A new product from self-custodial provider Casa aims to simplify the inheritance process for cryptocurrency holders in the event of their death through the use of a multi-signature security model.
If cryptocurrency holders do not have an inheritance plan when they die, their assets may be lost forever.
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Published March 27, 2024 at 11:03 AM ET.
Self-custodial provider Casa on Wednesday announced a new product for BTC, ETH, USDT and USDC that allows investors to grant access to their cryptocurrency vaults to a family member, guardian or estate executor in the event of their death.
The product, called Casa Inheritance, aims to address a widespread problem in the cryptocurrency space: implementing an inheritance plan upon the death of a self-serving cryptocurrency holder. If crypto holders don't have an inheritance plan, they could face serious problems, according to Pamela Morgan, a blockchain lawyer and author of “Crypto Asset Inheritance Planning.”
Morgan said in press statements that the worst scenario is a “catastrophic loss.” Unrestricted Podcast Back in 2018. “If you don't have a plan for how your family is going to access it, one of two things is probably going to be true. Either your security is going to be so poor that someone is going to find your crypto assets and run away with it, which hopefully isn't the case.” or, [two]Your security is so great that it will prevent your family from accessing these assets, Morgan noted.
For example, billionaire Ripple Matthew Mellon He died nearly six years ago without his family having access to his cryptocurrency holdings, valued at $500 million at the time. Likewise, a 26-year-old Bitcoin miner Matthew Moody He died in a plane crash in 2013 without any plan to inherit his Bitcoin.
“[Crypto] It's the only major asset class in the world that works this way, said Nick Newman, CEO of Casa, insofar as owners holding their digital assets in a self-managed wallet don't have an inheritance plan and can therefore easily lose them. Interview with Unrestricted.
How it works
Casa's security model is based on a three-key multi-signature wallet, where an individual needs two of these three keys to spend funds or move assets out of their cryptocurrency vault. One key is kept on the user's phone managed by the Casa app. The second key is kept in the user's hardware wallet, while Casa keeps the third as a backup in case of emergencies.
Casa's inheritance solution, which costs $250 annually, relies on this multisig model to give designated recipients access to their inheritance after a loved one dies but not before.
After a user designates a recipient in the Casa app, the recipient scans the user's QR code which transmits an encrypted copy of the user's mobile phone key to the recipient's phone. Although the recipient has one of the three keys to the Casa user's multi-signature setup, the recipient cannot sign transactions or see any balances in the vault, Casa's Newman said.
If the user dies or becomes incapacitated, the recipient requests access to their inherited vault. This starts a six-month timer and during that time period, Casa sends notifications each month to the user, not the recipient, asking if the user wants to accept this access request, a way to give its users a chance to tell Casa they're not dead. “When the period has elapsed, access to the vault is opened for the recipient,” the press release explained.
