Earlier this year, my father passed away, also leaving behind some cryptocurrencies. Specifically, he had around 200 Basic Attention Tokens stored on Uphold.
Unfortunately, despite having access to my deceased father’s Uphold account login information, email, phone, and necessary documents, the Basic Attention Tokens seem to be lost forever.
Allow me to explain what occurred.
Easy Task?
Initially, I assumed that retrieving the $BAT from my father’s Uphold account would be a simple task. I planned to log in, transfer the funds to my own Uphold account, and then delete his account. However, it turned out to be more complicated than expected.
The two-factor authentication was not sufficient as Uphold additionally required a biometric scan of my father’s face. This meant I couldn’t just transfer the funds and close the account. As a result, I had to open a customer service case with Uphold which has been pending for a month now.
The Instructions Of The Uphold Specialist
I was informed that a specialist has been assigned to handle my case and will be reaching out to me shortly. The specialist instructed me to respond to their email using the email address associated with my deceased father's Uphold account.
Additionally, I was asked to provide three documents: a copy of the death certificate, a government-issued ID of either the executor or beneficiary, and one of the following: a Short Certificate, Next of Kin Certificate, Letters Testamentary, Probate or Administrator Certificate (which discloses the executor/administrator of the Estate), or Testamentary Disposition.
Next, he asked me to upload the following three pieces of documentation:
A copy of the death certificate, a copy of the government-issued ID of either the executor or the beneficiary, and either one of the following documents:
- Short Certificates, or;
- Next of Kin Certificate, or;
- Letters Testamentary, or;
- Probate or administrator certificate, (disclosing executor/administrator of the Estate), or testamentary disposition.
The Problem of Foreign Languages
I had no problem providing a copy of my government-issued ID and the death certificate. However, the third document, a scanned testimony in German, was not accepted by the Uphold specialist as he only speaks English. He requested a notarized and translated version of the handwritten testimony in English, which would cost a few hundred dollars. This seems economically illogical for Basic Attention Tokens worth around $50.
I suggested sending a Next of Kin Certificate instead, but it was also rejected. The specialist's final message to me was as follows:
A notarized and translated version of the handwritten testimony in English costs a few hundred bucks and all to get Basic Attention Tokens worth around $50? Economically, it makes zero sense.
For this reason, I told the specialist that I will send him a Next of Kin Certificate. This official document was also not accepted.
The final message I received from the specialist was this one:
“As you may appreciate, we have to follow a very strict process before releasing funds from a customer account to a third party.That process includes collecting the information requested below. Once we have it, we’ll work with you to quickly resolve this matter.
If you are in doubt, we suggest you consult an attorney or legal advisor for their advice and / or assistance.”
The expert has suggested that I hire a lawyer, but I find it all very confusing and I fear that the tokens are lost for good as it makes economically absolutely no sense.
My Final Conclusion
For a long time, one of the main reasons to complete a KYC on a platform was the idea that if you passed away, your loved ones could easily access your funds. However, my personal experience with Uphold has caused me to rethink this belief.
To exercise complete authority over your funds, it is necessary to act as your own bank and utilize non-custodial wallets.
You may have heard the common phrase, "Not your keys, not your coins." It emphasizes the importance of owning and securing your cryptocurrency keys by yourself and not by a centralized player like Uphold.
Thank you for reading and if this is the kind of stuff that you like to read, make sure to follow me here on PUBLISH0X for more.
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