Kresus Launches Crypto Inheritance Service to Help Families Preserve Digital Wealth

One of crypto's biggest security strengths has also become one of its biggest estate planning challenges. If a self-custody wallet owner dies without sharing access to their assets, those funds can be lost forever.

Kresus wants to change that.

The self-custody wallet provider has launched Kresus Inheritance, a new subscription service that allows users to securely pass digital assets to a designated beneficiary without sharing private keys or giving up control while they are alive.

The launch addresses one of the industry's longest-standing problems: how to preserve digital wealth across generations without compromising the principles of self-custody.

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Solving Crypto's Estate Planning Problem

Unlike traditional bank accounts and brokerage platforms, self-custody wallets typically don't include beneficiary designations or built-in inheritance mechanisms. Many users resort to writing down seed phrases, sharing private keys with family members or relying on expensive legal structures—all of which introduce new security risks.

Kresus says its new service removes that trade-off. Users can designate a beneficiary directly within the wallet while retaining exclusive control of their assets. The beneficiary receives no access unless a predefined inactivity period expires and the succession process is triggered.

According to the company, private keys are never shared, and Kresus never takes custody of customer assets.

"Too much digital wealth has already been lost because there was no plan for what happens next," said Trevor Traina, Founder and CEO of Kresus.

"Self-custody shouldn't mean your assets disappear if something happens to you. With Kresus Inheritance, we're giving users a secure and affordable way to protect their legacy and ensure the wealth they've built can be passed on to the next generation."

A Growing Challenge for Crypto Investors

The need for crypto estate planning is becoming increasingly urgent. According to a Harris Poll, an estimated 55 million Americans—around 21% of the U.S. population—now own cryptocurrency.

At the same time, research from the Cremation Institute found that 89% of crypto investors worry about what will happen to their digital assets after they die.

The issue has become even more significant as Bitcoin's price has climbed over the past decade, with billions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency believed to be permanently inaccessible because owners lost their private keys or died without leaving recovery instructions.

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Building Wealth Management Into Self-Custody

Kresus Inheritance is available as a subscription priced at $99.99 per year and is integrated directly into the Kresus Wallet.

The company says the service is designed for everyday users as well as larger crypto holders who want a secure way to pass digital assets to spouses, children or other beneficiaries without exposing private keys during their lifetime.

The launch also reflects Kresus' broader strategy of expanding beyond digital asset storage. Alongside its self-custody wallet, the company has been building infrastructure for tokenized assets, wallet technology and on-chain financial services, with inheritance planning becoming another component of a more comprehensive digital wealth platform.

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As cryptocurrency ownership continues to grow, services that address long-term wealth preservation may become just as important as the wallets used to store digital assets in the first place.