What happens if we die?

[AGD]

Well, I have not even thought about it yet, So it's good to make a will with the private key that we have to give to people we believe if something happens to us later a good anticipation step

If bitcoin dies, I will lose an assistant for my job. I will have to continue the transaction through the bank, it worries me.

Sig spammers gonna spam. Ignorers gonna ignore.

[Ekanenf]

Nope, this is no existential question (although...). Everybody's talking about "When will Bitcoin die", but what if you die, and your family don't find your key, or don't understand it, or think it's only a useless sheet of paper with some code on it, or simply throw it away... Does this mean the currency's gone forever?

I find the possibility of this event rather realistic (yup I don't believe in eternal life), so that means that someday there might be 21M BTC but only 18M (and counting down...) is left in the market?

Your bitcoin will just remain on your wallet when you died, no one could open it unless they do know what is your private key and viola, your bitcoin would be in their hands, it is either they will seel it or hold it and use it for some good purposes. It would be better though if you are going to print a white paper and hide it somewhere, make a letter that could easily find by someone in your family saying about where you hid the white paper of your private keys.

[pecson134]

For this to be avoided you should disseminate some personal information with regards to your bitcoin property to someone who you really trust especially your family(but it can't be applied at all times when it comes to family matters). At least you bitcoins won't gone it to waste and lost forever. Dying sometimes was not expected but at least prepare for it when the time comes.

[Mokuton]

Then more lost bitcoins = more rare and worth more

[Jeger.Kiting]

I find the possibility of this event rather realistic (yup I don't believe in eternal life), so that means that someday there might be 21M BTC but only 18M (and counting down...) is left in the market?

Yes, That's right. Now there are lots of Bitcoins that no on have access to them and I think the number of such Bitcoins will increase gradually.
In my opinion all of us should have a will that contains our private keys or our passwords if we are keeping our bitcoins in exchanges.

You may be right for that, before we make a will and hand it to them, we have to tell you how to open our own Bitcoin purses so they will not be confused how to unlock the Bitcoin bag we left and give them. .

[hello_good_sir]

Nope, this is no existential question (although...). Everybody's talking about "When will Bitcoin die", but what if you die, and your family don't find your key, or don't understand it, or think it's only a useless sheet of paper with some code on it, or simply throw it away... Does this mean the currency's gone forever?

I find the possibility of this event rather realistic (yup I don't believe in eternal life), so that means that someday there might be 21M BTC but only 18M (and counting down...) is left in the market?

There is a feature in bitcoin called nlocktime, that basically acts like a dead man's switch. So it's basically a raw transaction to an specified address, the only difference is that the transaction can only be activated when a certain block height is reached. For instance, the 1,000,000th block. If you are still alive then you can obviously get your wife or whoever to send your coins back, but if you die(awww) then they get to keep it.

But you're right, this feature isn't widely used by any means.

So long term supply of bitcoin should be going down especially after the block rewards become miniscule. The number of burned coins, forgotten passphrases and inactive coins aren't going to come back to life unless an extradinarily large amount of collisions were found, which is pretty much impossible.

[iram3130]

My wife knows i have bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies she have the private keys of my account, i say to her if i die its her decision if she will withdraw all my coins into fiat for my death expenses or she could keep it for her and my son's future needs so its up to her

It's good that you have a back up of all your assets. My wife also has interest in cryptocurrencies and trade so she knows almost everything related to Bitcoins. If you have trust issues then it may arise some problems otherwise it's a great thing.

[xFiber]

This will only increase the value that bitcoin has. Therefore it's important to leave something behind that atleast your family can get into your wallet just incase you die. I've got my passphrases written down somewhere and I told my mom about it so if there ever would happen something to me atleast I can leave something behind.

[Casy]

The case might be just as you described it. The coins will be lost. Forever.
Another reason why bitcoin may become more valuable on the long-run, ss the total amount that can be mined is limited.

So, you should take care that the private keys will be revealed in case of your death, including a description what you can do with it, if you want your family or other people to make use of your bitcoins. On the other hand, if you don't want anyone to know about the bitcoins, it's the perfect way of "destroying" money.

[ekoice]

Thats highly possible to happen and it has already happened in many cases.Such bitcoins would become irretrievable becoming useless to any one especially to your family members.Thats why our family members should be taught about bitcoins and they must be provided with knowledge of private key.Otherwise,they would be losing a great fortune since bitcoin price may be very high during their periods.

[MaskMars1]

Thats highly possible to happen and it has already happened in many cases.Such bitcoins would become irretrievable becoming useless to any one especially to your family members.Thats why our family members should be taught about bitcoins and they must be provided with knowledge of private key.Otherwise,they would be losing a great fortune since bitcoin price may be very high during their periods.

The fact is that by inheritance you can transfer not only things or cash accounts. The fact is that even papers or records of relatives can be inherited. Therefore, these records can have everything And even the keys to your wallet, If you so very much want to make sure that after your death keys to the purses went to this or that member of your family.

[ethereumhunter]

When I die, before that happens I will teach my children to manage my bitcoin. And I've done that to the right to continue my bitcoin that has been running.

this is what i will to do before i die, i don't want to let my bitcoin disappear without any legacy so i think it will good if i can teach my children to learn about bitcoin. so if i die, they will continue for what i am do and they can use the bitcoin for their life. i am sure that i can do this and my children can do as they are capable to receive what i am tell them.

[YuginKadoya]

Thats highly possible to happen and it has already happened in many cases.Such bitcoins would become irretrievable becoming useless to any one especially to your family members.Thats why our family members should be taught about bitcoins and they must be provided with knowledge of private key.Otherwise,they would be losing a great fortune since bitcoin price may be very high during their periods.

The fact is that by inheritance you can transfer not only things or cash accounts. The fact is that even papers or records of relatives can be inherited. Therefore, these records can have everything And even the keys to your wallet, If you so very much want to make sure that after your death keys to the purses went to this or that member of your family.

You can surely do some research about certain thing that you can leave in this world, get a life plan and plan ahead and yes you can surely put all your bitcoin in it and you can find a trusted lawyer that if you die they can give your private keys and all the things you can abandon in this life time to your love ones, this is the only proper thing you can do to insure that your bitcoin would not go to waste, but yes a certainty of a lost bitcoin had a high provability, so plan ahead,

and for the OT of this thread, believe in the eternal life it is real, believe in Jesus that save us there is a GOD that will surely judge you if you can have eternal life or eternal death, but if you are an atheist I respect what you believe in and Good luck!

[speem28]

When I die, before that happens I will teach my children to manage my bitcoin. And I've done that to the right to continue my bitcoin that has been running.

Before you die? Not that you know when and how right? But what if, accidentally, an unfortunate event occured? What now? I guess it is better to somehow prepare for the worst possible scenario right? It will be a waste if all our hard earned bitcoin will just vanished without the chance of recovering it. Better safe than sorry guys.

[AwpDragonPoor]

How about, just try not to die, then it's a win win for everyone. At least tell your trusted ones what the key is for, so that you don't throw thousands of dollars of cryptocurrency to waste

[xFiber]

How about, just try not to die, then it's a win win for everyone. At least tell your trusted ones what the key is for, so that you don't throw thousands of dollars of cryptocurrency to waste

Hahaha that's it right there. Try not to die. But on a serious note though. You should always be a step ahead because this is life and anything can happen really even if you're still quite young. Just make sure you tell your relatives and store your private keys/passphrase somewhere.

[speedy963]

I find the possibility of this event rather realistic (yup I don't believe in eternal life), so that means that someday there might be 21M BTC but only 18M (and counting down...) is left in the market?

Yes, That's right. Now there are lots of Bitcoins that no on have access to them and I think the number of such Bitcoins will increase gradually.
In my opinion all of us should have a will that contains our private keys or our passwords if we are keeping our bitcoins in exchanges.

I also partly agree with this idea, and why not?

Besides it is already much traditional to have last will testament, so why not apply it also in the field of bitcoin? This is also a big and nice idea but its lot complicated, unless it would be explained in a most understandable and simple way.

I am also glad about this idea.

[cramcram21]

Nope, this is no existential question (although...). Everybody's talking about "When will Bitcoin die", but what if you die, and your family don't find your key, or don't understand it, or think it's only a useless sheet of paper with some code on it, or simply throw it away... Does this mean the currency's gone forever?

I find the possibility of this event rather realistic (yup I don't believe in eternal life), so that means that someday there might be 21M BTC but only 18M (and counting down...) is left in the market?

I think it would be best if you could provide them with a copy just in case something happens,
You should always keep some copy somewhere they could easily find like saving it in some folder in your computer or maybe in your USB stick.

[ice098]

Everyone in my family knows I own bitcoins. If I die, they won't be throwing out any of my paper wallets until they've figured out how to either convert them to cash or get them into their own address. Do people close to you really not know that you own bitcoins!?

You need to tell it to your family so that they will get the benefits of your hardworks. It is good for you and good for them also. Tell them so that they will have it and use it.

[ActiveP]

It is a difficult one this, obviously if you die unexpectedly the coins are lost forever. It is also risky giving a copy of ones private keys to a close relative,friend or lawyer. If they are dishonest, they could easily clean you out.