Crypto Inheritance Roundup: March 2025

• Regs Update.
• Vault12 Guard Product Updates.
• New to Crypto Inheritance? Start here.

With the 2024 election behind us, this year is pivotal for #crypto policy and innovation. That's why I'm excited to take the stage at DC Blockchain Summit 2025 on March 26, my panel is “The mindset of the retail investor”, and I will be joined by eToro and kalshi.com.

Don't miss your chance to be part of the conversation driving a better tomorrow! https://bit.ly/DCB25Discount Code: VAULT1220

Date: March 26, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Livestream: Tune in on the 26th here or on Rumble.

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Regs Update

Well, I am here in Washington D.C. this week - a very important week since Congress was in recess last week - this week ends with the Confirmation hearing for Paul Atkins for Chair of the SEC. Having him in place will increase the momentum around crypto regulation. Not that his team hasn’t been busy:

• SEC Crypto Task Force held its first roundtable on crypto asset classification under federal securities laws. Public comments and the roundtable livestream are available.
• President Trump delivered remarks at the Blockworks Digital Asset Summit in New York in which he said, “We’re ending the last administration’s regulatory war on Crypto and Bitcoin. That includes stopping the lawless Operation Choke Point 2.0… it was a form of lawfare through government weaponization… but as of January 20, 2025, all of that is over.” (Remarks)
• Treasury Department removed Tornado Cash from the SDN List, effectively lifting sanctions on the protocol. Press release. It has yet to remove sanctions from the creators of Tornado Cash.
• SEC statement clarified that protocol mining is not considered a securities sale. (No formal release yet—based on recent public comments and industry reports.)
• Commissioner Hester Peirce signaled possible upcoming guidance on NFT classification, suggesting some could be clearly outside securities law. Full article.
• The SEC Crypto Task Force hosted its first in a series of roundtables on How We Got Here and How We Get Out – Defining Security Status. The public can watch the recording of the roundtable livestream and read comment submissions (Comments)(CoinDesk video)

Vault12 Guard Product Updates

Last month we previewed the upcoming update to Vault12 Guard, which is now live in the app stores and includes features like:

• Now on Mac and iPad – Full official support through the App Store.
• Drag and drop on Mac – Instantly add assets to your Vault with a simple gesture.
• Expanded search for more crypto wallets – Now compatible with 20+ more wallets.

Our next set of releases incorporate several important updates - a Health Check on your Vault and Guardians to make sure you will always be able to get confirmations and an Inheritance demo mode to see how Inheritance would work in your Vault (without actually transferring the assets) - both these capabilities will give Vault owners, Guardians and beneficiaries the peace of mind that they will be able to deal with notifications from the Vault2 Guard App in real life.

In addition, we are working on VGT Rewards and Incentives and will preview these rewards in our Discord Channel to get feedback. Rewards were always part of the Vault12 ecosystem but were paused because of uncertainty around regulations. Now, we will bring these back and enable full utility for using the app and for getting other people to use the app. Join the Vault12 Discord here.

New to Crypto Inheritance? Start here.

Worried about leaving your crypto on exchanges?

Maybe February’s massive ($1.4 Billion USD) Dubai-based Bybit exchange hack caught your attention. Fortunately, it seems that client assets are guaranteed … although this by no means implies that all future hacks of exchanges will end so neatly. The main lesson for digital asset owners might be that even professionals are susceptible to being tricked by sophisticated attackers. The concept of self-custody versus third-party custody of assets is important to understand: there are common pitfalls in trusting others to protect your assets, as well as pitfalls of doing it yourself, as explained at a high level in “Why should you care about cryptocurrency security?”

Digital asset privacy still controversial

One of the challenges that lingers unresolved in the digital assets space is privacy. Digital privacy is multi-faceted: what should government agencies, crypto exchanges, and the general public know about your digital asset ownership and transactions? There is a balance of arguably-legitimate “need to know” by financial regulators, as well as a vast assortment of illegitimate interests that can be abused by sophisticated bad actors. One aspect of this delicate balance became clearer on March 12, 2025 when the United States Congress declared that DeFi protocols do not have an obligation to report taxpayer proceeds from crypto sales to the Internal Revenue Service. (Of course, U.S. citizens still have to!) If you’d like to review and refresh your memory about how to protect your privacy as a digital asset owner, don’t miss our article “Why Does Privacy Matter?” that explores related issues and offers practical recommendations.

The cat-and-mouse evolution of crypto scams and hacks

On March 10, 2025, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) updated its catalog of crypto threats, reported on numerous scam websites that it took down in 2024, and issued renewed warnings to digital asset owners to remain vigilant against trickery of all kinds. Stay aware of the evolving landscape of threats, and follow best practices to reduce your risks. Reconsider your protective habits with the help of our actionable recommendations in “11 things you need for a safer crypto environment.”