Talking to your family about it
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 7 min
In short
If nobody you trust knows that the assets exist and how they are stored, nothing can be recovered if something happens to you — it is simply lost. At the same time, announcing holdings publicly raises your risk of being targeted. Who you tell and how widely are separate questions.
Key points
- Without someone who knows the keys or recovery phrase, no inheritance procedure can move the assets
- What to share is where things are — which is not the same as handing over a key
- Announcing holdings publicly raises the risk of fraud and of physical crime
- Even an exchange account needs someone to know it exists before any process can begin
Definition
Sharing the existence of your assets, where they are kept and how they are accessed with a limited circle you trust.
Crypto in a wallet you control moves only for someone who has the key. Which means that if your family knows neither that the key exists nor where it is, the assets become unreachable the moment something happens to you. There is no mechanism, as there is with bank deposits, for an institution to confirm an account on enquiry. An inheritance process cannot even begin over assets nobody knows about — and assets lost this way, permanently, do exist.
Exchange accounts have the same problem from a different angle. The operator knows the account exists, but if your family does not know you used that operator, there is nobody to ask. With several exchanges, more so. At minimum, someone you trust should know which operators hold accounts, whether self-custody wallets exist, and where things are kept.
Distinguish sharing the location from handing over the key. Give a family member a recovery phrase in plain text and the security of their devices and daily life becomes the security of your assets. Common approaches instead are telling someone where the key is kept and how to open it, storing it sealed, or arranging the process with a professional. Which fits depends on your family, so this site recommends no particular method. For inheritance procedures, consult a tax adviser or a lawyer.
Keep the circle small, though. Letting the general public know you hold crypto causes real harm. Holders are targeted by investment-fraud approaches and impersonation, and overseas there have been reported cases of robbery and extortion aimed specifically at crypto holders. Posting balances on social media, mentioning it to acquaintances, raising it at meetups — each is a route by which the information spreads. 'A trusted person knows where things are' and 'people know I hold this' are entirely different acts.
Watch out for
- · This is not legal or tax advice — take inheritance procedures to a tax adviser or lawyer
- · Handing someone a recovery phrase makes their security your assets' security
- · Making your holdings publicly known raises the risk of fraud and of being targeted
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to tell my family the amounts?
What a handover needs is that the assets exist, where they are and how to access them. Whether to disclose amounts is a household matter — but withholding the location, regardless of amounts, leaves the handover impossible.