What Happens to Your Crypto When You Die — And How Not to Lose It

A plain-language guide · 4 min read

Crypto has a brutal feature: if you lose the keys, it's gone. Forever. No bank to call, no "forgot password" link. And that same feature means when a crypto holder dies without a plan, their coins usually vanish with them. Industry estimates put the lost total well over $100 billion.

Why crypto is uniquely hard to inherit

• Self-custody wallets (hardware wallets, MetaMask) have no company that can "let your family in." The keys are the access.
• Exchanges (Coinbase, Kraken) have inheritance processes — but only if your family knows the account exists and can pass identity verification.
• Seed phrases scribbled in a drawer get lost, thrown out, or never found.

What NOT to do

• Don't put your seed phrase or private keys in your will. Wills become public record in probate.
• Don't rely on a single piece of paper only you know about.
• Don't assume "my family will figure it out." With crypto, they almost certainly won't.

What to do instead

• Make an inventory of every wallet and exchange — what it is and roughly what's there. (Not the keys — just that it exists.)
• Leave clear instructions for where the keys or seed are stored and how to use them — separate from the inventory, secured.
• Tell a trusted person that crypto is part of your estate, so it's not overlooked entirely.
• Keep it current — crypto moves; your plan should too.

The goal is simple: your family should never have to discover your crypto. They should be handed a map to it.

Postlude makes that map — including the categories most plans forget, like crypto, exchanges, and wallets — without ever storing your passwords or keys.