# The Problem: When Self-Custody Fail ### The Problem: When Self-Custody Fails Self-custody works well **as long as the owner can act**. As long as you can: * access your wallets * sign transactions * coordinate with others everything works. The problem starts when **you cannot act**, temporarily or permanently. In practice, this usually happens in three distinct ways. *** #### 1. Loss of access You may: * lose devices or backups * forget, destroy, or misplace keys * be unable to reach your setup In self-custody, there is no fallback. If the owner cannot sign, **nothing can happen**. Funds do not move.\ Execution depends entirely on whether someone else already has control. *** #### 2. Coordination failure Many existing solutions assume that **people will coordinate at the right moment**. In real life, coordination often fails: * someone is unavailable * someone hesitates * someone refuses to act * someone is legally or technically blocked When execution requires people to cooperate in real time,\ execution can stall indefinitely. These systems assume coordination will succeed\ **exactly when execution is required**. Over long time horizons, this assumption often breaks. *** #### 3. Splitting or sharing mnemonics Another common workaround is to: * split a seed phrase * share parts of a mnemonic * store fragments with different people This is often presented as a safety measure,\ but in practice it **transfers control away from the owner**. Once a mnemonic is split or shared: * control is no longer exclusive * access depends on other people * execution depends on their coordination This is effectively a **hidden multisig**,\ but without clear rules, thresholds, or enforcement. It introduces serious risks: * fragments can be lost or copied * people may act too early or too late * reconstruction may fail years later * intent cannot be verified or enforced Instead of defining execution rules,\ this approach **hands control to humans in advance**\ and relies on long-term discipline and trust. Over long time horizons, this model breaks easily. *** ### Why existing solutions are not enough When the owner cannot act, most existing approaches fail in predictable ways. #### **Multisig and MPC** Multisig and MPC require **active coordination at execution time**. If one participant cannot or will not act,\ execution may never complete. These systems work for shared control,\ but fail when coordination breaks. *** #### **Custodial and institutional solutions** Custodians solve execution by **holding keys**. This introduces other risks: * loss of self-custody * discretionary control by third parties * jurisdictional exposure * dependence on the custodian’s continued operation You gain execution, but lose sovereignty. *** #### **Legal inheritance and trusts** Legal structures define **who should receive assets**,\ but they do not execute blockchain transactions. They rely on: * courts and trustees * paperwork and procedures * cross-border coordination Even when legal intent is clear,\ on-chain execution can be delayed or blocked. *** ### The core issue All existing approaches fail for the same reason: > **They depend on keys or human coordination at execution time.** Self-custody has no native mechanism\ for situations where the owner cannot act\ or coordination fails. That is the problem CryptoLegacy is designed to solve. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.cryptolegacy.app/start-here/the-problem-when-self-custody-fail.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.