Who Would Get Your Crypto If You Died? | TU Research

Cryptocurrency creates an unusual inheritance problem. Unlike a house or conventional investment account, cryptoassets may be difficult for heirs to identify, and access can depend on knowing which exchanges or wallets exist and how the relevant credentials or recovery arrangements work.

The legal right to inherit an asset therefore does not necessarily guarantee practical access to it. To examine this gap, we surveyed 1,250 crypto investors worldwide about who they want to receive their cryptocurrency, whether anyone knows about their holdings, what inheritance preparations they have made and whether their intended heirs could realistically access the assets.

The research aims to answer key questions:

• Who do crypto investors want to receive their assets after death?

• Does anyone else know about their cryptocurrency holdings?

• How many investors have made a practical crypto inheritance plan?

• Could intended heirs actually access the cryptocurrency?

• What worries investors most about crypto inheritance?

• How many investors formally include crypto in estate planning?

Findings

Institutional validation

Institutional research suggests that crypto inheritance involves a problem that goes beyond legal ownership: beneficiaries must also be able to identify and access the assets.

The UK government's HM Revenue & Customs addresses this issue in its Cryptoassets Manual: Inheritance Tax. HMRC states that cryptoassets form part of a deceased person's estate for Inheritance Tax purposes, but identifying them may require checking exchange accounts, bank statements, emails, applications, computers and records containing wallet or recovery information.

Importantly, HMRC also recognizes situations in which cryptoassets belonging to the deceased are identified but remain inaccessible. This highlights the distinction between being legally entitled to an asset and being practically able to recover it.

The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) identified similar challenges in its Digital Assets: A Call to Action, conducted with the Cloud Legal Project at Queen Mary University of London. Nearly 60% of practitioners surveyed had dealt with client questions about digital assets, while 90% expected demand for such advice to increase. STEP later developed its Digital Legacy Scorecard in response to difficulties families and practitioners face when trying to access digital accounts after death or incapacity.

The legal framework is also evolving. In July 2026, the European Law Institute approved its Model Rules on Succession and Access to Digital Remains. The ELI notes that digital assets can form part of an estate, while legal and technical barriers may still complicate successors' access to them.

Together, this institutional evidence points to three challenges in crypto inheritance: discovering the assets, establishing who is entitled to them, and gaining practical access.

The TU study extends this research by examining how prepared crypto investors are for these challenges: whether anyone knows about their holdings, whether access arrangements exist, whether intended beneficiaries could realistically recover the assets and whether crypto is included in formal estate planning.

Theoretical research

Crypto inheritance can be understood through several concepts involving asset discoverability, access and custody.

One relevant concept is asset discoverability. Unlike many traditional financial assets, cryptocurrency may not be easily identified after an owner's death. If beneficiaries do not know that an exchange account or wallet exists, the assets may remain undiscovered even when they legally form part of the estate.

A second concept is access dependency. With custodial crypto, access may depend on the exchange or provider's procedures for deceased customers and the documentation available to the estate. With self-custody, access can depend on private keys, recovery credentials or other security arrangements controlled by the investor. Losing this information can make otherwise identifiable assets difficult or impossible to recover.

This creates an inheritance access gap: an investor may have a clear intended beneficiary without having established a practical way for that person to locate and recover the assets.

The size of this gap depends on how much information investors share and what arrangements they make in advance. The TU study therefore examines whether other people know about investors' crypto holdings, whether practical access arrangements exist and how confident investors are that their intended beneficiaries could recover the assets.

Survey data

To understand how prepared retail crypto investors are to transfer their cryptocurrency after death, we conducted a proprietary quantitative study examining intended beneficiaries, disclosure of holdings, inheritance preparations, expected accessibility and perceived risks.

Methodology

The study was conducted using a structured online survey based on the CAWI methodology.

• Sample composition: 1,250 crypto investors.

• Coverage: North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

• Age: 18–60 years old.

• Participation criteria: respondents who currently own cryptocurrency.

• Statistical confidence: 95%.

• Estimated sampling deviation: ±2.8%.

Research team

The study was conducted by our experts:

• Anastasiia Chabaniuk (Author, TU Research) – research design and interpretation.

• Chinmay Soni (Fact-checker) – data validation and statistical verification.

• Ciaran Ryan (Editor-in-Chief) – editorial and methodological supervision.

• TU Research Team (Andrey Mastykin, Oleg Tkachenko) – data collection and analysis.

Who would crypto investors want to receive their assets?

Respondents were first asked who they would primarily want to receive their cryptocurrency if they died unexpectedly.

Preferred recipient of cryptoassets:

• Spouse or partner – 34%;

• Children – 21%;

• Other family member – 16%;

• Friend or another individual – 5%;

• Multiple beneficiaries – 9%;

• Charity or organization – 2%;

• Sell crypto and distribute the money – 5%;

• I have not decided – 8%.

Insight: Family dominates intended crypto inheritance. 71% selected a spouse, partner, children or another family member. However, 8% have not decided who should receive their holdings, showing that even the most basic inheritance decision remains unresolved for a minority of investors.

Does anyone else know about investors' crypto holdings?

For cryptocurrency to be inherited, someone normally needs to know that the assets exist. Respondents were asked how much another trusted person knows about their holdings.

Insight: Only 32% have given another person both awareness and clear instructions. Another 43% have disclosed at least some information without providing a complete route to the assets. Most notably, 18% say nobody else knows enough to locate their cryptocurrency. This creates a discovery problem before questions about passwords, wallets or legal ownership even arise.

What have investors actually done to prepare their crypto for inheritance?

Respondents were asked which statement best describes the practical preparation they have made.

Inheritance preparation:

• Clear access instructions – 24%;

• Inheritance/recovery arrangement – 8%;

• Told someone, but no instructions – 26%;

• Plan to prepare, but haven't yet – 23%;

• No preparations – 15%;

• Not sure what is needed – 4%.

Insight: 32% have taken a concrete step intended to make eventual access possible, while 68% have not established a clear practical inheritance process. Intent is common: 23% say they plan to make arrangements but have not yet done so.

The results illustrate an important difference between inheritance intention and inheritance readiness.

Could the intended heir actually access the crypto?

Respondents were asked what they believe would happen if their intended beneficiary had to locate and access their cryptocurrency today.

Insight: Only 24% believe their intended heir could independently access most or all of their cryptocurrency. Another 39% expect that access would require assistance from an exchange, provider or trusted person. Meanwhile, 30% believe their beneficiary would probably struggle with at least some holdings or be unable to access most of them.

What worries investors most about crypto inheritance?

Crypto can fail to reach an intended beneficiary for several different reasons. Respondents were asked which single problem concerns them most.

Main inheritance concern:

• Losing access to wallets or recovery keys – 29%;

• Heirs unaware of some cryptoassets – 17%;

• Heirs lacking technical knowledge – 15%;

• Exchange/provider access problems – 13%;

• Theft after sharing access details – 10%;

• Legal or inheritance disputes – 9%;

• Tax or regulatory issues – 4%;

• No concerns – 3%.

Insight: Technical access is the dominant concern. 29% worry most about wallets or recovery credentials becoming inaccessible, while 15% worry their heirs would lack the technical knowledge required to manage the assets. At the same time, planning itself can introduce security risk: 10% are most concerned that sharing access information in advance could make their cryptocurrency easier to steal.

Is cryptocurrency included in investors' formal estate planning?

Finally, respondents were asked whether their cryptocurrency or other digital assets are specifically addressed in a will, trust or another formal estate-planning arrangement.

Insight: Only 18% specifically include cryptocurrency in formal estate planning, while 21% have an estate plan that does not address crypto. The largest group, 45%, has no formal estate plan at all. This suggests that the crypto inheritance gap extends beyond investors without estate plans: digital assets can also remain unaddressed within existing inheritance arrangements.

Practical implications for crypto investors

The research suggests that owning cryptocurrency creates an estate-planning question that should be considered separately from everyday wallet security.

• Make crypto discoverable without making it vulnerable. A trusted representative may need enough information to establish that cryptoassets exist and where they are held. This does not necessarily mean exposing private keys or recovery phrases.

• Separate asset inventory from access credentials. Keeping a record of exchanges, wallets and types of holdings can help an executor identify assets while sensitive credentials remain protected through an appropriate security arrangement.

• Consider both custodial and self-custodial assets. Exchange-held cryptocurrency and personal wallets can require different recovery processes. An inheritance plan should account for each storage method used.

• Do not assume technical access equals legal authority. Knowing a password or recovery phrase does not by itself determine who legally owns an asset after death. Applicable inheritance law and provider procedures can matter.

• Do not assume legal inheritance guarantees technical access. A beneficiary can have a valid claim to cryptocurrency while still being unable to recover a wallet whose necessary credentials have been lost.

• Review the plan when storage arrangements change. Moving assets between exchanges and wallets can make old inventories or instructions obsolete.

The objective is not simply to leave someone a private key. Crypto inheritance planning needs to balance discoverability, legal authority, accessibility and security.

For investors who keep some or all of their cryptocurrency on centralized exchanges, the choice of provider can also affect how assets are held, secured and accessed. When comparing exchanges, investors may therefore want to consider custody and security alongside trading fees, supported assets and other platform features. The table below compares crypto exchanges across key characteristics that can help investors evaluate their options.

Data sources and methodology

• HM Revenue & Customs. Cryptoassets Manual: CRYPTO25000 – Cryptoassets for individuals: Inheritance Tax, updated November 2025.

• Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Digital Assets: A Call to Action, 2021.

• STEP. Digital Legacy Scorecard.

• STEP. Digital Assets: Risks, Liabilities and Solutions for Estate Planners, 2023.

• STEP. Technical Guidance and Briefing Notes – Digital Assets.

• European Law Institute / STEP. Model Rules on Succession and Access to Digital Remains, 2026.

• AARP Public Policy Institute. Challenges and Opportunities in Managing Digital Estates.

• IdSurvey. CAWI Methodology.

Previous volumes in this series

• Who Would Get Your Crypto If You Died Tomorrow? | TU Research

• Does Regulation Make Crypto Feel Safer Than It Really Is? | TU Research

• Should You Invest Without an Emergency Fund? TU Research

• How Do Retail Investors Learn to Invest?

• How Finfluencers Shape Retail Investment Decisions: TU Research

Conclusion

Did you like the article?

Thank you for your feedback!

What could we improve?

send

Editors' Top Picks and Insights

20 hours ago Ksenia Gerey

From PlayStation to crypto: Why Sony is building its own blockchain

#NFT #Crypto #Sony

22 hours ago Oleg Tkachenko

Google loses billions: What’s behind Alphabet’s stock crash?

#Stocks #Alphabet Inc Class C #Google

1 day ago Olena Litvinenko

The end of Bitcoin’s growth era: Why prominent investors doubt its future

#Crypto #Peter Schiff #Bitcoin

1 day ago Eugene Komchuk

WeFi CEO: Banks are overstating the threat from stablecoins

#Crypto #Banks #AI

1 day ago Dmytro Kharkov

HSBC’s warning signs point to a bigger risk for global banks

#IMF #Income #HSBC

2 days ago Anastasiia Chabaniuk

Why do crypto companies want their own banks?

#USDC #Coinbase #XRP

All news

Related Articles

How To Spend Crypto: The Complete Guide To Using Digital Assets In 2026

Ciaran Ryan

1 year ago

What Are Digital Assets | Types And Where To Trade

Oleg Tkachenko

1 year ago

CoinPayu Review | Legit Crypto Earning Platform Or A Waste Of Time?

Aleksandra Chaikina

1 day ago

Best Pepe Faucets For Free Tokens In 2026

Aleksandra Chaikina

1 day ago

Data Masking vs Tokenization

Ashutosh Sureka

1 day ago

Team that worked on the article

Anastasiia Chabaniuk

Educational Content Editor

Anastasiia has 17 years of experience in finance and content marketing. She believes that the support of information and expert opinion is very important for the success of investors and new traders.

Learn about our editorial policies

Ciaran Ryan

Editor at Traders Union

Ciaran Ryan is a veteran financial journalist based in South Africa, where he covers cryptocurrency, mining, stock markets, and governance for Moneyweb. He also hosts the weekly Moneyweb Crypto Podcast.

Chinmay Soni

Head of Fact-Checking Department

Chinmay Soni is a financial analyst with more than 5 years of experience in working with stocks, Forex, derivatives, and other assets. As a founder of a boutique research firm and an active researcher, he covers various industries and fields, providing insights backed by statistical data.