Bitcoin put its mark on this world for 14 years (since the whitepaper was made public), and our chain with its legacy is closing in on 8 years, so those years started to pile up.
Early bitcoiners, if they started in their 20ies, are now middle age. Time passes for everyone.
Not everyone starts young either. I don't want to sound morbid, but passing away is a thing for us humans, and a good thing, given our degrading bodies and minds. It would be a good thing even if the body and mind were kept in perfect condition because mentalities change over time and there will often be a gap between younger and older people, bigger with the age difference (usually). That's why attempting to extend life artificially is probably a bad thing for mankind because it will lead to stronger generational conflicts.
So, what happens with our crypto when we pass away or if we become incapacitated? There are no laws to cover the transmission of these assets to legal heirs and it would be a nightmare to create or apply them. Which is as it should be!
With assets in ETFs (when they'll be approved) or even centralized exchanges, probably transmission to the legal heirs would be possible if they provided the necessary legal documents.
But for self-custody wallets, that doesn't apply. In this case, the owner needs to take the necessary steps to instruct someone else in the family (or whoever is the beneficiary) on how to access the wallets. What will we do in the case of non-technical people? How do you explain to them the usage of different wallets, different blockchains, different platforms, and different products, so that they can follow what we are saying and don't simply give up on the potential wealth that is amassed behind those steps?
We often start from the premise that "we have time" to explain everything in person (including myself for a long time). But what if we don't? Sometimes our time just ends and there's nothing we can do to extend it.
I wonder how many crypto-related jobs will be created based on the need to find, understand, and move assets, alone. There is a matter of trust though. If you don't understand what is in the self-custody wallets, and how to work with them, can you trust someone else to do what is necessary for you without keeping some for themselves?
The best solution would be mass adoption and people understanding crypto like they understand how to use a smartphone. But it looks to me like the mass adoption will come via Wall Street, banks, or Web 2 ways, and none of them means truly crypto involvement for the user/investor. But it will likely be much easier to transmit assets to heirs.
