Uphold Launches Vault Inheritance for Bitcoin, XRP, and Hedera Holders

Uphold announced on September 29 that it is adding inheritance planning to Vault, its assisted self-custody wallet, letting customers name a beneficiary for their Bitcoin (BTC), XRP and Hedera (HBAR) holdings. The feature, called Vault Inheritance, targets a gap the company says has left almost 4 million BTC, worth roughly $331 billion, stranded in wallets whose owners died or lost their private keys.

Unlike a bank account or brokerage, a crypto wallet cannot be recovered by an heir who lacks the keys. Legal ownership may pass on, but the cryptographic control needed to move the assets often does not. Uphold’s answer is a designated beneficiary who can claim the assets after the owner’s death without ever holding access to them beforehand.

How the inheritance claim works

A Vault customer invites a beneficiary directly from the dashboard, and that person is notified and guided to set up an Uphold account to receive the assets later. The beneficiary gets no access while the owner is alive, and the designation can be changed at any time. After the owner passes, Uphold’s compliance team verifies the legal documentation before transferring control into the beneficiary’s Uphold wallet. The company says the beneficiary needs no prior crypto knowledge. Uphold Vault itself launched in December 2023, pairing self-custody with built-in key replacement and instant access to trading.