Nothing last forever...
Steem has introduced a paradigm shift into how content creators are valued and rewarded for what they produce. Unlike other social media, being powered by the blockchain makes a user accounts become more like a bank account. This got me thinking into what would happens when a person becomes unable to access their account either through death or some other similar tragedy like alzheimer's or being in a coma for instance.
In the traditional banking system assets can be given to next of kin based on a person's will. Even if that person does not have a will there are certain mechanisms in place that will make sure whoever is entitled will be able to have access to whatever assets that person had during their lifetime be it property, investments or cash accounts.
Within blockchain as far as I know there is no way to grant access to a user's account/ funds without exposing that account to risk. I think there are a number of wallets throughout the blockchain space that have become inaccessible do to unforeseen events. Theses tokens essentially become stuck and in turn make the value of said asset go up because less end up in circulation.
So what about steem?
I see that there is an account recovery feature but if someone got hit by the proverbial bus then there seems to be nothing anyone can do to pass the assets to the next of kin. I know this platform is still young but given that some of these account have million of dollars worth of steem in them I think people should start thinking about the unexpected.
I’m not sure what that would entail given the peer to peer nature of cryptocurrencies. You would need to give someone your password or private key in order for them to access the funds. There is also a learning curve to understanding crypto and it can be pretty steep for some.
I'm not sure if I am I the only person that has thought of this? I mean nothing last forever in this world but blockchain will be here long after we are gone. It would be a shame to see millions of dollars worth of steem just sitting around in inaccessible accounts.
I plan on holding steem for a very long time but I'm thinking of ways to ensure that if something were to happen I could let my loved ones access my crypto and liquidate whatever I have. The only option I can think of is to use a program like Keepass and make sure I give my master password to someone who is cable of understanding crypto. What do you guys think?
