Cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and Bitcoin have been steadily growing in value and publicity over the last number of years. This post isn’t to debate the relative merits of each but to give some practical advice on how you can ensure that your coins, tokens, and jpegs can be left to your loved ones, rather than joining Satoshi’s (presumably) lost Bitcoin.
Make it visible
Your Bored Ape is your Twitter PFP but where is it stored? Where are your Metamask seed words? Is your Bitcoin stored at an exchange? Cold wallet? Brower-based wallet? If your family/beneficiaries do not know you own an asset, and even if they do know you own it, but don’t know where it’s stored how will they be able to access it? Whether it’s in your Will, a separate letter of instruction, or even shared amongst a number of friends and family, people need to know where your assets are stored. It’s not like Coinbase will be sending post to your address which your Executors will pick up. You need to make contingency plans.
Make it accessible
Not your keys, not your cheese as the saying goes, but at some point (particularly in the event of an unexpected death) someone other than you will need to access your crypto. This goes against many of the tenants of crypto and Web3 where personal responsibility for your assets is a focus point. It will therefore be up to you to ensure that your next of kin will be able to access your assets. Don’t become the latest set of coins to be lost forever.
Conclusion
Crypto and Web3 puts the user in direct control of their assets. That strength can become a weakness if you don’t take the correct steps to leave your assets in an accessible manner. Some potential solutions ranked from less secure to Fort Knox:
- Tell someone you own the asset! Preferably a trusted loved one so you don’t get rugged. Maybe even tell them how to access them!
- Leave your seed phrase somewhere semi-private, where your loved ones will have to clear out when you’re gone. When they find it they can follow the breadcrumbs.
- Keep your crypto in a Ledger/Trezor and make the pin-code something memorable that your significant other will know.
- A multi-sig wallet with the beneficiary holding one key and your Will containing another.
- Go full Winklevoss and disperse your seed words amongst many safety deposit boxes around the world.