What would happen to your crypto if you died tomorrow?
I feel really sorry for asking this question, and I don't really like to think about it. But, my wife is often asking me this (and many other questions) and I believe it is one that we should all think about.
Source: Pixabay
In the "natural" banking system, the money in my bank account would be divided between wife and kids, unless I have ask for something else to happen in a will. But, with the crypto money you have, there is no real system. If you keep your money in an exchange, it might be that family members can claim those back after your death, but it isn't an easy road to walk. And one important thing for this to work is that they actually need to know about your values and where they can be found.
Private keys, 2FA, Trezor, Ledger, and who knows what...
Unless you have family members with clear knowledge on the topic, few people will understand anything if you say private keys, 2FA, Trezor, Ledger, and in fact, they have really no understood about Bitcoin, Ethereum, Steem, Hive, Litecoin, and all the other currencies.
And that is when the problem comes up. The people around you might know that you are dealing with cryptocurrencies. But, they haven't got a clue how and where to look if something should happen to you. As a result, your values will most likely die together with you and end up on the eternal list of cryptos that cannot be reached or used by anyone. I remember a Big Bang Theory episode that dealt with Bitcoin, and they were so happy that they mined some Bitcoin in the start. But, they then saved the wallet keys on a pendrive (Sheldon did). But, when Leonard lost the pendrive, Stuart discovered it, formatted it, and sold it in his comic books store. The end... no way to get those Bitcoins back.
And that is why I will ask you once again... what will happen to your digital money, to your cryptos, if something should happen to you? If you fight a disease, you will have time to fix things, set things in order, and explain... but if something suddenly should happen, what will happen then?
Recently, I have had two people that I knew (not personally), but still I had knowledge of them and have met both of them, who died in tragic sudden accidents. One died in an accident in a river, while the other had a heart failure, went into coma, and he never woke up. As a result, neither of the persons had any chance to instruct their loved ones about their crypto belongings.
This has served as a little wake up call to me, and I know want to share this with you as well. It is important, at least if you want your investments and earnings to stay alive even when you are dead.
Have you thoughts about this before?
I have had this on my mind for a while, but I really need to take some steps for this to be something that we are all prepared for.
What about you? Do you have someone who could access your belonging, and even know where you have crypto stored if something should happen to you? What is your plan? Or is your plan to stay alive for a long time, so you don't really care about this?
I would love to hear from you!
This is an original article written by me for Project Hope!
Lols... I've actually once asked myself this question too though but I think the best is to just introduce a trusted family member of yours who can actually inherit the available cryptos or better still it can be distributed amongst one's family members.
Thanks for sharing this great post with love from @hardaeborla and I hope you hope you have a great day ahead 💓💕❤️
If you have such a trusted family member or friend, that is a very good option!
i dont never think about it until i read your post, AND Noe for sure i Will let know my passwords to some close people to me, i hope that Is a good plan.
It is better than no plan at all (at least). You just need to make sure you can trust those people that you share the information with!
Its very useful to have a genuine friend who would know what to do. Not to give them the keys!! But as a contact so that family have someone who can help them. Also, as digital media can be fragile, is also good to print out a copy of all keys and store it somewhere. Is also good to split it in two parts - one has the keys, the other has the account details to each key.
The paper solution is important because if the pen drive with the info would get destroyed, lost, or who knows what - the paper solution can be a much-needed solution. Splitting the info is also a good solution, just as well as letting your family know who to contact in case something should happen (and they don't know how to solve the problems themselves).
I have really thinking about this, the best we can do is to let our love ones know what we are into, let them know where we save our keys incase of anything. At times hiding things from them isn't a good thing to do. We should always carry them along
Yeah, I guess it has got to be something like that. But, another option that sounds very good is the one written in this comment... I recommend you check it out: https://peakd.com/hive-175254/@gooddream/re-unbiasedwriter-qes1v0
I really never thought about this, most of our family members do not have as much knowledge as we have about crypto currency and may not even know the next thing to do when we are gone but the thing we can do will be to train them on what needs to be done.
I have a close friend who has released his crypto password to his younger brother he says anything can happen to anyone at anything.
We all need to have someone we trust around us like that that can help us in case of an emergency. It doesn't have to be a family member, but just someone at least!
Wow, I hadn't really thought about it. I find your approach very interesting, most of us guard their keys and information very well because we know it is something delicate and personal, but we are certainly not immortal and something could happen. As you say it would be good that someone else knows about this world of cryptomonies and later our income could pass to their hands.
Of course, as long as we want to share it, there is also the possibility that it won't. Excellent topic!
It is needed to stay safe in case of trouble, and that is why I wanted to write the article as a wake-up-call to myself, and also to everyone else. I just feel terrible knowing about all those cryptos locked in wallets somewhere that nobody ever will be able to reach because a person just died before he could tell anyone else about how to access it...
Wow an interesting question have no clue to the answer yet, to get started I would advise we the crypto enthusiast create more awareness on these crypto terms and security in other to pass these legacy to our families.
Dying with your crypto totally lost with you is totally not worth it.
That is so true. it would be a waste if all my investments, work, and time spend with cryptos died with me. So, I guess we need to educate some people in our surroundings so they can continue the run in case it is needed!
That's a very good point and one that anyone should consider to act on.
Dear @unbiasedwriter
Interesting choice of topic. Very unique I would say. Solid read.
I surely never thought much about this issue. Perhaps because I never cared about what will happen once I'm not alive any more. And perhaps because I don't have much wealth in crypto to begin with.
However, it surely is topic I need to think about.
I just watched it the other day and I laughed so bad.
Anyway, did you come up with any solution to discussed problem?
Enjoy your day, upvoted already :)
Yours, Piotr
I believe there are many strategies and solutions:
These are all possible solutions, and also having password managers or in case of death managers that will give the info to a loved one in case something should happen to you might work!