What Happens to Your Crypto When You Die?

TL;DR: Without a plan, your crypto is gone forever. Your family cannot access it. Banks cannot help. Courts cannot help. It is just gone.

The Harsh Reality

When you pass away, your crypto does not go to your family or the government. It just sits there, forever, and becomes inaccessible.

Why? Because you are the only person who knows your seed phrase.

Real Stories of Lost Fortunes

The $240 Million Bitcoin Inheritance

In 2021, a crypto investor died suddenly. His family knew he had Bitcoin worth millions, but they could not access it. The seed phrase was written on a piece of paper that was lost during a move.

$240 million. Gone.

The Quadriga Exchange Disaster

When QuadrigaCX founder Gerald Cotten died in 2018, he took $190 million of customer funds with him. He was the only one with the private keys. His widow, the company, and the courts were unable to recover a single cent.

$190 million. Lost forever.

Your Story (If You Do Not Act)

Imagine you have $50,000 in Bitcoin. You die in an accident tomorrow. Your spouse and kids know you have crypto, but they do not know your seed phrase, which wallet you used, or which exchange held your assets.

It is all gone.

Why Traditional Inheritance Does Not Work for Crypto

Banks Can Reset Passwords. Crypto Cannot.

If you die with $100,000 in a bank account, your family can show a death certificate and the bank will release the funds. Crypto does not work that way. There is no customer service or central authority to call. Your seed phrase is the only way to access your funds.

Lawyers Cannot Help

Your lawyer cannot subpoena Coinbase for your seed phrase because Coinbase does not have it. They cannot ask a judge to reset your wallet. Crypto is designed to be inaccessible without the seed phrase: that is the entire point.

The 3 Terrible Options Most People Choose

Option 1: Tell Your Spouse Your Seed Phrase

This creates a single point of failure. If they forget it, lose it, or get hacked, you are both out of luck. Also, if they pass away first or if the relationship changes, your security is compromised.

Option 2: Write It Down and Put It in a Safe

Safes get stolen. Houses burn down. Papers get thrown away. If you pass away, does your family even know where the safe is or what the combination is?

Option 3: Do Nothing and Hope for the Best

This is what 90% of crypto holders do. It is the worst option. When you die, your crypto dies with you.

The Solution: Shamir's Secret Sharing

This is why deadhand exists. Instead of having one seed phrase that acts as a single point of failure, you split it into 3 shards:

• Shard A: You keep (e.g., in a password manager).
• Shard B: Your heir keeps (e.g., on a USB drive).
• Shard C: Stored encrypted on deadhand's servers.

Any two shards can recover your seed phrase. One shard alone is useless.

What Happens When You Die?

1. You stop responding to deadhand's check-in emails.
2. After 90 days of silence, Shard C is automatically emailed to your beneficiary.
3. They combine Shard C with Shard B (which you already gave them earlier).
4. They recover your seed phrase and access your crypto.

Your family inherits your assets automatically, without lawyers or courts.

How to Set This Up

1. Visit deadhand.xyz.
2. Enter your seed phrase (encrypted client-side).
3. The tool splits it into 3 shards.
4. Save Shard A in your password manager and give Shard B to your heir.
5. Shard C stays encrypted on our servers.
6. Done in 5 minutes.

Cost: $0 for the first 50 early bird users. Then rising to $99 lifetime access.

The Bottom Line

Your crypto does not have to die with you. You have three choices: 1. Do nothing and let your family lose everything. 2. Trust one person with your entire seed phrase. 3. Use Shamir's Secret Sharing and sleep soundly.

Secure your crypto inheritance now

Max Comperatore is the founder of deadhand. He has been in crypto since 2017 and has seen too many people lose fortunes because they did not have a plan.