Cryptocurrency and Estate Law | New Challenges

I’m Mike Hackard with Hackard Law. We litigate California estate and trust disputes.

More often than not, the asset in question is a house. Other common assets are bank accounts and securities.

It’s our job to keep up with the law and with changing trends. The ownership of crypto-assets is a changing trend.

Crypto-assets are going mainstream. Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange, estimates that 14% of American adults, roughly 21 million people, own cryptocurrency. This ownership rate is moving upward.

The asset-management industry is working to cash in on cryptocurrencies by launching new products. While progress is slow, there is progress. Cryptocurrency ownership will become more widespread.

This will be a challenge for those who administer estates, their lawyers, and the courts. It’s said that not knowing what to do with cryptocurrency and not understanding how to buy it are the top concerns shared by investors who have never purchased crypto.

Only about 3% of non-owners of cryptocurrency claim to understand well how crypto works. Nearly 60% of non-owners have neither heard of cryptocurrency nor understand how it works at all.

A famous jurist, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., wrote that “The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience.” It’s sure to be interesting how experiencing the development of cryptocurrency will define the life of the law in this new asset class.

If you’d like to speak with us about your estate or trust case, call us at Hackard Law 916 313-3030. We’ll be happy to hear from you.

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