Crypto Assets Lost Forever: The Problem of Unrecoverable Digital Inheritance

Millions of Bitcoins are lost forever due to their owners' untimely demise without passing on their keys. The lack of a centralized authority or paper trail in the crypto world makes it impossible for banks or courts to release these funds.

A growing number of people, over 700 million, now own cryptocurrencies, but when a person dies, there is no clear process for transferring ownership of their digital assets. In contrast, traditional bank accounts have a branch, court, and paper trail that facilitate the transfer of assets after death.

Experts say that 'not your keys, not your coins' applies to all digital assets on an individual's phone or computer. A small industry now exists to hunt down lost keys, but the odds of recovering them are slim, with a 50% success rate mentioned by one expert.

To avoid losing one's crypto assets after death, experts recommend storing private keys safely, such as using a password manager, locking them in a vault, or giving them to a notary. Another option is to store coins on an exchange that holds the keys and can release them to beneficiaries.