This feature of Bitcoin, a virtual currency protected by unbreakable cryptography. ; making it a safe way to store wealth. However, this feature also means that when Bitcoin holders die, their digital wealth is extremely difficult to access, which is an extremely serious problem for relatives of tech-savvy individuals who invest in the market, which is currently worth around $70 billion.
The family of a young man who died in Clolorado this year discovered he was a Bitcoin investor while sharing the inheritance. The family that has risen to inherit the wealth has one small hurdle: In order to inherit the wealth, they must first gain access to cryptocurrency.
So, is it possible to access the cryptocurrency wallet of a deceased person?
Bitcoins are stored in a virtual wallet, and each virtual wallet has an address called a “public key”, which is a publicly visible random string of characters to receive and send the cryptocurrency. The “private key” gives the money access to the owner’s wallet. If a Bitcoin owner dies without telling anyone about the private key, it means that no one can access the money in the wallet. To avoid this situation, a copy of the private key can be written down and stored on a flash memory drive, or entrusted to a commercial service that will manage these accounts instead; However, these methods have their own risks.
Suzanne Walsh, a will and estate attorney; He says that executors and heirs may not understand what a private Bitcoin key is, and as a result, they may mistake the key for garbage. The benefit of a commercial service emerges precisely at this point.
Walsh says that’s why the Colorado man’s family would likely be able to acquire Bitcoins. The family discovered that the man had invested in Bitcoin after reviewing his bank account, which revealed debts to Coinbase, a popular wallet and exchange service; He applied to the San Francisco company, which confirmed the existence of the wallet through documents in the family’s possession and started the process of transferring the content. Thus, the family; made a small Bitcoin fortune
However, there are still people who lost the key to their Bitcoin passbook and lost all their wealth. For this reason, try not to lose your account password.
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