Your Crypto Is Gone When You Die — And Your Family Can't Get It

The Investor Who Disappeared

Let's talk about Martin. He spent the last decade building a crypto portfolio. Not wildly—he was careful, conservative. He had €180,000 in Bitcoin and Ethereum spread across Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance. Serious money. A genuine digital asset he planned to leave to his children.

Then he had a heart attack. He was 56.

Before he died, he spent 20 minutes with his wife in the hospital room, lucid enough to say: "The crypto is on Coinbase. The password is..." But the doctors rushed him into emergency surgery, and he never finished the sentence.

He died that night.

His wife knows his email address. She knows approximately what the password might be (his typical pattern). But she doesn't know the exact password. She doesn't know if he used two-factor authentication. She doesn't know if there's a security key involved. And Coinbase won't tell her—because she's not Martin, and she's not authenticated.

That €180,000 sits on the exchange, inaccessible. It's locked behind account credentials that no one else has. It might as well be on the moon.

This is not hypothetical. This happens to families across Europe and globally. And it's about to happen to many more.

How Crypto Exchange Accounts Work (And Why They're a Trap)

When you create an account on Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, or any other exchange, you're not buying coins that get stored in your name on a blockchain. You're opening an account with a company. That account is identified by:

• Your email address (which only you have access to)
• Your password (which presumably only you know)
• Your two-factor authentication method (a phone number, an authenticator app, a security key)
• Your identity verification (which the exchange has on file, connected to your legal identity)

The exchange holds your coins in custody. They maintain the private keys. You have a claim on those coins—not a legal ownership certificate, but a database entry that says "this account has X Bitcoin."

When you die, that claim dies with you. Your family has no legal right to that account. They have no password. They have no two-factor credentials. The exchange's terms of service explicitly say the account is non-transferable. Your digital assets are trapped.

Here's the nightmare scenario:

Your death: Your family finds your laptop, your papers, anything that might have password hints or account information.

The search: They find an email about Coinbase. They try logging in. The system asks for your password. They guess. They're locked out after three attempts. They try the "forgot password" option. An email goes to your (now deceased) email account. If they have access to your email, they might reset it. But then they hit the two-factor authentication screen, and they're stuck again.

The dead-end: They call Coinbase customer support. "We're very sorry for your loss, but we cannot transfer accounts or provide credentials to unauthorized users. To proceed, we require the original account holder's identity." The account holder is dead. The process stops.

The outcome: The cryptocurrency is gone. Your family has no inheritance. The coins sit on Coinbase's servers, slowly accumulating dust, generating zero returns. Eventually, the exchange's terms of service may allow them to liquidate dormant accounts after a certain period (typically years), but none of that money goes to your family.

The Vault Is Stronger Than Probate

In most European countries, digital assets are treated like any other asset in an estate: they go through probate. A court-appointed executor has the legal right to access and transfer assets. But here's the problem with crypto exchanges:

Exchanges are private companies with their own rules. Kraken's terms of service say that accounts are personal and non-transferable. Binance's terms say the same. No court order from Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, or anywhere else can override that. The exchange can say "no" to an executor, and they will.

Exchanges could change this policy. They could work with executors. They could allow inheritance transfers or multi-signature recovery. Some exchanges are starting to. But most haven't. The legal right to inherit doesn't matter if the custodian won't hand over the keys.

And the cryptocurrency itself? If you hold Bitcoin in self-custody (on a hardware wallet, for example), it can be found by your family and inherited. But if it's on an exchange, it's locked behind account credentials, and no family member has those credentials.

What Happens Across Europe

Different countries have different laws about digital assets, but they all hit the same wall: exchanges don't cooperate.

Netherlands: Dutch law says your family should inherit your digital assets. But Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken don't recognize Dutch probate as a reason to hand over credentials. Your executeur testamentair (executor) can legally claim the assets, but the exchange won't release them without the original account holder authenticating.

Germany: German Erbrecht (inheritance law) says digital assets pass to heirs. But a German Testamentsvollstrecker (executor) has no mechanism to prove ownership of a Kraken account to Kraken. They need the password and the two-factor method.

France: French succession law includes digital assets. But a French notaire (executor) handling the inheritance cannot authenticate to a French exchange account without the original owner's credentials.

Spain: Spanish law recognizes digital inheritance. But Binance won't transfer coins to a Spanish estate without the account owner—deceased or not—authenticating themselves.

Italy: Italian succession law says crypto is an inheritance asset. But Italy's Corte di Cassazione (Supreme Court) has ruled that exchanges are not required to transfer accounts to heirs without the original owner's credentials.

All across Europe, families are learning that the law doesn't matter if the exchange says no.

The Solutions Your Family Needs (But Doesn't Have)

There are a few ways to fix this, but they require planning before you die:

1. Move Coins to Self-Custody The strongest solution: move your cryptocurrency to a hardware wallet (Ledger, Trezor) that you control, not an exchange. Your family can't access it without your private key, but if you document that private key properly (in a secure, sealed envelope in a safe deposit box, in an encrypted file with recovery instructions), your executor can retrieve it after your death. This gives your family legal inheritance rights that don't depend on any company's terms of service.

2. Name a Beneficiary (If Available) Some exchanges now offer "beneficiary" designations. Not all do. But if your exchange offers it, you can name a beneficiary who gets automatic access to your account after your death (with a death certificate). This is rare today, but it's coming.

3. Document Everything in Your Will Write down your exchange passwords, two-factor setup, and account information in a sealed letter that your executor can open. Store it securely—in a safe deposit box, with your lawyer, or in an encrypted file with recovery instructions. Your executor still might not be able to access the account (the exchange can still say no), but at least your family will know the credentials and account details to try.

4. Set Up a Crypto Will A growing number of lawyers now help clients create "crypto wills"—detailed instructions about digital assets, private keys, and account information. This isn't legally binding with the exchange, but it gives your executor the information and authority needed to act.

5. Have the Conversation Now The most important thing: tell your family you have crypto. Tell them where. Tell them how much it's worth. If you don't document it, no one will ever know it existed, and it will be lost forever.

The Real Cost of Inaction

When your family can't access your crypto, they lose:

• The entire asset value: €180,000 in Bitcoin, €50,000 in Ethereum, €30,000 in altcoins—all trapped and inaccessible.
• Inheritance they deserve: Your children planned to use that inheritance for education, a home, starting a business. Instead, it's locked away.
• The ability to donate or honor your wishes: Maybe you wanted part of that crypto to go to a charity you supported. Your family can't fulfill that wish.
• Liquidity during grief: The time after death is when families have the highest costs (funeral, legal fees, estate administration). If your family could access your crypto, they could liquidate it and have cash available. Instead, they have nothing.

What to Do Today

If you have cryptocurrency on any exchange, take these steps:

1. Make a list: Write down every exchange where you hold coins (Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, whatever). Write down your username, email, and the approximate value.

2. Choose your strategy: Do you want to move it to self-custody? Leave it on an exchange with a documented will? Use a beneficiary designation? Make that decision.

3. Document everything: Whatever you decide, document it. Passwords, private keys, account information—put it somewhere your executor can find it after you die.

4. Tell your family: This is critical. If your family doesn't know the crypto exists, no inheritance mechanism will help. Tell them you have digital assets. Tell them where. Tell them to work with a lawyer to access them.

5. Get legal help: A lawyer who specializes in digital estate planning can help you set up recovery mechanisms that actually work. This isn't expensive—often a few hundred euros—and it's the difference between your family getting your crypto and losing it forever.

Your cryptocurrency is real money. Your family deserves to inherit it. But the only way that happens is if you plan for it now.

Start protecting your digital legacy today. Register for LegacyShield to organize your digital assets, document your crypto holdings, and create a recovery plan your family can actually use.