What happens to your Anchorage Digital accounts when you die
No beneficiary or trust option on any account, so they pass through the estate
Anchorage Digital does not currently support beneficiary designations, transfer-on-death registrations, or trust account titling on any account type. All Anchorage Digital accounts pass through the estate at death and may require probate.
When an account holder dies, the executor or administrator will need to contact Anchorage Digital with a death certificate and legal authority documents to claim account balances. The process and required documents are covered on the death claim page.
No beneficiary form at Anchorage Digital
Beneficiaries are named by phone.
Anchorage Digital does not currently support beneficiary designations (POD or TOD) on any account type. All accounts transfer through the estate at death and may require probate.
Why trust accounts are not available
Anchorage Digital does not support retitling accounts into a trust, naming a trust as beneficiary, or any other probate-avoidance mechanism. Account balances transfer through the estate at death.
Fiat Custody
Fiat currency custody through an FDIC-insured, licensed sub-custodian (Anchorage does not name the sub-custodian on its own site). Unified cash and crypto visibility on the same platform, with fiat on-ramp and off-ramp for institutional clients. The distinction matters when settling an estate: the FDIC insurance attaches to the fiat leg held at the sub-custodian, while the digital assets in custody carry no FDIC, SIPC, or Singapore DI Scheme protection.
Wealth Management Solution
Institutional Crypto Custody
Institutional Staking
Staking across 20+ networks including Ethereum, Solana, Hyperliquid, and Avalanche. Clients stake through Anchorage Digital Bank, a vetted partner validator, or their own validator, and Anchorage states staked assets stay in the client's own segregated wallets, are never pooled and never rehypothecated, with rewards claimed and restaked automatically. Two practical consequences for an estate: staked positions keep accruing rewards during the administration and need to be accounted for, and unstaking may be subject to a protocol-level unbonding period before the assets can be distributed or sold — ask the relationship manager what each position's exit timing is before promising a distribution date. No separate beneficiary designation; follows the custody account estate transfer path.
Anchorage Digital Prime (Trading & Settlement)
Institutional trading and settlement platform (Anchorage Digital Prime; the former /platform/trading and /platform/settlement URLs now resolve to /platform/prime and /platform/atlas). Supports spot, margin, and OTC derivatives strategies with full trade lifecycle support, API and UI access, and a 24/7 global trading desk. Settlement runs on the Atlas network, which settles directly between participants without escrow, collateral, or omnibus accounts. For estate purposes the entity matters: digital asset trading services are provided by Anchorage Hold, LLC, not by Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., and Anchorage Hold is not registered with the SEC as a broker or dealer. Open positions and margin obligations are the estate's exposure until the relationship manager is told to unwind them.
On-Chain Governance
Allows institutional clients to participate in on-chain governance voting and protocol decisions while assets remain in qualified custody. Supports governance across multiple protocols. Available as an integrated feature of custody accounts.
White-Label Stablecoin Issuance
What Anchorage Digital says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Anchorage Digital's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary5
- Business account
Institutional clients (funds, corporations, trusts) carry succession in their own entity agreements and governing documents. The authorized-signer roster is what changes at death, not the account owner.1
- Joint account with survivorship
On a joint account opened through an RIA, family office or bank under the wealth management solution, the survivorship paperwork sits with the sponsoring advisor, not with Anchorage.1
- Investment account
On a taxable account opened through an RIA, family office or bank under the wealth management solution, the survivorship or beneficiary paperwork sits with the sponsoring advisor, not with Anchorage.1
- IRA
On an IRA opened through an RIA, family office or bank under the wealth management solution, the beneficiary designation paperwork sits with the sponsoring advisor, not with Anchorage.1
- Crypto account
Porto self-custody wallet balances are self-custodied, so no Anchorage designation reaches them.1
What Anchorage Digital's agreement says about beneficiaries1
- Membership
Individual accounts require qualification as an eligible person. Anchorage's legal page limits its services to institutions and certain high net worth individuals in limited circumstances, and states they are not marketed to residents outside the US and Singapore.2
Which accounts a trust can hold2
- Crypto account
A trust entity can open a custody account directly. Assets titled in the trust name pass according to the trust terms.1
There is no individual private key for a trustee to locate, because the custody model is engineered to avoid key-person risk and single points of failure.1
- Trust account
Anchorage published a case study, dated April 23, 2021, describing the COIN Trust (Crypto Optimized Irrevocable Non-grantor Trust) with Two Ocean Trust.3
The COIN Trust is an irrevocable structure holding digital assets in Anchorage custody, so beneficiaries receive them at death through a formal trust rather than an informal handoff.3
Trust account forms Anchorage Digital issues1
- Master Custody Service Agreement
Completed by the trust. Sent by the institution on request.1
What Anchorage Digital says about trust accounts1
- Whether a new account is opened
A trust can open an institutional custody account directly with Anchorage Digital Bank. Institutional onboarding and KYC/AML verification are required for all accounts.1
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- Two Ocean Trust
The COIN Trust, an irrevocable trust holding digital assets in Anchorage custody3
Not in Anchorage Digital's published guidance3
- A beneficiary designation form
- What the owner provides to name a beneficiary
- A beneficiary, TOD or POD designation procedure
Sources3
Sources
Data sourced from Anchorage Digital primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Anchorage Digital instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Anchorage Digital primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Anchorage Digital estate support
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