GuShiio.com Bitcoin’s advantages such as decentralization and anonymity will turn into disadvantages once a certain issue is involved, that is, inheritance.
Author: Ye Yang
Since Satoshi Nakamoto released the first Bitcoin software in 2009, virtual currencies have developed rapidly and stood firm after market testing. They have changed from a niche speculative project to a popular investment project. Today, virtual currency is favored because of its decentralization, anonymity, and global characteristics. More and more people are considering increasing part of their virtual currency investment in their asset allocation. However, the advantages of decentralization and anonymity will turn into disadvantages once a certain issue is involved, that is, inheritance.
What happened before me-wallet andprivate key
inheritanceCryptocurrencies like thisvirtual assetsThe most important thing is to make early arrangements in life.
In the universally anonymous decentralized virtual currency world, the wallet and its core private key are the identity of the world. Conversely,As long as you entrust the wallet and private key, it will be completed directlyinheritance。
Wallet is an application for managing virtual currency. The mainstream wallets are divided into PC wallets, browser extended wallets, mobile wallets, and hardware wallets. The three wallets: PC wallets, browser extended wallets, and mobile wallets need to pay attention to the application types of wallets. The hardware wallets need to preserve the hardware equipment to ensure that it can be handed over to the heir intact.
The private key is equivalent to the user name and password used to log in to the wallet. In actual use, the private key is converted into a mnemonic. When communicating to the heir, the correctness of the mnemonic must be ensured. If it is accompanied by a password, it is even more necessary to convey the password’s usage together.
So what method should be used to convey the wallet and private key to the heir? Inheritance is ultimately only insurance. If the heir is notified early, some avoidable losses and disputes may arise.
1. Paper-and-pen delivery
You can record information such as the wallet type (if you are a hardware wallet, the wallet location), mnemonic words, etc. on paper, and then put it in a safe, just like the paper wallets commonly used in the coin circle. You can put the password to the safe on your will, or you can directly deposit the paper wallet in the bank’s safe to ensure that the heir can only open the safe after inheriting the estate.
2. Hardware preservation
You can also save the necessary information for inheritance on USB or removable hard disk, set password protection, and save the hardware and password separately to ensure that the heir can access the information in the hardware through password after inheriting the inheritance.
3. Disabilityswitch
You can also look for disabled switch applications such as the Sarcophagus project built on Ethereum and Arweave. Specifically, you can upload the necessary information for inheritance in the application, and the application will encrypt it and store it permanently on the network. At the same time, you need to set a file decryption time and designate your heir as the recipient. Before the decryption time comes, you can choose to extend the storage time of the file or terminate the service, otherwise the file will be automatically decrypted to the recipient.
All of the above methods have their own advantages and corresponding risks. Please choose the method that suits you to inherit your virtual assets.
Things after death-centralized platform account
If you don’t have time to leave your wallet and private key before you die, there is a high possibility that virtual assets will not be able to be inherited. After all, decentralization is the underlying feature of virtual currency. However, after so many years of development, centralized exchanges have also been developed in the virtual currency world. Exchanges have sacrificed a certain degree of decentralization and anonymity in exchange for some security and convenience. If the deceased heir mainly uses a centralized exchange account to manage virtual assets, as long as the heir knows the account name, he can appeal through the platform to inherit the virtual assets.
The inheritance processes of each platform may not be consistent, and the materials required are also different. This article only takes Binan as an example to introduce how to inherit the virtual currency in the deceased’s account.
Binance has a complete inheritance appeal process. After the heir registers his own account and indicates to the customer service that he is the heir and needs to inherit the inheritance, he can directly enter the inheritance appeal page through the AI customer service link.
The materials required are not complicated. In addition to the inherited Binan account information, the heir also needs to provide the following three items
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Identity documents of the successor and decedent;
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Death certificate of the decedent;
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Will, notarization certificate of inheritance rights and other relevant legal documents proving the right to inheritance.
The above three materials need to be notarized or certified by a lawyer, and an English translation must be attached.
One of the more troublesome items is the third item, because they all come to the stage of an inheritance complaint, and usually they do not have time to leave a will to deal with the virtual property. If there is no dispute over the inheritance issue, you can go to the notary office to apply for a notarization certificate of inheritance rights, which generally requires the decedent’s death certificate, kinship certificate, personnel files of the decedent, property certificate and other materials; if there is a dispute over the inheritance issue, it is necessary to entrust a lawyer to conduct an inheritance dispute lawsuit, and the final effective judgment is also a legal document that can prove the inheritance right.
After submitting the above materials and passing the review of Binan, you can inherit the virtual currency in the deceased’s account from the heir’s account.
Lawyer Mankiw concluded
Virtual currency is an asset with a high threshold for holding. You may have avoided risks such as market fluctuations, hacking, legal risks, etc. and accumulated considerable virtual assets, but your family may not know anything about virtual currency. In extreme cases, the investor may even die, and his family and heirs may not even know that the investor still holds a piece of virtual property; or they only know that the investor is playing with virtual currency, but they don’t know what wallet they use or which platform they use; or they may obtain the virtual currency based on clues left by the investor, but step on thunder during the coin withdrawal process, resulting in a dispute.
Therefore, effective communication within the family is crucial. Lawyer Mankiw recommends that in your daily life, you can hold more family meetings to explain to your family the operating principle, value and how to manage these assets. Through education and communication, you not only leave a virtual asset for your family, but also leave your investment philosophy and management skills. This is the key to ensuring the smooth inheritance of virtual assets.
