Uphold, the modern infrastructure provider for on-chain finance, today announced the launch of Vault Inheritance, a new feature designed to solve an often overlooked crypto challenge: how to protect a customer’s digital assets upon death and ensure they reach the intended beneficiary.
Available through Uphold Vault, an assisted self-custody option in the Uphold App, Vault Inheritance enables users to designate a beneficiary for their Bitcoin (BTC), XRP and Hedera (HBAR) holdings and make the process of passing cryptographic control easy, seamless and secure.
Until a verified claim after the customer has passed, the balance remains safe and protected with no premature access to the assets. The beneficiary needs no prior crypto knowledge or experience.
For millions of people, crypto has become a long-term investment. But unlike a bank account or traditional investment portfolio, digital assets can be extremely difficult for heirs to recover if the owner passes without making prior arrangements for access.
Almost 4 million BTC (~$331 Billion) in crypto is believed to be stranded in wallets whose owners have passed or lost access to their private keys. While ownership of digital assets may legally pass to an heir, the cryptographic credentials needed to access them do not. Families can find themselves facing lengthy and complex recovery processes – or unable to recover the assets at all.
“Crypto has become a real part of how people build their financial future, but unlike traditional assets, there are few ways to pass it on securely — especially for XRP holders,” said Nancy Beaton, President of Consumer at Uphold. “Uphold Vault Inheritance gives our customers something major players in the industry haven’t offered before: a credible, straightforward way to ensure their crypto goes exactly where they intend it to.”
How the new inheritance feature works:
Users invite a beneficiary directly from their Vault dashboard. The beneficiary is notified that they have been designated and receives instructions for setting up an Uphold account to which the assets can eventually be transferred.
When the beneficiary ultimately makes a claim, Uphold’s compliance support team verifies the legal documentation and transfers control of the assets directly into the beneficiary’s Uphold wallet. Until the claim is approved, the digital assets remain securely custodied in the deceased’s Uphold account. The beneficiary has no access to the assets prior to the completion of this process.
A beneficiary can be changed at any time before the customer passes.
Launched in December 2023, Uphold Vault combines the control of self-custody with built-in key replacement and instant access to trading on the Uphold platform.
Now, holders of BTC, XRP and XRP also get legacy planning in Vault. The new Inheritance feature will be available to Uphold Vault customers at a cost of $19.99 per month. Current customers will see the new pricing plan after December 31, 2026. U.S. users have access to a free 30-day trial with their subscription.
About Uphold
Uphold, is a financial technology company that believes on-chain services are the future of finance. It provides modern infrastructure for on-chain payments, banking and investments. Offering Consumer Services, Business Services and Institutional Trading, Uphold makes financial services easy and trustworthy for millions of customers in more than 140 countries.
Uphold integrates with more than 30 trading venues, including centralized and decentralized exchanges, to deliver superior liquidity, resilience and optimal execution. Uphold never loans out customer assets, except at customer request, and is always 100% reserved.
The company pioneered radical transparency and uniquely publishes its assets and liabilities every 30 seconds on a public website (https://uphold.com/en-us/transparency).
Uphold is regulated in the U.S. by FinCen and State regulators; and is registered in the UK with the FCA and in Europe with the Bank of Portugal. Securities products and services are offered by Uphold Securities, Inc., a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC.
To learn more about Uphold’s products and services, visit uphold.com.
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