Can Bitcoin be inherited?

In April last year, Ripple’s early investor, Matthew Mellon, who was named one of the top ten richest people in digital currency, struggled with drug addiction for a long time. He decided to try Ayahuaska’s psychedelic drink one time. Sudden heart disease has passed away. After his unexpected death, hundreds of millions of cryptocurrencies were trapped deep in the blockchain, and his family was desperately trying to find them.

Perhaps Mr. Nakamoto is living in a small town and living a comfortable life, but more likely, the founder of Bitcoin has left the world, leaving millions of unclaimed bitcoins, and more Needless to say, bitcoin forks out the candy. In most cases, token loss is due to carelessness and not due to hacking. As early investors grow older and increase their wealth, they should consider how their wealth will not disappear after they die. This is a serious question.

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After the death of the owner of a large number of bitcoins, lawyers debated how to transfer their bitcoin to the relatives of the deceased. In the UK, the estate law applies to cryptocurrencies, but the cryptocurrency that is inherited is taxed. In China, Bitcoin does not have currency attributes, but it is still protected by law as a virtual commodity, but there is still a gap in the issue of encryption asset inheritance.

There are several cases of young bitcoin holders dying, and their families cannot do anything with their wallets. When the heirs are told that their loved ones have all the money in Bitcoin, they will panic. On the one hand, it is not clear how to obtain these cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, within a few years, their prices may skyrocket.

For example, a young man in Colorado, USA, suddenly died. He bought bitcoin at $13 each in 2013. In 2017, the price of bitcoin rose to nearly $5,000. His family took on the burden of sorting out their legacy, and these grieving relatives became heirs to a large estate, and the question was how to get these bitcoins.

Private key inheritance is wealth inheritance

Bitcoin is an encryption asset that can be protected against hacking and theft by encryption. It increases the security of the custody of assets. At the same time, if the owner of Bitcoin dies, there is a risk of losing Bitcoin. The families of these money-bearers are likely to lose a huge fortune forever. This is a problem faced by most cryptocurrency holders.

Bitcoin is stored in a virtual wallet and has two parts: a public key and a private key. The public key is visible to everyone and is the address that sends and accepts cryptocurrencies. The private key allows individuals to individually access deposits in their wallets. If the owner of Bitcoin dies without leaving a private key to anyone, his heirs will not be able to obtain his wealth. In order to prevent such incidents from occurring, all wallet owners must create a written copy of the personal private key. The heir specified in the will is also available in the wallet's private key list.

What if the cryptocurrency is stored on the exchange?

Not all deceased bitcoin holders expect this to happen during their lifetime. So, the relatives of the person who died in Colorado were surprised to see that many of his bank deposits were transferred to the Coinbase account. They collected a bunch of documents, and with the support of lawyers, they went to the management of the exchange to collect the money of the relatives of the deceased. Coinbase confirmed the existence of the wallet and transferred the assets inside.

In the United States, digital currency exchanges are legal, and relatives of investors may be able to obtain the encrypted assets of the deceased through legal procedures. But in China, it is different. China is banned on the exchange, so it will not be legally helped. Most investors will entrust the crypto assets in the account of the centralized exchange, which is for those who are dead. For the family of the currency, the disposal of encrypted assets is a big problem, and the exchange is likely to ignore you at all, and you will not be able to get through the law.

If you die tomorrow, how would you save the cryptocurrency?

Most encrypted accounts are not well protected for the simple reason that the balance of funds on the account is too small. But people should not ignore this problem. Many early Bitcoin holders are the lessons of blood, because in the future, the small amount of encrypted assets in your eyes may be a huge asset.

You should share your private key with someone you love – of course, if you trust them. With the help of mnemonics, you can easily save the data in your wallet, even on a seemingly harmless piece of paper, just make sure your relatives know they are lying there.

to sum up

Death is not far from us. You should now consider whether your encrypted assets will be successfully passed on to your family after your death. This is a serious question.

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