When you name a beneficiary, inheritance 1) encrypts your spending mobile key with a wrapping key and 2) encrypts that wrapping key with your beneficiary's public key. Both encrypted keys are uploaded to Block servers for use in the event of your passing. It’s a bit like putting your wrapped mobile key in a safety deposit box that only your beneficiary has a key to unlock. At no point do we have access to your unencrypted mobile key–and at no point does your beneficiary, before the inheritance and 6 month “Delay and Notify” period is complete.

When you pass away, your beneficiary can trigger the inheritance process through their Bitkey app. Doing so will trigger a 6-month security period, during which you will receive periodic messages to alert you of an inheritance claim–a built-in safeguard that helps protect you in the event that a claim is made while you’re still alive. At any point during those 6 months, you or your beneficiary can stop the inheritance process.

After the 6-month inheritance Delay and Notify period expires, Bitkey relays both the encrypted wrapping key and encrypted mobile key to your beneficiary. The beneficiary’s Bitkey app then uses their private key to decrypt the wrapping key, and the wrapping key to decrypt the mobile key. Your beneficiary can then co-sign a transaction with the key on Bitkey’s servers and transfer funds to their own Bitkey. At no point before this will your beneficiary see your bitcoin balance or access your funds.