What happens to my XRP when I die?

The full answer

What happens depends on who holds the key. For XRP held on an exchange, a June 2026 law-firm article says executors “may be able to access the account through the platform’s estate administration procedures,” it says.[5] For XRP in a wallet you control, XRPL.org says: “Due to the decentralized nature of the XRP Ledger, there is no one who can restore access to your account if something goes wrong.”[1] This page gives general information, not legal or tax advice. A lawyer in your province or state, and the CRA or IRS pages cited here, decide how it applies to a particular estate.

How does an executor claim XRP held on an exchange?

A June 2026 article by the Canadian tax law firm Rotfleisch & Samulovitch says that “when cryptocurrency is held on an exchange, executors may be able to access the account through the platform’s estate administration procedures,” which often require death certificates, probate documentation, executor appointments, identity verification and supporting estate records.[5] An American Bar Association Probate & Property article from January/February 2026 says some custodial exchanges permit fiduciary access “only after receiving a combination of death certificates, probate documents, and letters testamentary,” the article says.[3] How holding on an exchange compares with self-custody is on exchange or own wallet.

What about XRP in self-custody?

The same law-firm article says crypto ownership “often depends entirely on access to private keys, recovery phrases, and digital wallets,” and that “if this information is lost or unavailable upon death, beneficiaries may be unable to recover the assets regardless of their value,” it says.[5] The 2026 ABA article says that without the recovery phrase or PIN, “access to the asset is almost impossible.” It adds that there is “no username or password reset” and “no legal mechanism to compel access.”[3] A 2019 ABA article says “once a passcode is lost it is virtually impossible to recover.”[4]

A paper presented at CHI 2025 studied how cryptocurrency users manage seed phrases. It reports that only a minority of those it studied had done any estate planning for their crypto.[11] The paper could not be re-fetched for this page as of September 29, 2026, so that finding is unverified here.

Do laws give an executor access to digital assets?

In the US, the 2026 ABA article says most states have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA). Under it, fiduciaries may access certain crypto holdings “if they are expressly authorized to do so in estate planning documents,” and only then.[3] The 2019 ABA article warns that a fiduciary who uses a passcode without proper permission in the estate documents could breach privacy, terms-of-service or computer-fraud laws.[4]

In Canada, Hull & Hull writes that in 2016 the uniform act was adopted by the “Uniform Law Commission of Canada” (ULCC) “as the model legislation, providing a precedent act for provinces and territories,” and that it gives a fiduciary “the right to access all digital assets belonging to the deceased, unless specified otherwise in the will,” it says.[6] Hull & Hull wrote in July 2023 that New Brunswick had become the third province to adopt it, after Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.[6] The Government of Yukon announced on November 15, 2023 that its own act had received assent, and that it “is based on the recommendations from the Uniform Law Conference of Canada and the Uniform Access to Digital Assets by Fiduciaries Act,” the announcement says.[7] Hull & Hull’s article and the Yukon announcement word the body’s name differently, as quoted here. Whether other provinces have followed was not found for this page.

What does QuadrigaCX show, and what does it not show?

Quadriga announced on January 14, 2019 that Gerald Cotten had died the previous month.[8] The Ontario Securities Commission staff review notes: “It has been widely speculated that the bulk of investor losses resulted from crypto assets becoming lost or inaccessible as a result of Cotten’s death,” the review says.[8] The staff found that clients “collectively lost at least $169 million,” and that “the bulk of the asset shortfall—approximately $115 million—arose from Cotten’s fraudulent trading on the Quadriga platform,” the staff wrote.[8] On the lost-access view, the staff wrote: “In our assessment, this was not the case.”[8] More on platform failure is on what happens if an exchange goes bankrupt.

What planning tools exist, and what does each risk?

The law-firm article, the ABA articles and XRPL.org describe three approaches.

• An inventory. The Rotfleisch & Samulovitch article says “a digital asset inventory can help executors identify cryptocurrency holdings that might otherwise remain undiscovered.”[5]
• A stored key or phrase, kept apart from the will. The same article says private keys and seed phrases “should generally not be included directly within a will because wills may become publicly accessible during probate proceedings,” and adds that “secure storage procedures should be developed separately.”[5] The 2019 ABA article suggests writing a passcode down and keeping it somewhere secure but accessible.[4] XRPL.org warns that “any configuration in which outside sources may gain access to your secret key is dangerous, and is likely to result in a malicious user stealing all your XRP.”[12] Storage choices are covered on how to keep XRP keys safe.
• Multi-signing. XRPL.org says a holder can “delegate the power to send transactions from your address to a group of people, who can control your address if you are unavailable,” with 1 to 32 addresses on a signer list.[2] The law-firm article notes that multi-signature wallets “require multiple approvals before cryptocurrency can be transferred” and “can complicate estate administration if succession procedures have not been clearly documented.”[5] How the ledger’s controls work is on XRP Ledger account security features.

What are the tax consequences at death?

In Canada, the CRA says “a person who died is considered to have disposed of all the property they own right before death.” It calls this a “deemed disposition.”[9] Property transferred to a surviving spouse or common-law partner resident in Canada, it adds, “may not result in a capital gain or capital loss in the final return.”[9] In the US, IRS Publication 551 says the basis of inherited property is generally its fair market value at the date of death, or on the alternate valuation date if the estate chooses it.[10] Record-keeping for crypto taxes is covered on what records to keep for crypto taxes.