Comparing Inheritance Services

[thebitcoinhole]

Bitcoin Inheritance. A complex topic, right? But every year, we have more and more ideas and solutions.

We compared 5 different Bitcoin Inheritance Services: Casa, Jinca, Liana, Nunchuk and Unchained
https://thebitcoinhole.com/inheritance

You can also see the open source database here: https://github.com/thebitcoinhole/inheritance

A couple of weeks ago, several interesting threads about this topic happened on X. I recommend to read them, you will learn a lot.

• Casa presenting their new Inheritance Service:
  https://twitter.com/CasaHODL/status/1773002086843568268
• Nunchuk opinion about new Casa Inheritance Service:
  https://twitter.com/nunchuk_io/status/1773708200350785718
• Wizardsardine opinion about Casa and Nunchuk Inheritance Services:
  https://twitter.com/Wizardsardine/status/1774031874949550287
  

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[ABCbits]

Thank you for creating this list. I find Liana is interesting since it's open source solution without dependency on third party. I also notice other service such as Jinca offer multiple pricing, while your list only mention "$45 69,428 SATS". So i would suggest you to mention that service have multiple tier/pricing.

[thebitcoinhole]

Thanks for the feedback. Given that I am always showing the minimum price to use the inheritance features, I renamed the row to "Minimum Yearly Price"

Thank you for creating this list. I find Liana is interesting since it's open source solution without dependency on third party. I also notice other service such as Jinca offer multiple pricing, while your list only mention "$45 69,428 SATS". So i would suggest you to mention that service have multiple tier/pricing.

BTW, I am starting the research to also include Bitcoin Keeper to the comparison.

[zabzob]

Cypherock is about to launch an "Estate Recovery" feature for their X1 hardware wallet that they claim solves the problem of non-custodial inheritance. There's a description of how it works on their blog at https://www.cypherock.com/blogs/cypherock-cover

Another option to consider adding to the list 

[davis196]

That's an interesting list, but I don't think that I would ever rely on a third party service to deal with the problem of crypto inheritance.
How can you be sure that those "crypto inheritance services" aren't potential scams? Is there any real feedback from people, who actually used those inheritance services?
Is it so difficult to just give your wallet passwords and private keys to your heirs when you get old? I know that there are cases of sudden and unexpected death of the BTC owner, but there's nothing we can do about that. I guess that life insurance can solve the problem, but crypto doesn't have anything to do with life insurance.

[zabzob]

That's an interesting list, but I don't think that I would ever rely on a third party service to deal with the problem of crypto inheritance.
How can you be sure that those "crypto inheritance services" aren't potential scams? Is there any real feedback from people, who actually used those inheritance services?

If an inheritance system is effectively implemented to be truly non-custodial (i.e. the third party does not have access to private keys) then there's no way for them to steal your crypto. The worst "scam" they could perpetrate would be to just not provide the service you paid them for, namely to facilitate the transfer of funds after death. As far as that goes, the reputation of the company would be one thing to go by. A public feedback system probably wouldn't be of much use, due to demands of privacy around matters of inheritance, crypto possession and financial info in general.

Is it so difficult to just give your wallet passwords and private keys to your heirs when you get old?

How old? Also, that involves trusting your heirs not to steal your crypto the day after you give them the keys. So just make sure you're old enough that you no longer care about the possibility losing your crypto, along with a few family relationships. And if you think no one would ever mistreat their own kin that way, read King Lear.

I know that there are cases of sudden and unexpected death of the BTC owner, but there's nothing we can do about that.

The whole point of the services listed by OP is that there is something that can be done about that, namely implementing a non-custodial inheritance system.

I guess that life insurance can solve the problem, but crypto doesn't have anything to do with life insurance.

Indeed

[ABCbits]

Thanks for the feedback. Given that I am always showing the minimum price to use the inheritance features, I renamed the row to "Minimum Yearly Price"

Thank you for creating this list. I find Liana is interesting since it's open source solution without dependency on third party. I also notice other service such as Jinca offer multiple pricing, while your list only mention "$45 69,428 SATS". So i would suggest you to mention that service have multiple tier/pricing.

Great, now it looks better and more accurate.

That's an interesting list, but I don't think that I would ever rely on a third party service to deal with the problem of crypto inheritance.
How can you be sure that those "crypto inheritance services" aren't potential scams? Is there any real feedback from people, who actually used those inheritance services?

It's good being cautious, but it also shows you didn't check the list in detail. Currently the list only include non-custodial service.

Is it so difficult to just give your wallet passwords and private keys to your heirs when you get old? I know that there are cases of sudden and unexpected death of the BTC owner, but there's nothing we can do about that. I guess that life insurance can solve the problem, but crypto doesn't have anything to do with life insurance.

It's difficult if you can't fully trust them not to steal your Bitcoin or make a copy without paying attention to security.

[348Judah]

I have seen a lot of threads on members asking for such services if one ever existed that they may try to use and pass their bitcoin as inheritance to their children or family, this will give us more available options to have and choose from which is best for our privacy and security, just as been mentioned already from previous replies, if all about this is on the foundational basis of open source, then it's as good as something we can use because we are going to have full control and access to the private keys that may control the use of the funds in the future, thanks for sharing with us the list.

[thebitcoinhole]

Thanks. I will take a look

Cypherock is about to launch an "Estate Recovery" feature for their X1 hardware wallet that they claim solves the problem of non-custodial inheritance. There's a description of how it works on their blog at https://www.cypherock.com/blogs/cypherock-cover

Another option to consider adding to the list 

[bitmover]

I think I am missing something.

Why hire a service for bitcoin inheritance??
Just note down your seed and give it to your wife/father/brother/son. If you don't trust anyone from your family, why would you trust a company?

Giving your seed directly to your heirs might be much better for them, as they will be able to use their money easily without any bureaucracy

If you don't trust your heir, why would you care to inherent them anything at all

[zabzob]

If you don't trust anyone from your family, why would you trust a company?

You're not trusting a company, because you're not giving them your seeds. There are ways of doing that using encryption.

Just note down your seed and give it to your wife/father/brother/son.

Whoa, really?? Many wives have poisoned their husbands or killed them in countless other ways in order to get the payout on a life insurance policy. Probably at least a good number of those husbands thought they could trust their wives not to kill them for the loot, which turned out to be a very expensive self-deception. And consider that it doesn't have to go as far as murder for that sort of thing to go badly wrong. What if the wife takes the bitcoins and runs off with her yoga teacher? The poor doting husband will have plenty of time to think about his mistake as the two lovebirds enjoy a long Caribbean holiday at his expense. As for brothers, history is full of brothers killing brothers for wealth, power, and other motives. Similar examples could be cited about fathers and sons.

If you don't trust your heir, why would you care to inherent them anything at all

Some people care about family members even if they're complicated and not always the most reliable people. Or if, say, they have a drug or gambling habit. In such case, one may trust the heir to an extent, but not all the way. And not with their money. People have a way of thinking that any money in their possession, no matter how it got there, belongs to them and is theirs to do with as they please. You might think you know someone and end up being surprised.

Imagine an old father who has three daughters, one of them being an angel and the other two a pair of devious, drug-addicted schemers who have always been trouble. He may still want to split his fortune three ways between them. One of the bad ones could even be his favorite, for some unfathomable reason. So he cares about her, even if she doesn't deserve it. This is one example where it might make sense to hire an inheritance service. He might try leaving it all to the good daughter and trust her to honor his dying request to give the others their fair share. But even she might be tempted by a thick stack of crypto to make an exception to her principles. Encryption and due diligence can help keep the honest ones honest.

And theft isn't the only way that your intended heir can cause you to lose your crypto while still alive. If they're not tech savvy and don't understand the basics of cybersecurity, they might do something silly like save a plain-text copy of the seed phrase in their email or something like that, or even fall for a phishing scam. That way they deprive you of your wealth without even meaning to

Hey, anyone who wants to is free to just give their seed phrase to their heirs and trust them 100%. But if you do, make sure you don't forget any birthdays or you can kiss your crypto goodbye!

[sunsilk]

While I thought that this service might not be needed for those who are hands-on like us, this could be needed by those who don't have time to teach their relatives who will inherit their holdings.

That's an interesting list, but I don't think that I would ever rely on a third party service to deal with the problem of crypto inheritance.

Same thoughts as mine, there's no need to rely on third party services that you'll need to hand over your crypto just for the sake of the loved ones that shall deserve your inheritance.

Some may find an attorney that will write things for them but that's all about the paper and will but not including the safekeeping services so, I haven't taken a look at these services but it's an interesting one that there are offers like this for real.

[Darker45]

It's interesting how they are pointing out each other's weaknesses or disadvantages. Every design seems to be lacking or at least has a weak point. But it's interesting how one design's weakness isn't how it seems from another's perspective. It's quite overwhelming for a crypto layman like me.

What I'm doing with mine is probably the simplest and most common way, albeit probably unsafe as well. I only have a backup hidden somewhere. Nobody else knows it, but if I die, they will certainly do their best to locate it. They don't have to be in a hurry, but if they failed to locate it, then the coins have died with me.

[SFR10]

A couple of weeks ago, several interesting threads about this topic happened on X. I recommend to read them, you will learn a lot.

I knew a little about a couple of them ^{[thanks to your other tables]}, but I never really paid enough attention until the creation of this thread ^{[the argument parts were quite interesting]}... I don't think any of them can be counted as the perfect solution, but I can also see why they'd come in handy for a certain type of user.

Given that I am always showing the minimum price to use the inheritance features, I renamed the row to "Minimum Yearly Price"

I believe the minimum yearly price of Jinca should also be zero ^{[unless I'm missing something]}.

[dkbit98]

Bitcoin Inheritance. A complex topic, right? But every year, we have more and more ideas and solutions.

Good idea for adding inheritance, but there must be some easy DIY alternative to add without third parties.
I heard about Liana wallet and it does sound interesting, but I never tried it or looked more into it.
It's interesting that one of the developers who is working on Liana (I think) recently made open source alternative for Ledger Live app, so that Liana wallet can be used with ledger.

Why hire a service for bitcoin inheritance??
Just note down your seed and give it to your wife/father/brother/son. If you don't trust anyone from your family, why would you trust a company?

Because there is a good chance they will mess up something along the way, especially if they never used bitcoin before, and there is no standardized inheritance protocol yet.

[RickDeckard]

I wasn't aware that there were these kind of services available and I will definitely check each of them out. However, and I can be called old fashioned, but to me there is nothing better than just applying a timelock[1] on an address (LoyceV made a great guide about it[2] and so did TryNinja[3]) and then you do not have to rely on these 3rd party services (and avoid paying the fees that some of them require).
[1]https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Timelock
[2]https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5180850.0
[3]https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2415595.msg24712087#msg24712087

[thebitcoinhole]

Now you can see Cypherock Cover in our Bitcoin Inheritance Services comparison.

https://thebitcoinhole.com/inheritance