Where do you think Bitcoin will be this time next year? $10,000 $100,000? $0?
Whatever you pick there will be some who agree with you, and many who do not.
The truth is, no one knows.
However, there are some things we can predict. Here’s one: you’re going to die. Here’s another: you probably have not thought about what is going to happen to your crypto when that happens.
Benjamin Franklin said, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Unfortunately, the crypto-world is still pretending that it is immune to both.
2018’s bear market may have toned down talk of lambos, but as a community we still haven’t grown up.
Crypto’s death problem
The biggest problem in cryptocurrency is not adoption. It is not liquidity. It is not volatility. The biggest problem, dwarfing all others, is the loss of private keys.
A recent report by Chainalysis says that 36% of all Bitcoin in circulation has either been definitely lost or likely to have been lost. More Bitcoin are lying idle in unused wallets than are currently held for investment (approximately 30%).
These Bitcoin will never be recovered. The reason for this colossal waste of wealth? Holders losing access to their wallets by either misplacing their private keys or dying without passing on their private key details to an heir. What’s going to happen to yours?
Of course, it is not just Bitcoin. Earlier this year US businessman and billionaire Matthew Mellon died unexpectedly at the age of 54. His family’s tragedy was compounded by uncertainty over what would happen to the $500 million worth of Ripple’s XRP he owned. According to Forbes, Mellon “kept the digital keys to his XRP locked in cold storage in other people’s names at various locations around the U.S.” Though that’s a good way to keep your investments safe, if you are the only person who knows those details then your fortune dies with you.
It is clear that the current financial structure around cryptocurrencies is insufficient. Private keys keep digital assets secure — they protect them from theft — but they don’t keep them safe. For your assets to be safe, you need to know that you, or your intended heirs, will always have access to them.
Unfortunately, keeping your crypto at an exchange is no solution. Unlike with banks, there is no standard and transparent procedure for transferring cryptocurrencies to heirs. In fact, exchanges will barely talk about the issue as they fear fake death certificates and fraudulent claims on assets.
The need for assets to be both safe and secure is the biggest unsolved problem in crypto. Platio has developed its Asset Guard solution to address it head on. Asset Guard gives our customers the assurance that their funds will not be lost, whatever happens to them or their private keys.
Platio users can set up their accounts so that if they are not touched for a selected period of time, their balances will be automatically transferred to another account of their choosing. The transfers can be made in cryptocurrency, or the fiat equivalent. This option is powered by a smart contract created by the Platio app and saved to our blockchain.
You can even arrange for your funds to be paid into another financial arrangement like a trust. These can help to reduce the burden of inheritance taxes while ensuring that your teenager does not come into the family’s Bitcoin fortune before they are ready for that responsibility.
With Asset Guard by Platio you can finally relax, knowing that if you lose your private keys, or even your life, your funds will always be recoverable – either by you or your intended heirs.
Death remains inevitable, but thanks to Asset Guard, lost cryptocurrency will soon be a thing of the past.
The post Will Your Crypto Die With You? appeared first on Crypto Daily™.
Source: CryptoDaily.co.uk
Original Post: Will Your Crypto Die With You?
