Introducing Casa Inheritance: Secure your generational wealth

It’s not life-changing money until you change a life with it. Today, Casa has made it easier for you to do just that for someone you love with your bitcoin. 

We’re excited to introduce Casa Inheritance, which empowers Casa members on all our latest plans to share vault access with someone they trust to facilitate the generational transfer of digital assets.

Inheritance: The time is now

Nobody likes to think about their own death, let alone plan for it when it could be decades away. But bitcoin is a long term, low-time-preference game. And if you want to play that game right, you need to plan for the future — today. 

Imagine this: you have HODLed through four painful bitcoin bear markets, keeping your bitcoin secure in cold storage the whole time — and then you die. If your family can’t access your assets, that value you worked so hard for goes to zero. Sorry to be so blunt with this, but this is a major problem with self-custody we’ve seen happen time and time again since the creation of bitcoin. All too often, bitcoiners’ loved ones have lost access to major wealth because of a lack of a plan. Imagine out-of-date paperwork, misplaced hardware wallets, or even an incorrect PIN; simple things can ruin life-changing investments. 

If you consider bitcoin to be generational wealth, you have to prepare for the next generation. The reality is none of us know how much time we have, and there’s no reason to linger with that uncertainty when it comes to your assets.

Through Casa Inheritance, you can proactively set your next generation up for success through a secure introduction to your self-custody. Our team has streamlined many of the complex aspects of bitcoin inheritance to create a framework for your generational wealth transfer.

Finally, a simple approach to inheritance

Recently, as I’ve talked to people who self-custody their bitcoin, one anxiety has continued to surface over and over again. “What happens if I die?”

Most people, including Casa members, have a complex plan occasionally resembling a map to the lost city of Atlantis that explains how their family can access their bitcoin in case they pass away unexpectedly. It involves finding seed phrases, using hardware wallets, and hoping their loved ones can find a solid guide online about how to move bitcoin out of cold storage. 

This isn’t good enough. We can’t be leaving our family a seed phrase and a treasure map and hoping they can make do with it — not for securing one of the most important assets of our lifetime. 

So, we went at this problem with full force and created one of the most valuable updates for Casa members yet. 

Our approach to inheritance feels incredibly smooth and familiar. Invite your spouse or other designated Recipient to Casa, then share keys with them securely via the app. They won’t be able to use those keys to sign transactions until you’ve passed away. And with our Standard plan’s 3-key vaults, your family won’t even need to know how to use a hardware wallet — they’ll use their mobile key and the Casa Recovery Key to access the vault. No added friction in an already stressful time.

Casa Inheritance is simple to complete all the way through, thanks to our team’s maniacal focus on creating the best experience for our members. Here is a more detailed overview of how it works with our 3-key vaults:

• Choose a Recipient and invite them to set up a free Casa account. 
• Once they accept your invite, you’ll share your encrypted mobile key with them via QR code. This also designates their account as able to request a signature from the Casa Recovery Key for your vault. 
• If/when the time comes, they can request access to your vault in the Casa app.
• After a six-month waiting period, during which we give you plenty of reminders to tell us “I’m not dead!”, vault access is unlocked for your Recipient. They can now use the mobile key and the Casa Recovery Key, which Casa stores on your behalf, for transactions.

Each step of this process is self-custodial and fully in your control. Casa never has access to your assets. You control the keys to your vault until the time is right and your Recipient is ready. And if your situation changes, you can always revoke their vault access in the Casa app.

Save your family from getting confused about assets

Many of our members are bitcoin-only, and that focus makes for a simple inheritance transfer. Some have other assets, such as ether and stablecoins, which can add an additional level of complexity for families. If your loved ones are totally new to crypto, it can be overwhelming to manage multiple blockchains and a number of devices.

Like our vaults, Casa Inheritance can accommodate many assets: 

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH) 
• Tether (USDT)
• USD Coin (USDC)

Together, these assets make up the vast majority of the crypto ecosystem. Having a single comprehensive solution for most, if not all, of your holdings can ease the transition for your family.

Grant access from your phone — no juggling devices

We mentioned earlier that your family won’t necessarily need to use a hardware wallet. This streamlines the inheritance process considerably for families. Because this plan is built around a 3-key vault, the mobile key and Casa Recovery Key are all your Recipient needs for inheritance. 

We’ve long heard from Casa members who are nervous about hardware wallets and whether their loved ones are prepared to use them. While our team has done an excellent job in guiding members and their families through using these devices, we’ve reflected on this feedback and agree this friction point can be eliminated in many cases.

Bypassing hardware wallets reduces a major source of uncertainty with crypto inheritance: the device itself. We’ve heard cautionary tales of heirs and estate executors who couldn’t find a missing device, didn’t know how to use it, or didn’t have the PIN documented. There’s just no reason to add confusion to a time of bereavement if you can help it.

If your Recipient can use a smartphone, you can use Casa Inheritance. The more we can reduce technological hurdles, the more your loved ones are taken care of. Give your family an inheritance, not a headache.

Leave a legacy wherever you are in life

Wealth is supposed to provide financial freedom, but most bitcoin inheritance solutions to date have been highly restrictive, both in cost and geographic availability (shoutout to Casa’s previous inheritance product, only available in the U.S.). We believe these restrictions are increasingly out of step with the reality of digital assets, where your investment can change overnight and you and your family can be anywhere in the world.

Today, we’re happy to close that gap. Casa Inheritance is available worldwide and accessible for every investor. That way, you can have peace of mind your bitcoin is safe, and your Recipient can feel comfortable knowing they can commence a transfer from anywhere. It’s a win-win for the fam.

Securing billions? Access even more protection with Casa Private Client

Serving early adopters and distinguished investors has long been our calling card, and when substantial holdings are at stake, you want every safeguard known to mankind. Our original inheritance offering was built with this level of service in mind.

Today, Casa Private Clients enjoy unparalleled security and access to our Casa advisors, beginning with emergency support, bespoke consultations, and an advanced inheritance feature known as Enhanced Verification. 

In this process, both you and your Recipient provide valid government-issued IDs at setup. Later, to proceed with a transfer, the Recipient must provide a valid death certificate. This eliminates the six-month waiting period in favor of manual verification from the Casa team. This service is only available for U.S. residents. 

Should a transfer be necessary, your Recipient will enjoy direct access to Casa advisors who can guide them through every step of the process, and this dedicated support will provide your loved ones with peace of mind at the right time. Learn more about Private Client here.

Final thoughts

Self-custody and inheritance are two sides of the same coin, especially if you want to hold bitcoin and other assets for generations. Casa Inheritance gives you the tools and flexibility you and your loved ones to make the most of the opportunity.

You have the chance to leave an incredible legacy — keep it with Casa. Get started with Casa Standard here.