- Crypto held in your own wallet has no company behind it that can reset access.
- Heirs need to know it exists, where it is held and how to unlock it.
- Our sister site covers crypto inheritance in full.
Most accounts on this site have a company behind them. When the owner dies, the family sends a death certificate and the company follows a process, however slow.
Crypto held in your own wallet works differently. Access depends on a secret, usually a recovery phrase or a private key. No company can reset it, look it up or hand it to your executor.
If that secret is lost, the crypto is very likely lost with it. If the wrong person finds it, they can move the funds, and the transaction can’t be reversed.
Crypto held on an exchange or in a payment app is closer to an online bank: there is a company behind it, and Revolut and Venmo both mention crypto in their bereavement processes (see PayPal and online banks). The catch is knowing the account exists.
What heirs need
In general terms, the people you leave behind need to know three things:
- That the crypto exists. Note it in your digital asset inventory, without writing down the secrets themselves.
- Where it is held. Which exchanges, which wallets, which devices.
- How to unlock it safely. Instructions for reaching the recovery phrase or keys, kept where they can’t be found and used too early, and written in plain words a non-technical heir can follow.
Getting the third point right is the hard part, and it is beyond the scope of this guide.
Where to go next
Our sister site, Crypto Inheritance Guide, covers this in detail:
- Plan your crypto inheritance: how to leave instructions and protect the secrets while you are alive.
- Guidance for heirs: what to do if someone has died and left crypto behind.
For everything else they held online, start with closing accounts in order or the digital estate planning checklist.