Cryptocurrency surged in popularity in recent years with Bitcoin peaking in price in late 2021. It has now plummeted in value, with Bitcoin worth less than half that it was at its peak.
Paul Rossini, founder of software company Assetpass, said: “Unlike a traditional asset, passing crypto on in your will is virtually impossible.
“The access to your digital wealth and your cryptocurrency, or your NFT, is only possible with a unique key. So it’s one thing buying the crypto, that’s very easy on a platform, but it’s not very easy to go and retrieve those assets back from that platform.”
One high profile case saw investor James Howells lose access to £150m of Bitcoin when he threw away his laptop, which he now believes is in a landfill in South Wales.
Leaving the details in a paper will is the equivalent of handing over the keys to a bank account, Mr Rossini said.
He said: “It’s akin to, would you leave your bank account details, and your login, and your password with your solicitor today?
“There’s no procedure, there’s no protocol, there’s no law.”
Christopher Thorpe, a technical officer at the Chartered Institute of Tax, said HMRC was “simply not equipped” for cryptocurrency.
He said: “There’s absolutely nothing you can do about it, because you can’t sell it.”
