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How to Protect Bitcoin for Your Heirs With the Push of a 'Dead Man's Button'

What happens to your bitcoin after you die? Lightning developers think a "dead man's button" could be a new tool to passing your crypto to your heirs.

By Alyssa Hertig

Updated Sep 13, 2021, 12:20 p.m. Published Feb 24, 2020, 1:00 p.m.

If a "dead man's button" isn't pressed one week, it is assumed the user is dead and the service automatically dispenses a "secret," which heirs can use to retrieve the crypto.

(Image via Library of Congress.) — If a "dead man's button" isn't pressed one week, it is assumed the user is dead and the service automatically dispenses a "secret," which heirs can use to retrieve the crypto. (Image via Library of Congress.)