IPFS News Link • Currencies
'Humans Die. Cryptocurrencies Don't': Why You Should Begin Planning Your Estate...
• https://www.ccn.com, Josiah WilmothFive years ago, 26-year-old Matthew Moody was killed as the result of a tragic plane crash in California. Moody, a prolific Bitcoin miner, left behind what is likely a small fortune.
"My son was actually one of the earliest people to mine it," said his father, Michael Moody, in a Bloomberg interview detailing the family's struggle to unveil and recover the lost funds. "He used his computer at home to mine Bitcoins when you actually could do it that way and he had a few we think."
Moody, a retired software engineer, began seeking to recover his son's cryptoassets three years ago. He discovered that his son had used Blockchain's web wallet, but this information did him little good without the decryption password or the wallet's private keys.
This, of course, is by design. One of the core philosophies behind the invention of cryptocurrency was the belief that individuals should retain complete control of their money, or, in common parlance, "Be your own bank."