Self-Custody Succession.

Self-custodied Bitcoin solves counterparty risk and creates a new single point of failure: the holder. Death, incapacity, relocation, or a hostile border crossing can strand the asset precisely because no third party can reach it.

Conventional succession advice fails here. A will that names keys leaks them. A trust that takes custody destroys the point of self-custody. This product designs succession and structure that preserves self-custody while making the estate survivable.

The bearer layer meets
the estate.

Self-custody is a deliberate architectural choice. It removes the intermediary. It also removes the safety net. If the holder is unavailable, no bank will release the asset, no trustee will step in, no court order will compel a transfer. The asset sits exactly where the holder left it, unreachable.

The problem is not technical. Multisig schemes, Shamir splits, and timelocked transactions all exist. The problem is legal and structural: how to bridge a bearer instrument into a conventional estate without surrendering the property that makes it valuable.

This is the gap Autark fills. We design succession and structure that preserves self-custody while making the estate survivable. The principals run their own multi-jurisdiction structure with self-custodied assets and test it under the same discipline they sell.

What we design

  • Succession design for multisig and single-sig arrangements that does not expose key material
  • Integration of self-custodied assets into trust and estate structures without surrendering custody
  • Cross-border treatment when the holder relocates
  • The bridge between the bearer layer and the conventional estate
  • A documented inheritance procedure, tested with the family

A will that names keys leaks them. A trust that takes custody destroys the point of self-custody. The structure must preserve both.

How the engagement
works.

01

Stress Test

The engagement begins with the Stress Test, scoped to include digital assets and key arrangements as a named complexity factor. The Stress Test maps the full structure, identifies where self-custody creates exposure, and produces the blueprint.

02

Architecture

The build phase. The blueprint is implemented: entities formed, custody frameworks designed, succession instruments drafted, inheritance procedures documented. Specialist drafting in each jurisdiction is executed by specialist counsel selected and directed by Autark.

03

Live-Fire Retainer

The annual proof. Once a year we exercise every signer and key under live conditions, rotate dormant access, and deliver a written verdict that the structure holds under test. The Live-Fire Retainer is the natural annual engagement for any self-custody structure.

Start with the
Snapshot.

The Snapshot takes under five minutes and maps your exposure across five structural dimensions. USD 500, credited in full against the Stress Test. Most engagements begin there.

Book a Snapshot → Schedule a Call → Get in Touch →