Chapter 7 – Jurisdictional Risks: Navigating Legal Uncertainty Under Absence

On-chain execution reduces dependence on courts and jurisdictions.

Bob understood that crypto itself was borderless — but the moment an owner cannot act on their own, everything around it stops being so. Laws differed between countries, interpretations shifted over time, and legal processes moved slowly. What concerned Bob was not inheritance as a legal outcome, but whether transfer and recovery would continue to execute in a defined and predictable way, with inheritance only as a terminal case if execution progressed that far.

If he could no longer act on his own, would execution depend on courts, jurisdictions, and paperwork — or on rules defined in advance?

• Shared Mnemonics: Initially, Bob shared his seed phrases directly with family members. While simple and independent of any jurisdiction, this approach relied entirely on personal trust. If Bob cannot act on his own, any disagreement, misuse, or conflict would no longer be resolvable through predefined execution, making transfer and recovery dependent on human discretion rather than rules. In theory, courts might intervene after the fact. In practice, such processes are slow, costly, and jurisdiction-dependent. They cannot guarantee timely recovery or restoration of control, leaving outcomes dependent on relationships rather than enforceable execution rules.

• Multisig Wallets: Multisig wallets appeared more structured and less tied to a single legal system. But Bob realized that once the owner cannot act on his own, signers located in different jurisdictions introduced new uncertainty. Conflicts, unavailability, or regulatory pressure on individual signers could stall execution indefinitely. Courts could not reliably resolve such deadlocks across borders or enforce timely on-chain action.

• MPC and Custodial Models: Bob also looked at MPC-based wallets and custodial services, including exchanges. These models appeared convenient and, in some cases, aligned with local regulations. However, they ultimately shifted execution outside the blockchain. Access and recovery depended on service providers, internal policies, or legal orders tied to specific jurisdictions. When the owner cannot act, any transfer or recovery required off-chain intervention — customer support processes, compliance reviews, or legal claims — all subject to local law, changing regulations, and discretionary decisions. In practice, execution remained jurisdiction-dependent, even though the assets themselves were digital.

• Traditional Legal Approach: Bob also considered wills and trusts. These mechanisms were designed to operate when the owner cannot act, but they depended entirely on jurisdiction. Each country imposed different requirements, and evolving crypto regulations made long-term planning fragile. Even when courts eventually acted, they could not directly execute on-chain transfers. In practice, the owner’s inability to act translated into delay, cost, and uncertainty around transfer and recovery.

With CryptoLegacy, Bob approached the inability to act differently. Instead of relying on legal enforcement after the fact, he defined execution rules in advance and placed them on-chain. When he could no longer act, recovery or distribution could proceed only after predefined conditions were met — either through time-based rules or Guardian confirmations — without requiring court orders or cross-border legal coordination.

Guardians did not access or control assets. Their role was limited to confirming that Bob cannot act on his own, allowing the system to transition states according to rules Bob had defined.

Bob also configured recovery addresses that remained separate from the transfer flow. These addresses allowed him to regain control over remaining assets if circumstances changed, ensuring that a temporary inability to act did not automatically result in irreversible transfer of all assets.

Inheritance, in this model, was not the starting point — it was a terminal outcome, reached only if the owner’s inability to act became irreversible and recovery was no longer exercised.

With CryptoLegacy, Bob did not eliminate legal uncertainty. He limited its impact by separating execution from jurisdiction.

CryptoLegacy does not replace the law. It defines what happens when the law cannot act in time.

Your keys. Your crypto. Your code.