we take a part? Here is money - buy some of it for us". So i'm personal trader of my parents and have access to their wallet)

You should learn him/her or your wealth will be lost forever. You can also write an instruction in your will.

sometimes I also think of you as the relationship between our death and bitcoin in the storage wallet, and after a long time I think I decided to save my important data such as email, paswod and private key in the notebook, so that if I die they can using and asking my friend who knows about bitcoin, that's my way.

I think it is better to teach them as well how crypto works. Even they know passwords, keys and other important details where you store it, they can process it on their own. They also need knowledge about cryptocurrency so that altcoins cannot be buried on your account and just forget it.

I do and if you know Hal Finney he did this thing, you can read his story here. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0 Almost identical situation you gave on what he went through with, even I didn't catch him up - he's a legend.
I have taught my relatives about crypto but I'm not giving them any access for it now. What I did was teaching them step by step on what procedure they have to do. They must understand the whole thing before getting to that point of doing something before unexpected things might come.

You can write your will and write on it all your passwords and private keys. Give it to your lawyer and he will pass it to your relatives when something happens to you. This is the easiest and safest way.
Or just give your private keys to your brother if you trust him enough.

I understand what you mean and it will all happen to all of us, therefore we should be willing to make a will. because later I will definitely experience it, And in that will I write in detail so that my successors do not find it difficult to understand. so my bitcoin and altcoin are not locked for good, and can be used by my successors.

Sometimes we have time to think like that and also wary it will happen, I prefer the steps to save in paper books to save email, paswod and also private key, and I think it is safer and easier to find when something happens in me unexpected.

If you are holding a lot of bitcoins lawyers wont be a good option,i suggest you have some statement in case you passed away,write it in a single paper or in a file in your computer and compress with password and put it in your email,then give the email address to your love ones,put some 2fa in your email so if you die only your love ones who has your phone can open the email your wallets and keys are stored.

Crypto currency had value and as such can be put in your will just like bonds and stocks and Fiat is. I will put it in my will and my father has my privatekeys stored away in his safe at his house should something happen to me. When I'm older and he dies I will give those privatekeys to my brother.

Dude, that is why we have sickness for us to be determined if our state is not that stable right? Of course it will be locked up forever, if you don't tell them the priv keys of your wallets.

Everybody has these thoughts. But I am a teenager so I am somehow not worrying about this event.
It seems like you'll have a sickness or you're just a pessimist that is afraid in seeing future. Be positive bro. But if you are a pessimist person, tell your passwords to them as soon as possible and teach your family cryptocurrency. Include it on your will dude.

This is one of the biggest holes in bitcoin, how to transfer our wealth once we are gone, I have a person that I absolutely trust, my mom and while she is not very technological inclined I have done everything in my power to teach her how to recover my BTC in case something happens to me also she has access to all my private keys, but for people without a person like that they will have a lot of problems when they get older.

This is still something that is often discussed because we do not know what will happen with the future or even tomorrow, my opinion is the only thing to face the problem is to give your private key to people who really you believe, like brother, sister , mother or child. and at least we should teach them how to dilute the bitcoin to be useful to them.

I already think of this also.. my sister is in to crypto and me also.. maybe we should make a will with step by step.. if in the future something happens to us , our family will benefit to the cryptos that we have. Just be careful if they ask for someone your family know that has a knowledge of crypto because they may take an advantage of their knowledge and your family may not able to enjoy your bitcoins...altsss

I will just entrust  my cryptos to one of the trusted family members and give him/her the list of beneficiaries of the proceeds of my cryptos. The idea of putting the recepient/s of your bitcoin and alts in your will is just fine because we can never tell our future. It us better that we put everything in order while we have the time to do so. For those who dont have somebody to entrust their cryptos, that would be a problem so at this early they should think and plan what to do now.

How you manage to translate preparing for the unexpected into pessimism is beyond me. Life deals people heavy blows when they least expect it and the best one can do is to be prepared.

Be 100% positive for what exactly? Positive that you will live forever or positive that your crypto portfolio will translate into massive wealth? How do these translate into your portfolio not getting locked forever in the case of a tragedy?

I will choose altcoin to hold short term and get big profit. and I will buy bitcoib for long term investment. because having altcoin and bitcoin is equally beneficial and profitable.

Its required to have a back up. Explain the details to whom you trust in your family. Be more documented that upon your absence, the asset you have can be taken upon. Teach your loved ones what you know, this would make them be familiar with what you are doing.

I have a habit of explaining certain important information to my spouse, so that she has an idea of what i am doing and she knows what should be done in my absence.

it is a very important thing and must be done because we will not know what will happen to us in the future, even a few hours to come. I always keep my personal data and make a backup for it. and I plan to tell my partner.

I can understand well this thing because I was also thinking this earlier , now I have made a planned and also used already , now I am waiting for the accident took with me ( that I can't expect that happen in any case ) .
I have my all the btc in a private key and that private key is attached by me in a online social media site and that social media account is accessible with the mobile no. And in that case I have already told my friend ( who is more trusted then what I have trust with my brother ) where is mine private key and what should he do after anything happen wrong with me , and also I told him that he can access my email id with mobile no. And can easily accessible every trading sites.

That's better. IT is needful to have one of your family knows you keys just in case something happen. Trusted member of your family is much better.

before the incident happened better prepare first, I have a close friend and he has a bitcoin account as well, my friend knows all my public and private key, so if I die let him continue and my best friend will know where my results are.

If I die maybe my bitcoin no one goes on and the coin already in the wallet will be scorched because only I know about my bitcoin, so others can not access our wallet.

Having a will statement is helpful if only you are willing to share it to the important people around you and we know that some of us don't have that. They might be living alone and old so it's their choice if it goes to charity or bury their btc with them.

Its advised to have someone being a back up with your important stuffs known. Select the person who is well trusted. Pray nothing should happen to you as such you mentioned in your thread. Focus on growing your funds invested in the coins. It would be a better to invent a blockchain wallet which gives an option to add someone as a beneficiary and they will be able to handle in case of the owner's death. This would help not waste the amount saved in wallets.

No method is fool proof, computers break down you know, what happens if someone throws away the hard drive with your bitcoin, that has happened before and it will surely happen again, if you create a paper wallet that paper can be easily destroyed, if you do something to preserve it now that piece of paper can be stolen, so it does not matter what method we think about there is always a way for that method to not work in the future.