Bitcoin Forum

Last night, I was “advance thinking” in saving all of my passwords, private keys, seed phrases, etc., in case something happens bad to me later on. Lol I’m not saying that I’m dying or so. It’s just that I want to make sure that I would not leave my family empty handed later on if circumstances would arrive to me either by health deterioration, accident, etc. I want them to enjoy later on what I have left for them (just in case something bad happens to me because life is so unpredictable).

If you want to inherit your Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to your loved ones, which one of these would be your best option to save your confidential information?

1 - Notebook or journal
2 - TXT or doc file to be saved in USB or external hard drive (especially keystore files)
3 - Google Drive, Docs or Sheets
4 - Others (please specify)

I was also thinking of leaving a fingerprint for my phones to be unlocked for those Bitcoin wallet apps and exchanges that I  have enabled 2FA and Google Authenticator. It’s also not safe for me to save all of them in my dummy e-mail as draft, so I was going to transfer all of them on a much-secured option. Mobile phone is also not an ideal option for me as well, because there’s one time that it forced me to factory reset and I almost lost my seed phrases that I took screenshot using that phone (good thing I enabled Google backup back then).

I would love to hear out your responses to this one guys. Thanks!

I will keep my things very simple. Only bitcoin, there will be no altcoin because more altcoin means more wallets for them to discover and restore.

For my bitcoin wallet I have my seed in papers. Not all words are written in the same paper. Half of the words will be sent by mail or by in person to one group of people (max two) and the rest of the words will be sent same way to another group of people (max two). Both group of people will know my next of kin but they will not know each others. All of them will be instructed to give these papers to my next of kin if I expire by accident or any other reason. My next of kin will have basic knowledge on how to restore a wallet.

PS: Never store your wallet information in any online electronic device.

I'm moving towards a notebook one. Now most of my holdings on bitcoin and other coins are under a wallet generated and backed up using mnemonic phrases. And I've written them down on my dairy. My brother is a crypto dumb and my parents are getting old. I'd probably forward it to my girlfriend after we get married (soon). I still have many coins on exchanges and some of my payments are still carried out through web wallets. All of those IDs and passwords are saved to my google account. I need to share it too. But at the moment if I die suddenly, no one would be able to get any of my coins.

This is one thing I have never really taken care of, to be honest. I have this fear sometimes that I might die and my coins would simply stay locked. I don't think there's anyone I know who could get inside my wallets without prior research about BTC..

I might either teach a few of them (closest ones) how to use the wallets and where to take the passwords and seeds from or, otherwise, I'd probably write it all in a notebook although this is a quite bad idea to do so. Imagine writing a "how to get my Bitcoins!" tutorial for in case I die and a thief finding it. :D That one should either be very very well hidden (perhaps buried underground, but there's moisture and a lot of other factors you have to consider..).

Only make use of wallets that support private keys and seed phrase (paper for bitcoin or hardware for both bitcoin and altcoin is excellent as it can bypass any other protection like pin, finger print or password).

So far you save it for your loved ones to inherit it, it will be good to use a wallet that support BIP39, the reason is because only this backup is excellent enough, all you need to do is to let your loved ones know about bitcoin and how to operate wallets, they should know how BIP39 is so useful to the extent that they can use it to recover back whole funds/cryptocurrencies  from another BIP39 wallets, letting them know about hackers and scammers too.

So, all you will let them be able to access it the BIP39/seed phrase. With this, no 2FA, finger print, password, pin or any other access codes is required to have access to the funds so far the cryptocurrencies are stored on their individual blockchains which their private keys can access, the seed phrase is easily used to access all the private keys at ones and have access to all the cryptocurrencies.

Exchanges are not safe for this purpose as it could have been hacked and does not support BIP 39
Do not use custodial wallet/API key wallets because they do not support BIP39
Use BIP39 wallet that can be easily recovered from other BIP39 wallets for easy recovery.
Indicate the wallet you used for the cryptocurrencies.

We have a thread on this forum about the best way to backup BIP39/seed phrase, this is all what you need.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5256197.msg54635541#msg54635541

There has been multiple discussion about this in the past. You might want to check it out. Pretty sure 80% of the tips were already mentioned:

- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5097720.0
- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5194028.0
- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5245183
- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5106560.0
- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5180850.0

For me I still have a small money in crypto to think of this scenario, but If I am going to die I'll just let them know on a sheet of paper. My password and pin on my mobile wallet.

I have personal friends who knows cryptocurrency, in fact they are the one who told me about it and taught me how to do it so it won't be a problem for me and my family to recover my funds in any of my accounts. I hope someday we'll have to talk about it, if one of us die suddenly we should be responsible for transferring the money to his family end. Basically writing it on a sheet of paper is risky, coz what if your house got robbed?

Perhaps it's about time to discuss it with your family then? We really don't know man, if you have a ton of bitcoins, at least let someone know how to access it.


Yes, we really need to go old school and write it everything down or used our imagination on how to hide our private keys, like burying it underground or something. Or just a vault in bank to make sure it will be safe from criminals or physical damage.

I think that there is only one way to inherit Bitcoin to your loved ones - to give them private key to the wallet.

This is true, this is about time to tell your family or teach them how they can access your wallets if ever that something bad happened to you. There's no need for prior research, you can guide and explain to them everything they need to know.

Or simply put your trust on someone that really matters to you. Doing such hiding, burying, or what is like you're avoiding anyone even your family to have it. It will only put to waste if you leave it behind that's why it is better if someone will benefit from it even if you are not here anymore.

Crypto is a form of an asset and inheritance which should be handled the same way you handle all your other assets. If you hold bitcoin I will advice you to file a documents containing the wallet phrase private keys and put it as part of your will same way you do for your other properties. So when you die, your relations can inherit it. It is now left for them to understand how to use the information you provided to access the crypto

If you have a lot then might as well just spend it now to buy properties or something that is tangible and that you know they can benefit even without your coins.  Just let your coins be found. You can add a note that you have some type of digital assets and how to access them.

I haven't thought that far like dying but I might just print my addresses and privatekeys along with it and pin it on the bulletinboard we have. Its just embarrassing that I only have few my kids will just laugh at it but at least they won't have to quarrel over it.

My option is Notebook or journal because all my accounts,email, password,wallet address and ptivate keys are all listed on my notes. And i think, for me i will teach them about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and on how to use it so that it become easy fot them to inherit my bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. It is like a tradition or custom that every member of the family should be taught so that it is not difficult to pass on to them and to the next generation.

Its a good thought of inheriting all our earnings in bitcoin form to loved one's. In a way you have mentioned all the possible ways to inherit our stuff to people we love. If you think little deeper, then it would be better to option out for all of them because you never know what might just happen to your drives, cloud storage or notebooks. At least there will alternate options to open up inherited jackpot if something goes way wrong.  :P

However, if i start getting hunches that I am gonna die then I will do keep all these secretes in my bank locker and as soon as my will is read loud they will come to know what's in the locker and what to do about it. So that way it could be far more secure than keeping at corner of our houses.

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Anyone is thinking other stuff like, it might happen that someone will come with the idea of storing all these in cryptographic form over cloud and you can have legal access to it. Then this data can be released by these so called cryptographic storage company to the inheritance after successful confirmation by means of uploading legal docs, fingerprints etc. Could be nice project if thought with lucid details.

You want to save recovery data so you need to save it encrypted and then divide the encryption into several parts, including for trusted people or put it in trusted places.
There are many cryptographic algorithms and algorithms that divide cipher into parts.
You can then modify it so that 7 out of 10 of them can access data and money.
or you can make it 10 part and 10 members

I have not really think of that. I don't know since I think I'm still too young to think about death, although we never really know when will our time ends. And it's kinda scary to think about the idea of dying. But if ever, maybe a letter or a note in a flash drive? Then I will probably let my siblings know about it since they are the ones who have an idea about these things and my parents probably won't understand it.

I just hope that I will have a long life so I can prepare for this since as of now, I don't have that huge amount of bitcoin that I'm holding. And of course, my siblings are still at a young age so maybe when they get older enough, I can finally teach them how to access it.

@OP, all the options you and other provided are good but not totally the best option.
The first way for you to inherit bitcoin to your loved ones is making them understand Bitcoin and how it wallet are operated/kept saved because even if they later get the wallet information after you and dont know what to do the person that understand Bitcoin can still scam them.
Second, create a paper wallet will find guide in here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5144752.0).
Third, buy an iron metal storage for private keys and quadrat is best.

The issue of inheritance is something quite personal, not only in what has to do with its technical also legal, sometimes we take this as if it would never happen, but it is irremediable.

Find a lawyer, register your will and include the technical part of your assets, not just BTC, believe it or not, cash is always easy to hand out, but imagine someone who has a lot of liabilities and assets, it's really complex.

From your options selecting others, I can't specify, the obvious reasons.  ;)

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There are several threads dealing with this topic.

My family knows me as the dude who always writes important things on receipts and other throwaway pieces of paper. It might not mean much to them but I see this as an ingenious way of writing down something important without anyone suspecting of what was written on the paper. This has been a way of mine for decades, and I still retain that habit even up to this day. Should I ever feel that I'm nearing my end, I would hand them down an old Reader's Digest book containing the 12-word mnemonic on my wallet. It has been highlighted in a clever way for people to not suspect what it meant. The only thing giving away the importance of the book is its place on my shelf. I'm pretty sure they'll figure out how to use bitcoin and to access my wallet once I gave them the 12-word mnemonic. I have lots of places where I hid my keys but that specifically is where most of the stash is.

Depends on whether they are technically adept at computers. If they are you can just dump your passwords into a text file on a USB and encrypt the text file with a GPG key and write the password to the key on a paper next to the USB drive, and lock them away somewhere.

If they aren't then just write them all on a piece of paper and lock it away. Either way though, you can move all your bitcoins to a hardware wallet before death since they have intuitive user interfaces.

It's a good idea, we really don't know when we will die. I guess I'll save it on a flash drive and keep those on a safety vault.

If someone in my family used that flash drive, there will be a note that will show the step-by-step process of accessing my wallet. Definitely it will gonna be a spoonfeeding note so they can easily access those BTC that I've earned. If they want to continue the legacy in cryptocurrency, I'll definitely create a different note about it.

All of my passwords in certain devices like PC and smartphone are included there but not social media accounts.  :D

I keep the records of all the keys and passwords since from the start but I'd never tell anyone about it. Maybe it is a time that I need to inform them about it and how to access it through phone or laptop/PC and let them aware what of I actually doing for many years. Letting them a chance to access it personally will help them fully understand and they also know what they have to do once we are gone. It gonna be thinking about a bad end but nobody knows  :D.
Only we have to be sure that our families who left behind can benefit from it.

By using this one, all the information of my wallet was saved in my google drive, since there is someone from my family who knows my account. I already discussed this because I also think the same thing before. Luckily, I have someone who I can really put my trust that's why I am confident to trust my google drive to her.

Probably something similar to a time-limited storage or something? Placed somewhere pretty secure where details about it would be sent to my family every 3-4 months after my Death I suppose. To activate it, I'd probably ask my family to open a certain program and tell them that I already died or something. Specifics are pretty difficult to explain since I really haven't learned that much when it comes to such things, but death still seems pretty far from me so I still have plenty of time.

That, or I could just retire the heck out of a stressful life, give them my wallet and let them do anything about it BEFORE I die, and let them manage my balance so I don't have a problem anymore. It's like I'm making them inherit my stuff even before I die, is that allowed?

How sure you that your family will know that your wallet information is in the specific places if you'll get die(I am not saying that you will die, it's just an example), there is no assurance that your family will know it once get die 100%. So I will not do this thing, I will tell them my wallet information while we are living so whatever happens on me, there would be no problem because they already know about it, if you really love your family and if you really believe them you will no doubt give your information, they are your family, you work for them.
I haven't seen any topic about this before, since @joniboini mentioned these things, OP, you may lock your topic.

This is feasible but I do not think that this is the most optimal way of safekeeping your crypto details, you can put it in your will and testament when you want, it is not that you do not trust your family member but they might slip and accidentally show it to other people and it will be regarded with malicious interest.

The most common way to inherit Bitcoin to your loved ones through a Notebook, but not least use the old way to inherit Bitcoin
by writing in the letters. I store everything important about my life on an external hard disk, including the Bitcoin that I have.
So if the person I love open the hard drive can get the legacy of the Bitcoin that I have collected so far.

This topic has been discusses 1000 times already.Are you really so impatient about dying?
I won't inherit Bitcoin to my loved ones,because:
1.I don't have that much "loved ones".
2.They aren't as tech savvy as me and they don't know anything about Bitcoin and altcoins.
You should exclude option 3 "Google Drive,docs and sheets".Who the hell would leave his private keys in Google Drive?What if your Google account gets hacked?

Actually if written key phrase such as bip39 its okay but how about the private keys? That arent using those letter format? It would be hard to write barehand cause chances that you writr a wrong letter or number is high.

I think since we are in digital modern days now, I can used digital copy or save files that are not connected into internet like pen drive.

I did not think about it actually but this must be prioritize sooner or later,  cause we dont know what will happen we dont know and in just any cases that we are not ready for this incident.

Actually I'm not thinking these things yet, but I'm into taking notes all of my assets in crypto. Since my family are not techy savvy this is the best and easiest to them to understand about crypto. About saving in google sheet it is risky in my view so taking notes is safe instead.

I use Telegram for private data. Maybe it's not very safe, idk, but it seems that it's considered quite safe. My spouse has access to information required to open my BTC wallet, so in case of my sudden death he'd be able to access it in Telegram. Some people feel like they don't want to give access to their wallets to their close people until they actually die, but I don't understand why a person would leave someone something as inheritance if this person clearly does not trust the close ones while being alive.
Anyway, there are some smart ways of postponing the day the money becomes accessible (LoyceV's thread  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5180850.0)is dedicated to one such solution)

Your best best is to take everything offline, get a good hardwallet to store your bitcoins (and other altcoins) and securedly keep the wardwallet in a family vault or other secured vault. Someday, bitcoin will be worth a fortune

I will teach them about bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and defi from early years of their life and also tell the benefits of Crypto over fiat as well. But i will keep most of my Bitcoins a secret from them and I will tell my wife and my lawyer on how to retrieve those bitcoins, if in case of my sudden demise they can redeem those bitcoins. Also will be saving a copy of the private key in my bank locker it being the safest place in the world that I know of.