Jack Dorsey’s Block has built a Bitcoin inheritance feature into the Bitkey hardware wallet, allowing you to designate an heir without having to share PINs or seed phrases while the holder is still alive.
The developers noted that in traditional financial instruments, such a process is regulated: you need to specify the beneficiaries, and then the assets will automatically pass to them after the owner’s death. However, in the case of Bitcoin, they had to look for a different solution.
According to the company’s representatives, each party will receive a portion of the encrypted key. One of the fragments allows the other to be unlocked in the event of the asset owner’s death.
Once an inheritance application is submitted, a six-month “security period” is triggered. During this time, the coin owner will receive notifications about the request. This measure will serve as a reliable protection against unauthorized access to the cryptocurrency, Block believes.
After the specified period, the final beneficiary will be able to transfer the cryptocurrency to his own account in the crypto wallet in Bitkey. Only then can he see the balance of the cryptocurrency.
The new feature eliminates the dependence on centralized counterparties and does not require beneficiaries to understand the basics of blockchain technology.