What to do when a Anchorage Digital account holder dies
Contact Anchorage Digital — 6-step process, 6 required documents, and varies significantly based on account structure, jurisdiction, and complexity of the estate; institutional accounts may involve additional legal review
A
Anchorage Digital Client Services
Phone+1 (415) 941-6300
Mailing Address
Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., Sioux Falls, SD
WebsiteLearn more→
Anchorage Digital Client Services
Phone+1 (415) 941-6300
Mailing Address
Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., Sioux Falls, SD
WebsiteLearn more→
Anchorage Digital Client Services / Legal & Compliance (no dedicated retail claims line or online estate portal; estate matters route through the client relationship manager and legal/compliance)
Phone+1 (415) 941-6300
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
When a Anchorage Digital account holder passes away, the next step depends on how the accounts were set up. Accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer outside of probate. Accounts titled solely in the deceased's name require the estate's legal representative to work with Anchorage Digital's Anchorage Digital Client Services / Legal & Compliance (no dedicated retail claims line or online estate portal; estate matters route through the client relationship manager and legal/compliance) (+1 (415) 941-6300) to access and distribute the funds.
To start a claim, contact Anchorage Digital by phone at +1 (415) 941-6300 or email documentation to contact@anchorage.com. You will need the account holder's full name, account numbers, and a certified death certificate.
Death claim process
Here is the step-by-step death claim process at Anchorage Digital:
Filing a claim
1
Report the death of an account holder or an authorized person to Anchorage Digital by contacting the client's relationship manager, calling +1 (415) 941-6300, or emailing contact@anchorage.com (https://www.anchorage.com/get-in-touch)
2
Identify how the account is held, because that determines who acts and what is needed:
- Entity accounts (fund, corporation, trust): the surviving authorized signers or successor trustee named in the entity's governing documents continue to act; update the authorized-person roster rather than transferring the account itself
- Individual accounts held directly: the estate's personal representative must establish authority through probate
3
Anchorage Digital assigns a representative to guide the estate and, for individual accounts, re-credentials authorized users so custody access can pass to the estate without any private key changing hands (custody is engineered to avoid key-person risk)
4
Submit required documentation:
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from the probate court (individual accounts)
- Government-issued photo ID for the executor or personal representative
- For trust-held accounts: the trust agreement / certification and successor-trustee authorization
- Court order or additional legal documentation if required by Anchorage compliance or the governing jurisdiction
5
Anchorage Digital legal and compliance teams review all documentation and re-run KYC/AML on the incoming authorized parties
6
Upon verification, custodied assets (held in segregated, bankruptcy-remote accounts) are transferred in-kind to a successor custody account, distributed to beneficiaries, or liquidated per the estate instructions and applicable law
Required Documents
- Certified death certificate
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
- Government-issued photo ID for executor or personal representative
- Court order authorizing transfer of digital assets (if required by jurisdiction)
- Trust documentation (if assets held in trust custody account)
- Any additional documentation required by Anchorage Digital compliance
What to know at this institution
Anchorage Digital is an institutional custody platform and does not publish a standard consumer-facing death-claim form; there is no online estate portal, and the process runs through the client's relationship manager and Anchorage's legal/compliance teams (start at contact@anchorage.com or +1 (415) 941-6300). Unlike self-custody, there is no seed phrase or hardware wallet for an executor to find: because Anchorage custody is engineered to avoid key-person risk, releasing assets to an estate is a matter of re-credentialing authorized users under the custody agreement, not recovering a private key. Client assets are held in segregated, bankruptcy-remote accounts under OCC supervision. Estates should engage legal counsel experienced with digital-asset settlement. Trust-held accounts (including the Two Ocean Trust COIN Trust) bypass probate and follow trust terms directly.
Expected timelines at Anchorage Digital: Varies significantly based on account structure, jurisdiction, and complexity of the estate; institutional accounts may involve additional legal review. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
Anchorage Digital requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified death certificate, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, and Government-issued photo ID for executor or personal representative, and additional documentation depending on the account type. Certified copies are typically needed—photocopies are generally not accepted for death certificates or court documents.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Anchorage Digital partners with Two Ocean Trust (regulated by the Wyoming Division of Banking) on the COIN Trust — the Crypto Optimized Irrevocable Non-grantor Trust. It pairs a formal irrevocable trust structure with Anchorage's custody so digital assets pass to beneficiaries at death through the trust rather than an informal handoff, giving crypto holders the same private-client estate experience available for traditional assets. Because Anchorage custody is engineered to avoid key-person risk, there is no seed phrase or hardware wallet for a trustee to recover. See https://www.anchorage.com/insights/case-study-estate-planning-in-crypto-coin-trust-brings-generational-wealth-management-from-two-ocean-trust-to-anchorage-digital-clients.
The estate representative should contact Anchorage Digital to report the death and initiate estate proceedings. Required documentation typically includes a certified death certificate, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, and government-issued ID for the executor. Assets held in a trust account transfer according to trust terms. Assets in individual accounts require probate or court order. Digital asset estate settlement may involve additional complexity including private key authorization changes.
Anchorage Digital's Anchorage Digital Client Services / Legal & Compliance (no dedicated retail claims line or online estate portal; estate matters route through the client relationship manager and legal/compliance) can be reached by phone at +1 (415) 941-6300 and email at contact@anchorage.com for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple Anchorage Digital accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The Anchorage Digital Client Services / Legal & Compliance (no dedicated retail claims line or online estate portal; estate matters route through the client relationship manager and legal/compliance) can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from Anchorage Digital primary sources (32 pages reviewed). How we research.
A
Anchorage Digital Client Services
Phone+1 (415) 941-6300
Mailing Address
Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., Sioux Falls, SD
WebsiteLearn more→
Anchorage Digital Client Services
Phone+1 (415) 941-6300
Mailing Address
Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., Sioux Falls, SD
WebsiteLearn more→
Anchorage Digital Client Services / Legal & Compliance (no dedicated retail claims line or online estate portal; estate matters route through the client relationship manager and legal/compliance)
Phone+1 (415) 941-6300
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
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