Bitcoin After Life
BAL Protocol — decentralized Bitcoin inheritance
Bitcoin After Life¶
Bitcoin After Life (BAL) is an open-source plugin for Electrum that makes decentralized Bitcoin inheritance possible: no notary, no lawyer, no custodian.
You set your heirs and a delivery date. The plugin builds a time-locked transaction, Electrum signs it with your key, and a network of independent Will-Executor servers holds it and broadcasts it to the Bitcoin network on that date.
This manual covers
Plugin v0.6.1 on Electrum 4.8.0. Both the plugin and the protocol are under active development — check the releases page for the version you are running.
Core ideas in one minute¶
- Your keys never leave your device. The plugin never signs on your behalf: it asks, you decide — password or hardware wallet.
- The transaction is pre-signed and time-locked. Bitcoin nodes reject it until the delivery date arrives, so nobody can execute it early.
- Will-Executors cannot steal or alter anything. They only store the signed transaction and broadcast it at the right time.
- Redundancy is the guarantee. The plugin creates one transaction per selected Will-Executor. Only one of them has to still be alive on the delivery date.
- The incentive is on-chain. Each transaction carries a fee for its Will-Executor, paid only when that server successfully broadcasts and the transaction confirms.
Where to start¶
- New here? → Installation, then create your first will.
- Want the details? → Heirs and shares, Delivery time, The WILL tab.
- Curious about the servers? → What Will-Executors are.
- Want to run one? → Running a Will-Executor.
- Just have a question? → FAQ — costs, hardware wallets, what happens if a server disappears, and more.
Test before you trust it with real funds
BAL builds real Bitcoin inheritance transactions with time-locks. Try it on testnet, or with a small-amount wallet, before setting up an inheritance that matters. You can always review the generated transactions before broadcasting.
Project links¶
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Website | bitcoin-after.life |
| Plugin source & releases | bal-electrum-plugin |
| Will-Executor server source | bal-server |
| Public Will-Executor directory | WeList |
| All repositories | Gitea |
| Contact | info@bitcoin-after.life |