Where Will a Dead Man’s Bitcoins Go?

It is a thin line between the adequate security of personal wealth within the crypto world and an eventual inability to transfer such wealth to heirs or other beneficiaries when the need arises.
The transfer of ownership of Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies from its original owner to heirs in the case of eventuality is a matter that hasn’t been properly defined within the crypto environment.
Who really owns the Bitcoins?
For security reasons, access to individual wallets have been designed in such a way that only one individual is legally allowed access to specific wallets. Any person who shares the details of their login, or details of how to access their wallet does so at their own risk.
‘You can only possess Bitcoins if you possess the corresponding private keys.’ Says Michael Vogel, CEO at Netcoins.
As the security design within the crypto ecosystem has focused on the protection of the wealth of crypto users, there lies the risk of losing one’s valuables in the case of eventualities such as death and incapacitation.

This post was published at Coin Telegraph on 2016-10-31.