# How to stop your crypto dying with you

> Cryptocurrency inheritance is legally awkward. Here's how to make sure your heirs can actually access it.
- Title: How to stop your crypto dying with you · WIRED | Shortify
- Summary: Cryptocurrency inheritance is legally awkward. Here's how to make sure your heirs can actually access it. Cryptocurrency is treated as a digital asset in US…
- Keywords: cryptocurrency, estate planning, digital assets, inheritance, crypto wallets, beneficiary, noncustodial wallets, custodial wallets, stop, crypto, dying, WIRED
- Source: WIRED — https://wired.com/story/crypto-inheritance-how-to
- Author: Jill Duffy
- Published: 2026-10-17T10:30:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: cryptocurrency, estate planning, digital assets, inheritance, crypto wallets, beneficiary, noncustodial wallets, custodial wallets
## The crypto inheritance problem
In the US, cryptocurrency is treated as a digital asset under probate law, not money. This puts it in an awkward legal position for inheritance.
## Why crypto is different from money
With money and physical assets, you can sign a beneficiary form or write a will. With digital assets, the law assumes you don't want private materials given to others unless you explicitly say so.
## Two paths for crypto transfer
Your options depend on one big division: whether your crypto is held by a custodian or in a noncustodial wallet. Each has different rules for passing it on.
## What custodial wallets are
A custodian is a third party like a bank or cryptocurrency marketplace that holds and manages your assets for you. Transferring after death is typically much easier with a custodian.
## Banks make inheritance simple
Charles Schwab and Chase offer crypto services with beneficiary processes. Signing a beneficiary form for a brokerage account applies to crypto within it. One and done.
## The custodian advantage
Banks, government, and credit reporting bureaus all know you have an account. Avenues exist for finding banked money of deceased people. With noncustodial wallets, this is not the case.
## Crypto marketplaces lack beneficiary forms
Coinbase and PayPal have no beneficiary forms as of this writing. Both require legal documents proving you are the executor or entitled heir, plus a death certificate. The process is clunky but straightforward.
## The noncustodial wallet problem
If you lose your cryptographic key while alive, it is game over. Benjamin Orzeske, chief counsel for Uniform Law Commission, says: if you lose your cryptographic key, there is no company you can appeal to.

> If you lose your cryptographic key, there's no company that you can appeal to.
## The secrecy problem
No government or credit reporting bureau has a record of noncustodial accounts. The only people who know are the ones you tell. Your fiduciary must know the crypto exists.
## How to secure noncustodial inheritance
Put bulk instructions in your estate plan with your named fiduciary, but omit passwords. Store passwords in a safe-deposit box at a bank, listing the box in your will. Never put passwords in your will.

> The will is a public document.
## The testing problem
You cannot do a dry run to make sure your system works unless you trust your fiduciary completely.Something as simple as needing your fingerprint to unlock a device could spell the end of your plan.
## Key takeaway

Cryptocurrency is treated as a digital asset in US law, making inheritance difficult unless you plan ahead. Custodial wallets offer easier transfer but sacrifice privacy; noncustodial wallets require a secure DIY system.