Jack Dorsey’s Block has introduced a cryptocurrency inheritance feature in its Bitkey hardware wallet.

Planning for the future of your bitcoin? Pass it on with Bitkey’s new inheritance feature. It’s built directly into the Bitkey wallet to make transferring your bitcoin to loved ones simple and secure.

– Simple setup, no bitcoin experience required
– Maintain control until your… pic.twitter.com/X2prSdtczT
— Bitkey (@BitkeyOfficial) February 26, 2025

Traditional financial tools regulate this process through designated beneficiaries, ensuring automatic asset transfers upon the owner’s death. However, the Bitkey team emphasized that Bitcoin does not work this way—until now. While legal rights to coins can be passed on via a will, ensuring heirs actually receive the assets is a separate challenge.

Users could rely on exchanges or other centralized custodians for key storage and transfer, but this process requires extensive documentation and can take up to a year. Another option is self-storage on hardware devices, paper, or other forms, but this demands detailed instructions and technical knowledge from heirs. Additionally, leaked information could lead to theft.

To eliminate reliance on centralized intermediaries and reduce the technical burden on beneficiaries, Bitkey now allows users to assign an heir without sharing PIN codes or seed phrases during their lifetime. Instead, both parties receive encrypted key fragments, with one unlocking the other upon the owner’s passing.

Once an inheritance request is submitted, a six-month security period begins, during which the owner receives notifications about the request. This safeguard prevents unauthorized access if the owner is still alive. After this period, the beneficiary can transfer the assets to their Bitkey account, only then gaining visibility of the balance.

The developers highlighted that Bitkey was designed to make Bitcoin more user-friendly while reducing the risk of losing funds. With the inheritance feature, they aim to eliminate unnecessary complexities in passing down BTC to loved ones.

Previously, Cryptol explored how Web3 tools can be used to will and transfer assets to heirs.