The Bitcoin You Leave Behind
If you hold Bitcoin yourself, there's no bank to call, no court that can reset a password, and no company that can let your family in. The only way in is the one you build. This is the guide to building it, and to what your family does when the day comes.
Kindle and paperback · 256 pages · Includes fill-in worksheets
Who it's for
Most Bitcoin books are written for people who already believe in it. This one is written for the person who owns it and the person who may one day inherit it without ever having asked to.
You'll see what success actually looks like: not a checklist, but a picture specific enough to hold your own setup against and find where it falls short.
Custody, ETFs, retirement accounts, trusts, beneficiary forms, the letter of instruction, and the one test that tells you whether any of it works.
You don't have to believe in Bitcoin. Your job is smaller than you think: don't lose it before you've decided what to do.
What to do first, what not to touch, how to spot the people who target grieving families, and permission to keep it, sell it or give it away.
What's inside
Why a court can rule your heirs own your Bitcoin, and it still changes nothing about whether they can spend it.
Self-custody, exchanges, ETFs, IRAs, HSAs and trusts, and what each one means for the person who inherits it.
What goes in it, what never does, and the one sentence every template leaves out.
Protecting your Bitcoin from thieves without making it unreachable for your family.
A calm guide for the family: nothing is on fire, and the fast mistakes are the expensive ones.
An inventory, a letter template, the yearly test, and every question to take to your attorney and CPA.
“Everything in my life has had a back door. Somebody always had a copy. This is the first thing I've owned where there's no password reset, and the only reason my family gets it is that I built the way in myself, on purpose, before it mattered.”
From Chapter 1: No Password Reset
Contents
Afterword: Where I Am Now · Worksheets
Free download
The most common way Bitcoin gets lost isn't theft or a forgotten password. It's that nobody knew to look. This is the worksheet from the back of the book: one line per holding, five columns, no secrets on it. Fill it in this evening and give a copy to someone who isn't your primary heir.