Can you inherit Bitcoin?

Make it possible for your family to inherit Bitcoin. That way your legacy comes into the right hands and will not be gone forever.

Everyone has heard of Bitcoin already. It’s a cryptographic currency that has taken the world by storm.

Early adopters have been rewarded for their vision . Those who stood by Bitcoin through the years now hold a portfolio of significant value.

Others who purchased Bitcoin later typically spend more money to purchase a smaller amount of coins, but still have an opportunity to take part in something revolutionary: the wonder of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

However, very few Bitcoin holders have made an effort to ensure that their Bitcoins are accessible to their family and loved ones after they die.

The problem is that very few know about good inheritance solutions for their cryptocurrencies.

What is Bitcoin?

With the growing number of online transactions and the increasing distrust towards banks after the financial crisis of 2008, the demand for a new digital payment method was rising. This method of payment needed to exist in parallel with the existing financial system, but the most important thing was that this new system had to be decentralized, therefore not having a single point of failure.

Bitcoin is the answer to this demand for a new digital currency. You can best think of Bitcoin as a form of digital cash: a way of exchanging value directly from person to person, with no third party involved. This is called “peer-to-peer”.

Can you make your Bitcoin inheritable?

This is a somewhat complicated question to answer, because there is still no legal clarity about what Bitcoin actually is. Money, physical items, or something else?

However, if you’re holding Bitcoin or planning to buy it, it’s important to give thought to making your Bitcoin inheritable to your loved ones. After all, who would want their assets to go to waste when they pass away?

Inherit Bitcoin: the law

There is some kind of solution in current laws and regulations. In addition to physical things, there is also the concept of property rights: transferable rights to “material benefit”. This property doesn’t have to be something physical, and property rights can be inherited or surrendered via a will. So legally speaking, as an heir, you have a right to inherit Bitcoin that belongs to the deceased.

However, practically speaking this is complicated, because Bitcoins cannot be unambiguously linked to a person, just like cash. If there is a bag of money at a family member’s house, you could be an heir to that money. But, A: How would you prove that? And B: How would you get the bag of money, if the family member denies having it or doesn’t know it? It’s the same with Bitcoin.

Inherit Bitcoin via a will

One solution could be to arrange for your Bitcoin wallet to be included in your will. You would record the address of your wallet in the will, and arrange for the executor of your will – such as a notary – to receive the password. The contents of the wallet are then by definition available for inheritance.

However, if someone hacks or steals your wallet’s contents, it is impossible to prove exactly where the hack came from – e.g. which person is responsible for exposing the private data to hackers, theft of the private data stored by them, or getting hacked. This means that if your notary gets hacked or if a thief gains access to their storage facility, and if your Bitcoins are stolen, there is no way to hold them liable for this event – since the hacker might also have gained access via your own computer.

Bitcoins held by a centralized custodian

The legal framework simply isn’t there to prosecute someone for the loss of your personal belongings. A way around this is that you could arrange with your legal representative to hold your Bitcoins, in which case they would be a custodian. They would be legally responsible for its safekeeping, and could be held liable if anything gets lost. However, in this case you cannot access or use your Bitcoins anymore. This is very inconvenient if you still plan to trade, send your coins around, and perhaps buy some new tokens.

Luckily enough, there is a solution for inheriting Bitcoin that fixes all the above issues. It has thoroughly been tested, audited, and offers the safest encryption possible.

A decentralized solution to inherit Bitcoin

In the spirit of decentralization, Safe Haven has developed a decentralized inheritance solution, for which no middleman is required for the execution of the plan – or the safekeeping of your access data.

This solution is called Inheriti®.

With Inheriti®, you can make sure your heirs get access to your Bitcoins without fault. Military-grade encryption is used throughout the entire process.

Your heirs are required to safekeep your access data, which is split into shares and encrypted. They will have to bring together all the shares and decrypt your decentralized inheritance plan collectively.

Your decentralized plan initiated

When the decentralized plan has been initiated, and the activation method (“Dead Man Switch”) has verified that you are no longer alive, it’s time to open the plan.

All share owners will need to come together to decrypt the data.

There is also a system of backup shares in case one of the heirs is unable to join.

Eventually, when all steps are completed, the access data you have entered into your plan will be shown to every spectating party – presumably,  all the heirs.

They can then proceed to work together to distribute your digital assets.

If you have entered your Bitcoin belongings in a will and enlisted the services of a legal representative to carry out the distribution of your Bitcoins, they have the legal authority to do so.

A 100% decentralized inheritance plan to inherit Bitcoin

If the above sounds appealing to you, we invite you to take your time to study Inheriti®.

An Inheriti® decentralized inheritance plan is the perfect solution for making your Bitcoins inheritable. And by ensuring that your heirs receive your precious Bitcoin when you die, you secure your legacy.

Click here to learn more about our patented solution: Inheriti® »