Bitcoin Forum

Hi
It's a bit strange topic and situation so a friend of mine passed away in a traffic accident and I'm sure he have big amount of saved bitcoins in his wallet or wallets.
His parents a bit old school and they know nothing about technology or Bitcoin
So I want to tell his parents about it as probably his private keys is saved in his personal PC or email or his phone or some paper
And no I cannot go to meet them as I'm in another country now but I have his father's phone and another friend of mine living close to them

So do you guys think it's a good idea to tell his parents about it ? To search of they find some twelve words it's a key to some hisen coins ? Or what do you guys think?

Certainly you need to give this news that he might have some crypto and suggest them the clues you can think of if you are really sure that he has bitcoins. Sorry to hear the news of your friend's passed away. RIP.

You must share that, I'm sure his parent will be able to recover the asset. But I guess it wouldn't be a good idea to share with another of your friends as you know whoever have the private key, seed key, are the owner of the funds. Hence, it has risk sharing with some other people than his parent.
If you share with his parent, ask them not to do some silly mistake which may have to pay off later.

I feel sorry about your friend who passed away. You should be really telling your friend's parents about his funds in his bitcoin wallet because they could use it as their savings. So I think the best way to say to your friend's parents about his funds and teach them how to access it, while you are away is by showing them where your friend possibly hid his private keys if it is in his computer or email accounts, and you can explain to them how to open his wallet by making a video call which you will set an example on how you can open your bitcoin wallet.

You ask and do something "call" is a good idea.

My suggestion;
1. If you can, you should meet parents, your friends who died, to tell and teach their parents, how to operate a Bitcoin wallet and tokens that are stored by your friends, which are gone.
2. You tell one of your other friends (alive), to meet a deceased parent, to help them operate a Bitcoin wallet.

I just hope for your friend who is gone, Bitcoin password / exchange he uses.
OP: Yes, that's a good step so far, you did it.

I'm sorry for the passing of your friend. Okay, the other friend of yours, do you trust him, and do you think that he'll say the true thing if ever he found out that there's a stash of bitcoin on your friend's computer? I suggest you go there personally and if the parents can wait, that's much better because they'll trust you more than any other peer. Ask the parents if there's something that their son has said about keys or passwords or wallets, etc.

It is not a bad idea if you tell his parents. Depending on your level of closeness you have with your late friend, you may need to tell any of his parent that you know will be ready to listen to you and do not see you as someone intending to scam them because they do not know what bitcoin is. You need to enlighten them and tell them what bitcoin is and also provide them some of the proofs you have that makes you believe your late Friend has bitcoin in his wallet. I wish you best of luck. Do not forget to keep us updated.

You should tell his parents about the bitcoins in your friend's wallet, also you must be knowing his public key, so you can check the amount of bitcoins that he was having and tell their parents the dollar value of his bitcoins. Maybe they will get a lot of financial help with this money that their son left in investments. At least a good friend in my position would have done the same if I were you. Also please tell them to not share that key with anyone else as they can take that money and they will never know who took the money.

First of all, my deepest condolences for your loss and for the bereaved family. Now sir, if by any chance the deceased really had quite a good amount of crypto currencies when he was still alive, then there really is a great chance that he has an untouched wallet with bitcoins or other coins somewhere in his smartphones, pc or maybe a hardwallet for those coins since he died. If so, then the family of your deceased friend has the right to know about this and decide whatever they wanna do with those coins; whether they wanna get their hands on those coins for their own purposes or keep it untouched the way it is as respect for the deceased. Either way, you should contact the parents together with your other friend near them so he can help the parents in understanding about the worth of those coins.

On a side note, it is always refreshing to see people like you who value enough your friends that you also care about their parents. And for that you deserve a merit.

yes tell his parents I personally have a box with instructions for my son and wife in case that happens to me

It will be worthless if there's no one will be able to access those wallet or wallets.

Calling his realtives and discuss about those assets that your friend have is very important, it will
be use for his funeral and also be a good help for his family.

It's a duty call for you being a good friend, for sure you won't like to waste those assets that your friend
have, it's best to inform his parents about it.

I think it is much better if you can tell them in person instead of through the phone, as it is, they are in the state of morning and will be very sad at this time, so telling them about things they have no idea on the phone would sound a bit confusing to them, very heartbreaking to hear this, condolence.

My deep condolences and I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. Earlier, I had a thread (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5259679.msg54725208#msg54725208) of mine about inheriting Bitcoin to my family and loved ones in case something happens to me whether by accident, health deterioration or any circumstance.

I would make sure that my family would have access to my assets by saving it on my notebook and keep it inside a box (in case there's a fire or so in order not to burn down my notes). I can also save it on a USB or external hard drive with all keystore files, passwords, private keys, seed phrases and other stuff.

My family is already aware that I do Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for more than 2 years. I would think of putting the notebook in a fireproof box with a message saying "Open this box when I die anytime. This is my inheritance to the entire family.", and also the USB with all the details in case they do not want to write the password or private key manually. I will also leave a fingerprint of mine in a cropped plastic cover because some Bitcoin apps of mine has 2FA and needs access to my phone with fingerprint, or I can leave a passcode as well.

You can tell your friend's parents about it like if he has his own room, they would look for some piece of paper, notebook or so with his private keys, seed phrases, etc.

I'm sorry about his death. RIP.
Firstly, his parents are/seems old school and now isn't now the right time because it'll be a bit a big time to put. Even now, you aren't sure of where is private key is stored and what if he has a 2fa on his wallet. It's going to be difficult to access such wallet.

Give them first a time to mourn. Even they don't have ideas on what will you supposedly told them, in a conditioned and relaxed mind, they will learn how to do it. There might be some close friends to them who can help and knows this bitcoin thing.

Does your friend living close to them know this bitcoin stuff? If yes, then good. Tell the family that someone is willing to help them. If no, then let your friend not be involved here.

But remember, when the time comes now that you need to tell them about bitcoin, just assist them "if they told you to do so". Don't say right away that you will help them access it.

First of all condolences.

Then if it's really worth it for them you should make them aware (I mean if this is not an amount that "can change" the life I will just wait, you're just renovating their pain for their big loss... but probably is also a cultural prospective)

So in a delicate situation if it's really worthing at a certain point yes you should explain this kind of stuff and explain clearly that is really hard to trust someone that can access to laptop/other data for them.
I mean it's full of con artist ready to stole money/bitcoin. If they don't know the public key there is an huge risk that they can get scammed :( since no one can be aware of what is happening.
You don't know any of public address used by him? maybe this can help to avoid any scam attempt...

If he's got a crap load of Bitcoin sitting on his computer, then it's wise to tell his parents before they end up selling his computer and the rest of his belongings.

Since his parents are almost certainly his next of kin, then they'll be the ones to inherit the funds.

Although it might seem insensitive to do it straight away, you should at least let them know they shouldn't sell the computer until after this check has been done. If they don't know how to do it, they could just install Teamviewer on the PC and you can do it for them remotely.

Hopefully his seed phrase is hidden somewhere easily accessible.

I'm pretty sure your friend would be happy to know that you are willing to help his bereaved family get something from his stash, however you must first give them some time to grieve and let them mourn for their lost loved one. A month or two after, perhaps you can message them about it and teach them how to find the mnemonics, private key or whatever and redeem it. I do hope that they get to have those coins and use it for their own sake since your friend would also want that to happen for sure.

Just hope that your friend left some easy to find clues and the PC or laptop that he's using does not have any password into them, so as to aid your cause and for his parents to not have a hard time getting those coins.

First of all, condolence to you bud and rest in peace to him.

You should tell his parents that he/she has bitcoins stored in his wallet 'cause it might help their family. I don't find any problem with it telling them since Bitcoin isn't a bad thing. If they ask about it, you'll be the one who should be responsible to answer all of those questions since you're the one who will tell about it. I hope you find the keys to his wallet, good luck mate.

If you have his father's phone, then it is a good idea to call his father. However, it is better if his parents know about the possibility of Bitcoin in his wallets. He should know what his son has. And at least you have shared the important information to his father as a friend. Regarding what will his father does, you must let him decide it. If he knows how to track the private keys and how to access the wallets, then you only need to share the information. But if his father doesn't know anything about the Bitcoin technology, you need to guide him, at least by sending some instructions or the like.

Just talk to the other friend about it first, because it won't be easy teaching bitcoin to his father over the phone. Have the other friend liquidate the bitcoin to cash and present it to the parents for them to inherit, they probably won't learn how to use bitcoin just because their son left behind a lot of it when he passed.

It is the right thing to tell his parents whatever asset the guy left after his death.  You can try to contact them first with the number then through video call, you can instruct them on what to do.  If it is to troublesome, you can then let your friend that is leaving near them to get involved.  I hope the friend that died kept his private key on his PC, and the PC or unit he is using is not encrypted.

It's a good thing you shared this kind of unusual scenario, because at least some of us here has a friend who has Bitcoin or other alts in their wallet, and I know how difficult it is to explain and teach the parents who are not so tech savvy specially that they haven't become interested in digital currency.
Well, letting his parents know about this will be always be the right thing to do, but If your friend have just passed away, at least give some time for his parents to grieve, and tell them about it after maybe a month. They might get less interested or worse ignore it at this moment of grief.

As a family man or a member of a family in cryptocurrency, we need to get a storage device that can be kept safe with consent of someone, perhaps direct them to some trusted friend in the space that can access your portfolio in case you are not there or dead. The anonymous nature of the space and security consciousness may deprive the passing down of such a wealthy asset for the future rightful beneficiary. We will see more of this but we might need to reduce lost crypto asset with this mindset.

If you believe your friend has a large amount of Bitcoin on his wallets, you should tell his parents. But this important thing like that can not
be explained by telephone, my advice you should discuss it directly with his parents. So if you have spare time you can go see your friend's
parents, but if it's not possible for you to meet them. You can ask the help of your other friends, who are close to the house of your friend who
has passed away.

Yes, thru video call you can talk with them as soon as possible and as much as you want to tell them. At least let them know the potential assets that he left behind. Maybe someone from their immediate family knows about his crypto dealings and can help the situation.

Really sad hearing about the passing of your frend due to traffic accident, may his soul rest in peace. I think you are obligated as a friend to make sure his family knows about owned bitcoin and perfect way to do it is try as much as possible to pay the family on condolence visit amd tell them about what your friend was upto with bitcoin and if you can't get to their country, you should probably get your other friend in that country involved so that he'll be able to explain better to the parent of the deceased

Its just an ethical thing to be done when you do let his parents know about his coin possession yet there are no other people who would make use of those coins but only to his loved ones.
You should let them know about crypto and how to unlock those coins and convert it to cash since those parents are bit oldschool then telling them even the basics wont really require much time.
Also, those amounts might really be a big help to them in terms of financial because if you do let those coins to be untouched nor wont be accessed anymore then its just a waste of money
if you do know that the keys were just there.

2 choices.

1. Either go to their house directly and you will be the one to get the Bitcoin that your friend had and give it to his family or convert it into fiat then give it into his family that would be better since they aren't that techy like you said.
2. Contact a very trusted friend of yours which is involved in crypto and let him do the job.

If you are just close to their house then this would've be easier but you are in another country so it would be hard unless you will sacrifice some time and money to do this. For sure your friend will appreciate it if you will be the one who will do it. RIP though.

That is how important to have this
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5259679.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5259679.msg54725526#msg54725526

and to talk with. It was unfortunate if they save a lot that nobody knows what his addy and password, and where he stored his Bitcoin.
Well, it hopes that something had left for their parents even though they can't fully recover your friend's holding. Because it for sure, they don't also know about crypto for their ages.

I hope there is a way to trace and find the key or there is a copy on his laptop. That seems possible also if he entrusted his crypto assets to someone else to his closest friend or relatives.

The first one you mentioned is the best option, his friend will appreciate the effort and will really be happy for helping him to help his friend's family. It is better than contacting a friend, even if he know it or trust it so much, if he is not around, who know what his friend will do since this is about money.

This above is the proper advice.


If his parents can read English  point them to this thread. Sooner rather then later. Explain you are sorry that your friend and their child has passed on.

I have lost all my children (2) so I know it does hurt.  But to lose a possible 10,000 USD or more  value would also be sad.

I wish you and his parents my condolences.  God bless all of you.

If you tell them about it then please consider some things before doing so, first is they are technologically challenged as you said and they might not know what to do which means that they might be a target for oppurtunistic scumbags to take all the coins for themselves, if you can, you might as well go there and help them yourself. The friend you mention might not be trustworthy all along so that can be a factor, it really is a good thing that you should tell them about that coin but on the other hand greed can manifest and amplify someones desire.

I'm sorry for your loss. Of cause, you should explain his parents what is Bitcoin and how it works. It's very important and they will be interested to know more about their son's hobby, no matter how many coins he owned.

That is really a sad story, you have to tell his parents about that, his parents are liable for the things that are left by their son, the hard thing here is where do they find the keys or the information of the wallet of their son, even though it is in the desktop, it's still hard because I think he saved it into the secret files. Hoping that they will get the information about the wallet so they will use the money that has worked by their son, for sure if the boy is still alive, he also wants to tell it his mother and his father.

That is why I am open to my family, they know my wallet information because all things can happen anytime, what if you will get an accident and you die rapidly without even saying some important things you need to say. If you really trust your family if you really love them you should let them know about this kind of information.

You can tell them directly about it but do not give them high hopes as you were not sure and just only speculating a certain amount or value of bitcoin. And this news should not be keep by you for in the end you might be having some regrets.

In my own perspective telling them would not be difficult since you are just about to give them care and probably fortune. In this case you might also be needing some proof of your friendship and how you know about bitcoin together. By then, your help being offer will surely appreciated and  accepted.

However, since you are more knowledgeable about it and as a humanitarian help after the loss of your friend then you should not take adcantage and let them decide wether they will give some of it or not. If they will not.give you a tip for your help or if you do not need it also then that would good but if you need some of it then I suggest to take a bit enough for a snacks or a meal. LOL.

That is a good idea to tell his parents that your friend has bitcoin in his wallet. You or your friend can teach his father to access it, or if they need money, you can help them sell the bitcoin. If you can find local sellers, that will be good because you can cut off some of the ways without using the exchange. It is better to make a video call with his father, your friend who lives close to them, and the seller who can you trust.

You can try to open your friend's wallet, and if the wallet needs twelve words, you can ask your friend to search on his computer, mobile phone, or another place.

Its really a sad thing to hear, if they can't able to find the recovery seeds then it is impossible to access those funds.You have to let them know about this to their parents and other person who is having some knowledge about this and trustworthy so they might have a chance to access and cash out their son's asset.

I think there is a chance that they will ask for other people that are knowledgable in the world of technology because OP does not have enough sources and capability to go into their place. Still, if they ask other people quite risky because there is a probability that that person discover the large amount of the bitcoin he has it will cause of inside job still if you don't trust them better to get the computer or get the seed it is easier to access the information but the main problem again is the seed or the password because you need to find out on it's all account and room.

Also, it is a better way to access the computer is the computer routing you can use the AnyDesk to access the computer whenever you are.

Well thats a sad news. Anyway is this other friend of yours can be trusted? It would be better if you personally meet his parents and tell this thing.

If its not too much help them to find the keys to open his wallet and assist them how to cash out it as you have said they are not aware of bitcoin so it will be hard for them to grasp.

But since you're in another country its quite hard to do it yourself. I just hope the parents get what their son left.

It is a good idea to tell his parents, however, it's much better if you are the one who will assist them on finding the private keys of your friend's wallet. You can do it some other time if you have enough time and can fly to your friend's country, it can wait actually instead of letting them or someone close to their house does it.

First of all I hope this is a genuine & honest OP, secondly if so please accept my condolences for the terrible loss of your friend. Thirdly yes, please try everything you can to get the bitcoin to your friends next of kin. 

By doing this, you'll be able to give them a good knowledge regarding to what your friends investments and to bring the attention of the figured that you are talking with.


This is very important so much better to give them a call to explained more deeper, it will avoid them from the  hackers and scammers if they already aware of this assets.

That's a sad news to your friend. You can tell his dad about the bitcoin saved inside his pc or mobile phone. So they can access your friend's wallet. After all, they are the "relatives". I do think they have their close relative to them that might help them find the private keys stored in his mobile phone or pc. You may have a good purpose if you inform them about your friend's left btc. Good karma will come if you help them.

Who says he did not leave instructions for his parents if something happens to him? I made sure that my family knows what to do if something happens to me, so if I suddenly die in a accident... they will know exactly what to do.  ;)  (None of them are really into Bitcoin, but the instructions are making it very easy for them)

I think you must give them time to deal with his sudden death, because I think money is the last thing they are worried about. I will phone the dad and just offer to help, when he wants to deal with those bitcoins.  ;)

how do you know that he died , did his parent contacted you ? if they did it , you must be a trusted or a really close friend .  

its okay to ask his parents  then and im sure that they wont be angry with you and you will not use the money anyway for your own good but you will give the money to his parents and his parents can decide if they will give some to you .  anyway sorry for your loss and condolence to the family of your friend .

Yes, this is a good idea and your friend will be happy if you do it,

I'm sure if ever that your friend really has bitcoin in his wallet, it will be a big help for your friend's parents. You can just instruct them on where and how they can possibly find the information about the wallet.

First and foremost, condolence and rest in peace to your friend. Yeah, it might be good to tell your friend's family about bitcoin if he had spared some backed up keys or note on his computer and it would be a good thing to do as your friend.  You should go to your friend's house and personally look into his computer to make a confirmation about it and if yes, then you can tell everything about bitcoin and teach them about it if necessary.  If he has younger brother, sister instead it would be perfect teaching them first hand.

I think you should tell his parents about this,
but, not via phone. because I'm sure they will be confused hearing your explanation.
You should talk directly with the parents, or it can be through your close friends who are there

If your friend was smart his seed was not on the computer (or if it's there is in a password protected archive you'll never break). So get them search for a piece of paper containing
* either one or more lists of "random English words"
* either list of "strange letters/numbers" like KyNyPnXbYu31vwAfngmhYHdAb6jMymCRu6zTsmptZbQB7EtLSBuE (yes, you need to try to give them an example or explain a lot)
That's not so difficult to achieve and if the mother tongue is not English the list of words may somehow be more visible.

Of course, telling them such news needs certain skills, since it's probably very early after their loss and the may not care of anything really. But you have to tell them think about it. They may do.. later on, maybe even after years...
Maybe it's enough to not sell/throw away anything for a while and maybe someday you get to explain more detailed face to face.

Since your friend's parents do not understand the technology, I would simply tell them the importance of it, and that they preserve all of his belongings. They may throw the computer away or loose papers. So I would tell them to protect all the documents until you can search the computer and find the seed phases.

Hope that helps you a bit!

Why are you so sure that he had a lot of bitcoin?

I don't know that it is a big idea to tell his parent since they will not know bitcoin and how to using it. But maybe if he has an older brother or a little brother that actually have a knowledge how to use a computer/pc then it will have a chance to dig up lots of information about your friend. I know this is a big risk for crypto user, when we die all of our bitcoin and another crypto currency in our wallet will be useless unless we talk to someone that close to us to know our activity to digital currency, like I do now to my wife.

The amount of bitcoin his friend may have stored is of no importance to any of us.  

You're right it can be a risk if you aren't keeping your finances in order.  I wrote a thread about establishing a financial Will ( collectibles themed- but concept and information to creating one remains the same) - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5134350.msg50703294#msg50703294

It much happier if his parents can open his Bitcoin address/es and get those things inside.

That seems to be a big problem unless your friend had left something about the private keys, passwords, and where it saves. Otherwise, they'll get nothing. Not really sure but it probably they don't know anything about Bitcoin and what their son's doing.
 
But anyway, nothing is more important for them but to see their son even though it was dead already.

Sorry to hear the story of your friend. Our life is so short and we dont know when we will suddenly pass away.

About the bitcoin wallet, how do you know that he stores his private key inside his computer? He might use some sorts of online wallet which is faster and better although they might scam you. But its hard to happen. Well, Convincing his parents is the only way to get access to his computer. Oldschool people might obsolete, but I believe they willing to learn something new, especially from their son's friends. However, I suggest you to wait for about 2-3 months and then talk to them

This is very important to inform at least one member of your family to tell about your assets in crypto. Life is uncertain and we do not know what will gonna happen. However, in my opinion, it's good to tell his family about it and at least teach them on how to access the wallet if the private key can find.

It's a sad tragedy but we'll have to move on in order to survive.

You better have to tell one of the family members of your friend, maybe the father first since he might have some idea about of the Bitcoin wallet or something in the technology. Better to talk them/him in private if you ever have the chance to do it and also we don't know yet if your friend set an alarm or something to automatically send a message (http://ifidie.org/learn) to one of his friends or family that has all the information needed for the crypto currency.

Just make sure a random burglar can't get a hold of it.

On topic, I'd let your friend's parents know, but I wouldn't ask your friend to go and mess with that. You either do it yourself or you don't. Do you want to tell the whole world about your dead friends coins? The moment you tell it to your friend,you create gossip. He'll get drunk and tell it to some of his friends and one day some drug addicts will break into the house looking for your dead friend's coins.
Tell them not to throw away or sell any of his electronics and either find someone trusted to search for their son's coins, or wait for you to come and do it.

Human life is really very uncertain and people need to be aware of this reality. The sudden death of your friend is really sad. Each of us should inform someone trusted about our cryptocurrency assets so that our assets are not lost due to any kind of accident in the future and these can be used by our family members. If you are familiar with cryptocurrency and you think your friend has enough bitcoin, you must help his parents to recover it.

If you're a good friend you definitely want to tell their parents about it. Maybe help them educated themselves about Bitcoin so they don't ask you to sell the Bitcoin (assuming that they don't have the computer literacy to do it themselves). Teach one old man and he will teach the whole neighbourhood  ;)

Good luck with it, man and I'm sorry to hear about your friend.. May he rest in peace!

I have found solar power to be really reliable.

Well, that is the life that we have to face. We don't know when we are going to die and your friend that has sudden death perhaps his not ready yet.
I have one suggestion, --perhaps this will work while you are in a far country. Try to have a remote desktop or any device of your friend that you can access even if you are in a far place. Just communicate with the parents of your friend and tell them what they are going to do.
You can research or follow this step, ^{[ https://lifehacker.com/use-your-computer-from-anywhere-a-guide-to-remote-cont-5902654 ]}.

---

Well, perhaps you can help the parents of your friend financially by recovering his bitcoin. Just like funeral cost.
R.I.P to your friend.

You can make it simple if his parents knows you and trusts you. You should explain that to them and ask them for remote control the PC -(First check the personal computer either it is laptop or desktop) You check it over internet then if you find nothing then you should tell other options to parents to do it. It will be hectic but the outcome will be great.

BTW what things make you sure that he has coins?

I am sure that you are going to give those coins to the parents right?

TEX-LXRY

The parents of your friend would be thinking you are interested in this hidden digital asset his boy has that is why it's hidden.  You'd better just tell them from afar over the phone than going to the house of your friend to search for this privatekey because it does sound like a KGB is in search for a spy's code.

For people who dont know much about tech then remote conversations would really be somewhat hard.It is much better if there are people who do reside

together with his family or shall we say his younger sister/brother then that would be more worth for you to teach em up or any relatives that are quite

familiar on how tech works but actually understanding the basics wont really be that hard for someone. About funeral cost then we wont know if

his friend do have much even more money fiat value of his crypto.

Sorry to hear about your friend, if you really believe that your friend has a lot of Bitcoin in his wallet. It's best to tell the parents,
because as friends we must help. In my opinion began to try to explain to your friend's father by telephone, if indeed you cannot
meet them. If your friend's father doesn't understand what is have you explained. Just ask for help from your other friends.

If they don't know what Bitcoin is it's better if they don't attempt to do anything with their son's holdings. It's easy to delete something or damage the hardware.

Tell them there might be money on his computer or some passwords written somewhere and ask if they have someone in the family who knows about cryptocurrencies.

It is just awful to loose a friend and I feel sorry for that mate. Regarding your question if you need to tell his parents since you wonder that their son might be having saved Bitcoins in his wallet, well I think you must probably tell them right ahead because their son might be saving them for the future or the sake of his parents so it is their right to know that their son have left an amount of Bitcoin which they can use.

As a good friend since they are old school, why not get into them right after this pandemic and explain everything and just do a call right now to somehow inform them about it but do not share private informations on calls. If you think that they cannot be able to use Bitcoin as it is, then well at least make a way for them to use the Bitcoins of their son so might just convert it into fiat and give it to them because even if we do want to save it for good, but his parents could not handle to do it, why not just give the amount in fiat so that they can already be able to use for I am sure that your friend might be happy of what will you do to his family whenever he is right now.

Sorry to hear the news about the passing away of your friend, Please accept my condolences.



I think it will be a good idea to let his parents know their son have some assets online and guide them step by step on how to get access to it,that way you will introduce them to Crypto currency even if they are going to sell all the crypto, but at least they will have an idea about what bitcoin is, there by creating some awareness. Rip to your friend.

Very sorry to hear the passing of your friend, this is also telling everyone of us that life is very unpredictable, and it is important to let at least a member of our family know about our involvement in crypto, knowing this will give them a clue should any sad situation occurs,
Just like everyone already suggested,  endeavour to let the parents know and if you can deliver the message in person so it will be much easier for them. Condolence.

Fact : Most wallets now allow the Bitcoins to be passed on to someone else.

Therefore if you are able to unlock his mobile you will be able to talk with the wallet companies and such about it , surely there will be someone who did knew about his password and therefore it would be easy for someone to do it .

I do think you should not tell about it to anyone except his parents.

DO NOT TRUST ANYONE

But then again you cannot go there on your own and so I would suggest you to just wait it out when you can travel or if he has a brother or sister let them do it .

It is a very critical matter and I assure you the wallet company will understand too .

So I do think there are only the following things that can be done:

•Physically meet his parents and check his mobile then encash and transfer it into their parents wallets

•Ask help from his siblings

•Talk with the wallet company , you should know that much at least.

I do hope everything goes well , his parents went through a lot at this time , they lost a lot , this would at least help them financially , plus I would like to send my regards to you and his family.

He is in a good place don't worry.
Thank you for helping him out even when he is not here .

I wouldn't care what they think of me because honesty and conscience is much more important. Why would you be afraid that they think you're spying if you're offering them free knowledge and possibly free money that they wouldn't be able to obtain otherwise?
I'd explain the situation and offer help. If they decided not to trust me, my conscience would be clear.

I think the best thing you can do is to communicate with the parents of your late friend and told them or teach them what to do to recover the bitcoin of their child.But always be careful and advise them not to open to other people regarding that matter because you already know that private key and other important details about the bitcoin wallet must keep it confidential. I think if you talk to them ,they will listen and they will follow what you say.

First of all, sorry about the loss of your friend. But it's better to let his parents know about his bitcoin. I don't know when did your friend die, but if it's just recently, better let his parent take time to grieve first before telling them.

Since you are in another country, you can make a phone call and slowly tell them about his bitcoin for them to understand. Or if your friend has siblings, it's better to tell it to them since they are more capable of understanding it. But if he's the only child, it's better to ask his parents directly if they know someone who they have trust that can help them with his wallet. It's not that I'm doubting your other friend, but since it involves money, let the parent choose to whom they will ask for help.

That's the right thing to do, nobody know when he or she is going to die but certainly we'll will do one day. Keeping things  like passwords and pass keys for out love ones to  check when gone is an advantage to the family, though, care must be taken to avoid revealing important information while alive.
Back to topic: OP should pass the message to the parent for them to check if they will find these keys to recover some digital currency from their beloved son that passed on. Our beloved ones should know our lifestyle and some secrets about our personal life to avoid lose of our inheritance with Bitcoin.

If your intention of telling your late friend's parents is to enable them discover and retrieve the stocked Bitcoin, then go ahead and do it. It's a noble thing to do. However, if it's the other way round and you want to harvest your late friend's Bitcoin behind their back since (according to you) his parents are noobs who don't know jack about Bitcoin, then it's wrong. Don't profit from other's misery.

For me, it is important to give information to his parents. Especially if they need money for living expenses after the child dies. If you're in another country, you better call your friend. If your friend does not know how to use Bitcoin and sell it. You can provide information to learn through YouTube. Or with technology now you can video call, then lead your friend to tell the procedure.

This is really a sorrowful news that your friend is no more. RIP. I wanna tell you that, firstly make sure that he has Bitcoin. if you are sure, then tell that to his parents. if his parents don't know anything about BTC, then tell them what is it. tell them about BTC's market value. then I think they will take necessary steps to recover your friend's Bitcoin. if you are a kind hearted person then give them fully technical support if they need.

I'm sorry for your friend, this is a sad thing to experience.
Similar cases when people die and leave Bitcoin behind in their wallets happen more often. If they haven't left any kind of last will where is instructed what to do with Bitcoins then family and friends might have serious issues what to do with it and especially if they don't have access to wallet. It's a legal.and moral question what to do.
Anyhow, in this case I think their family should decide and they should be offered some technical help to deal with it and its up to them what they are going to do with Bitcoins.

There is nothing wrong with telling them, but make sure that they don’t make the mistake of letting those keys fall into the wrong hands, because that will be a problem. If he’s making use of a wallet that makes use of email, then there wouldn’t be much stress, especially if they have the access to his email.

For example, if the wallet is a Coinbase wallet and they have access to his phone where the wallet is, and also his email address that he used to create the wallet account, then they can just use the email to gain access by creating a new password. They really need someone with experience or techie to assist them in this, and it will be best if you’re there.

For me the best thing that you could do is to inform them about crypto and the chance that their son have some money on the internet.
They could do it on their own or if you really feel that they couldn't trust anyone but you then you should go and convert those crypto into Fiat if they find some.
I think if he is really into crypto then there would be a lot of wallet and even exchange that you should check since crypto owners tend to use different wallets and plenty of trading sites to secure or hold some of their crypto.

So sad hearing your friend passed away. this is a common situation as most people who are into bitcoin investment hardly oet people around them know, i think you owe the family of your friend what you know about him and financial life, of at all they are able to retrieve the bitcoin he has, it would go along way in the lives of people he left behind, my advise is you should tell the family about it

Thats if there is some sufficient or ample amount of coins have been left on the wallet and as mentioned that op is trying out to reach out his parents to tell
about of those coins.

Its just ethical if they would tell them out about it since its their son after all and now its dead then they do have the rights on getting on what he do owns.

Its just sad to hear out these kind of situations thats why its important that we should at least consider finding ways on how our loved ones would inherit our coins
once we passed away.

Sorry about your loss, you guys must be very close judging by the way you are committed to helping his family recover his coin. I also admire your honesty and transparency because you have an open opportunity to possess the coin since his parents are old school.


My advice for you is, be very certain that there is actually Bitcoin left in his wallet, and if there is, be sure of its value, so that you will not unnecessarily put his parent's hopes up. I hope you are able to follow this all the way through, and I wish I can find a
honest friends like you.