Estate Planning Must Include Digital Footprint

Two Bermuda companies linked to BitMEX, the #cryptocurrency #exchange, are among the defendants in a lawsuit by Celsius Network, a failed lender that alleges that wrongful liquidations and market manipulation in March 2020 cost it and an investment fund 6,360 bitcoin, now worth about $495 million. https://lnkd.in/eu66mtrj

Recovery Firm Recovers $1B in Crypto Wallets, Finds $10 Usable A case involving a supposed “lost fortune” in Bitcoin has become a cautionary tale about how often crypto recovery isn’t just a technical challenge—it can also be a problem of scams, misunderstandings, and missing context about what exactly is stored in a wallet. In 2021, Chris Brooks, founder and chief executive of Crypto Asset Recovery, was contacted by a client identified as “Rusty.” Rusty and two other men claimed they had won roughly 5,000 Bitcoin in a court case (worth about $53 million at the time) and said they could withdraw up to $300,000 per week. Brooks and his son traveled

Domain Investors: Is Your Domain Portfolio in Your Will or Trust? If you own valuable domain names, don’t assume your family will automatically know what you own or how to access it when you’re gone. Your domains are assets. Treat them like assets. Your estate plan should address: • Your domain names and websites • Registrar accounts and other marketplace accounts • Online businesses and intellectual property • Cryptocurrency and other digital assets • Who should inherit the assets • Who has authority to manage or sell them • Where your portfolio information and access instructions are stored Putting a domain name in a spreadsheet isn’t the same as giving your executor or successor trustee legal authority to deal with it. Estate-planning professionals increasingly recommend that digital assets be specifically addressed in wills, revocable trusts and powers of attorney. The American Bar Association and Fidelity both identify domain names as digital assets that should be considered as part of an estate plan. (Fidelity⁠) Think about this scenario: You have 300 domains worth $500,000. Something happens to you. Your family knows you were a “domain investor,” but they don’t know: * Which registrar holds the domains * Which domains you own * Which ones are valuable * Where the renewal information is located * Which marketplace accounts contain listings * Who should manage the portfolio * Whether domains should be sold individually or as a portfolio What should you do? 1️⃣ Make a current inventory of your domains and other digital assets. 2️⃣ Tell your estate-planning attorney that you own digital assets—including domain names. 3️⃣ Make sure your will and/or revocable trust gives your executor or successor trustee appropriate authority to manage, transfer and sell those assets. 4️⃣ Create a separate, secure document containing the practical information needed to locate and manage the portfolio. 5️⃣ Keep that information updated. #Domains # DomainNames #DigitalAssets https://lnkd.in/gMSVdAPu

💎 California family law cases providing some generally applicable insights for modern assets’ wealth planners: “#cryptocurrency cases require something more than familiarity with traditional property division principles. They demand a working understanding of digital asset custody, blockchain tracing, wallet transfers, forks, staking mechanisms, and the forensic tools necessary to identify and value assets that may exist entirely outside the conventional financial system. The next generation of high-asset dissolution litigation will not simply involve determining who keeps the house. Increasingly, it will involve determining who controls the private keys.” 🔐 🌟 #digitalassets #crypto #bitcoins #NFT #defi #stablecoins #wealthplanning Cc Demetre Vasilounis Brian Sanya Mondoh Niklas J.R.M. Schmidt Jennifer Zegel Racheal Muldoon https://lnkd.in/e367nzXJ

Three-quarters of credit unions say their members show limited or no demand for cryptocurrency. Their members might disagree. 17% already own it, and that climbs to 27% among Gen Z and millennial members. Only 4% of executives report strong or critical demand. The latest PYMNTS Intelligence playbook, produced in collaboration with Velera, shows which credit unions are acting on that interest and which ones are still waiting for a signal. https://hubs.ly/Q04y6_dJ0

What Happens to Your Digital Assets After You Die? Your estate may include far more than property, bank accounts and investments. Cryptocurrency, online trading accounts, cloud-stored photos, social media, websites, digital businesses and other online records may all form part of your digital estate. But owning a digital asset does not always mean your executor will automatically be able to access or manage it. A well-prepared estate plan should consider not only who receives your assets, but also how your executor can identify, access and deal with them. Planning ahead can help reduce uncertainty and make the administration of your estate easier for your loved ones. Read the full article to learn more: https://lnkd.in/g2ht3NE3 📍 W & G Lawyers, 68 Bryants Road, Shailer Park QLD 4128 📞 (07) 2810 5666 🌐 https://wglawyers.com.au/ ✉ info@wglawyers.com.au Disclaimer: This post is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create a solicitor–client relationship. You should obtain legal advice tailored to your individual circumstances.

Leon Li, a Chinese investor active in the cryptocurrency sector, was identified as the seller of a £190 million Regent's Park mansion in London. The sale highlights the challenges of tracing ownership in high‑value UK real‑estate amid new transparency initiatives. #Fintech #LeonLi #UnitedKingdom

A specialist team flew to Georgia to crack open a $1 billion ETH wallet. But when they got in, they found it had just $10 in it. Inside the wild world of crypto wallet recovery.

The state owns the bitcoin. Does the public own a share? El Salvador’s disclosed reserve wallets held 7,755.37428655 BTC when Satoshi Gazette recomputed the official records on August 26. But the legal and official documents we reviewed disclose no citizen units, pension entitlement, dividend rule or beneficial interest in that reserve. That does not mean the asset cannot benefit the public. It means public benefit and public ownership are different claims. Our new Policy Story asks what would need to exist before a national Bitcoin reserve becomes an enforceable citizen stake: named beneficiaries, defined economic units, a distribution rule and consolidated audited accounts. Read the Story: https://lnkd.in/dbA4ksjh #Bitcoin #ElSalvador #PublicFinance

A specialist team flew to Georgia to crack open a $1 billion ETH wallet. But when they got in, they found it had just $10 in it. Inside the wild world of crypto wallet recovery.