Is My Bitcoin Safe If I Die?
Post-Death Safety and Heir Accessibility
This memo is published by CustodyStress, an independent Bitcoin custody stress test that produces reference documents for individuals, families, and professionals.
What the Question Assumes
A holder asks whether bitcoin will be reachable after their death. The question arises under calm conditions. No emergency exists. The holder wonders: is my bitcoin safe if I die?
What follows covers what this question means. It also describes what "safe" means in the context of death and what determines the answer.
What the Question Assumes
The question "is my bitcoin safe if I die" often assumes that safety means protection from theft. The holder thinks about hackers. The holder thinks about encryption. The holder thinks about wallet security.
The question assumes that if bitcoin cannot be stolen, it is safe. The holder may believe that strong security equals safety after death.
These assumptions confuse different things. Technical security and survivable access are not the same.
Two Kinds of Safety
One kind of safety is protection from attackers. This is security. Keys are protected. Wallets are encrypted. Backups are hidden. Attackers cannot reach the bitcoin.
Another kind of safety is survival of access. This is what happens when the holder dies. Can someone else reach the bitcoin? Can someone else understand how?
Bitcoin can be perfectly secure from attackers and completely unreachable by heirs. These are different questions.
What Death Removes
Death removes the holder. The holder's memory is gone. The holder's knowledge is gone. The holder's ability to explain is gone. The holder's ability to make decisions is gone.
What remains is what was documented or shared. If knowledge lived only in the holder's memory, that knowledge is gone. If access depended on the holder's presence, that access is gone.
The question "what happens to bitcoin if I die" is answered by what survives the holder's death.
Secure but Unreachable
The system in a scenario involves bitcoin that is highly secure. The keys are protected. The wallet cannot be hacked. No attacker can reach the funds.
The holder dies. The heirs do not know where the keys are. The heirs do not know which devices matter. The heirs do not know passwords or PINs.
The bitcoin remains secure. The bitcoin also remains unreachable. Security from attackers does not create access for heirs.
The Holder Asks the Question
The system in a scenario involves a holder who asks: is my bitcoin safe if I die? The holder knows where keys are stored. The holder knows which devices matter. The holder knows passwords and PINs.
The holder's heirs may not know these things. The heirs may not know bitcoin exists. The heirs may not know what a seed phrase is. The heirs may not know where to look.
The holder has access. Whether access survives the holder's death is a different question.
What Happens to Bitcoin If I Die
When a holder dies, bitcoin does not change. The bitcoin remains on the blockchain. The keys remain wherever they were stored. The wallets remain wherever they existed.
What changes is who can reach them. The holder could reach them. The holder is now gone. Whether anyone else can reach them depends on what the holder arranged.
The question "what happens to bitcoin if I die" asks about access after the holder is gone, not about the bitcoin itself.
Memory and Death
While alive, the holder carries knowledge. The holder remembers where things are stored. The holder remembers passwords. The holder remembers which wallet belongs to which backup.
Death erases this memory. What the holder remembered is gone unless it was written down or shared. Knowledge that existed only in the holder's mind does not survive.
Whether bitcoin after I die is reachable depends on whether knowledge survived in some other form.
Documentation and Death
Documentation can survive death. Written instructions can be found. Notes can be read. Letters can be opened.
If the holder documented where things are stored, that information survives. If the holder documented passwords and locations, that information survives. If the holder documented nothing, nothing survives.
The answer to "is my bitcoin safe if I die" depends partly on what the holder documented.
Communication and Death
Communication can transfer knowledge before death. The holder can tell someone where things are stored. The holder can show someone which devices matter. The holder can explain how things work.
If the holder communicated this knowledge, it may survive. If the holder communicated nothing, nothing survives.
The question "is my bitcoin safe if I die" depends partly on what the holder communicated.
Death as a Test
Death tests whether custody arrangements work. While the holder is alive, the holder can compensate for gaps. The holder can remember what was forgotten. The holder can explain what was unclear.
After death, this compensation is gone. What remains is what was arranged. Death reveals whether arrangements were sufficient or whether they only appeared sufficient.
The question "what happens to bitcoin if I die" is answered by death itself. Death is the test.
Safety Reframed
The question "is my bitcoin safe if I die" asks the wrong thing. The question assumes safety means protection. But after death, the threat is not attackers. The threat is permanent loss of access.
Bitcoin can be safe from attackers and still be lost forever. Bitcoin can be encrypted and still be unreachable. The encryption that protects from hackers also blocks heirs who lack keys.
Safety after death means survivable access, not protection from theft.
What Determines the Answer
The answer to "is my bitcoin safe if I die" depends on specific things. Do heirs know bitcoin exists? Do heirs know where keys are stored? Do heirs know which devices matter? Do heirs know passwords and PINs?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then bitcoin safe after death may be reachable. If the answer to these questions is no, then bitcoin may be permanently lost.
The answer depends on what the holder arranged, not on technical security.
Outcome
The question "is my bitcoin safe if I die" often confuses security with survivability. Bitcoin can be perfectly secure from attackers and completely unreachable by heirs. These are different questions.
Death removes the holder's memory, knowledge, and ability to explain. What remains is what was documented or shared. If access depended on the holder's presence, that access dies with the holder.
The answer to whether bitcoin safe after death is possible depends on what survives the holder's death. Safety in this context means survivable access, not protection from theft. Death is the condition that reveals whether custody arrangements work.
System Context
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