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The Inheritance Layer of Web3
Afterchain is the global execution standard for digital asset inheritance.
A patented, jurisdiction-agnostic protocol that guarantees deterministic post-mortem transfer of crypto assets — without lawyers, probate courts, custodial discretion, or jurisdictional dependency.
Web3 solved ownership.
Web3 solved transfer.
Web3 solved ownership.
Succession remained unresolved.
Afterchain resolves it — at the protocol level.
Death is not an edge case.
It is the final state.
Systems that ignore their final state are not sovereign.
The Structural Problem in Web3
Every blockchain system assumes perpetual user availability. That assumption is false.
As adoption grows, platforms increasingly face:
Expanding volumes of dormant wallets
Regulatory pressure around unclaimed digital assets
Legal uncertainty across jurisdictions
Reputational risk from unresolved estates
This is not a matter of user education or better terms of service. It is a protocol-level omission. Blockchains are deterministic systems. Human mortality is deterministic. Inheritance, today, is not.
Afterchain closes this gap.
What Afterchain Is
Afterchain is a cryptographic execution protocol that links institutionally verified proof-of-death events to irreversible on-chain asset transfer.
The protocol combines secure off-chain verification with deterministic on-chain execution. It relies on cryptographically authenticated data sources, multi-source confirmation logic, and immutable execution rules enforced by smart contracts.
Verification of death events is performed using institutionally signed records retrieved via secure channels and validated through established public-key infrastructure standards, including X.509 certificate chains.
Records are checked for authenticity, integrity, and confirmed across independent sources before any execution condition can be satisfied.
Once verification thresholds are met, execution is automatic.
Execution cannot be paused, reversed, or overridden.
Afterchain operates in parallel to legal systems.
It does not interpret law, adjudicate heirs, or replace statutory succession.
It executes cryptographic intent defined in advance.
No inactivity timers.
No human executors.
No discretionary approvals.
Only cryptographic certainty.
How the Protocol Works (High-Level)
Transfer
Vault
Assets are associated with a smart-contract vault that remains fully reversible during life and becomes irreversible only upon verified execution conditions.
Private Beneficiary Registration
Beneficiaries are registered using privacy-preserving cryptographic commitments. Eligibility is proven via zero-knowledge proofs, allowing authorized heirs to demonstrate entitlement without revealing identity or personal data on-chain.
Death Verification Oracle (DVO)
Official death records are retrieved from trusted institutional sources via cryptographically secured channels. Records are authenticated through PKI-based validation (including X.509), integrity checks, and independent source confirmation before a verification signal is emitted.
Deterministic
Execution Engine
Upon verified confirmation, the execution engine triggers an irreversible on-chain transfer to the designated beneficiaries.
All events are cryptographically logged, timestamped, and recorded in a tamper-evident audit trail.
Why Afterchain Is Different
Deterministic by Design
Once verification thresholds are met, execution is mandatory and irreversible. No party — internal or external — can intervene.
Jurisdiction-Agnostic
Afterchain operates independently of courts and probate systems.
Legal processes may continue in parallel; technical execution does not depend on them.
Privacy-Preserving by Design
Beneficiary eligibility is enforced using zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring confidentiality without sacrificing verifiability.
Zero Custody
Afterchain never holds keys, assets, or funds.
Platforms retain full custody until the moment of execution.
Legal & IP Foundation
Afterchain is not conceptual infrastructure.
It is legally protected execution architecture.
International Patent Application
PCT/IB2025/057151 Protects the full architecture for jurisdiction-agnostic, cryptographically verified post-mortem execution of digital asset transfers.
Registered Trademark — Afterchain®
Filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO):
Class 9 — cryptographic software and blockchain implementations
Class 42 — SaaS platforms, protocol licensing, and infrastructure services
This dual protection secures both the technology and the commercial exploitation model.
Institutional Models
Two deployment paths. One deterministic protocol.
For Exchanges
The Exchange-Specific Reality
Exchanges act as execution venues.
They custody assets, control settlement, and perform the final on-chain transfer.
Legal uncertainty
Compliance exposure
Operational friction
Reputational risk
Manual handling does not scale.
Jurisdiction-specific probate processes are incompatible with global platforms.
Execution-Based Commercial Model
Afterchain is integrated into exchanges as an execution layer.
Exchanges do not pay licensing fees for onboarding or protocol access.
Commercial activation occurs exclusively when a verified post-mortem execution is performed at the exchange.
Execution-linked remuneration is generated solely upon successful inheritance transfer.
No execution.
No payment.
Manual handling does not scale.
Jurisdiction-specific probate processes are incompatible with global platforms.
Compliance & Auditability
Execution is triggered exclusively by institutionally verified proof-of-death events.
All steps are:
Cryptographically logged
Timestamped
Fully auditable
Non-repudiable
No discretionary approvals.
No internal committees.No ambiguity.
For Banks & Regulated Custodians
The Custodial Reality
Banks and regulated custodians maintain custody, KYC, and client account relationships, but do not act as the on-chain execution venue in the custodian licensing deployment.
When clients holding digital assets die, custodians face:
Fiduciary uncertainty
Long-term dormant balances
Manual exception handling
Regulatory scrutiny
Traditional estate procedures are slow, jurisdiction-bound, and incompatible with programmable assets.
Licensing-Based Commercial Model
Afterchain is licensed to banks and custodians as infrastructure.
Institutions pay a licensing fee to:
Integrate the Afterchain protocol
Onboard client accounts into an inheritance-ready state
Maintain verified beneficiary designation or explicit opt-out
Ensure continuous inheritance-readiness and compliance coverage
In this model, execution occurs at the designated execution venue upon verified post-mortem confirmation.
Execution-linked economics are not charged to the custodian. The commercial relationship is licensing-driven, not event-driven.
Risk Reduction by Design
No indefinite custody of deceased client assets
No discretionary transfer decisions
Full forensic audit trails
Deterministic execution downstream
Afterchain reduces operational and legal exposure while increasing institutional trust.
Ecosystem & Infrastructure Integration
Afterchain is designed as a modular, ecosystem-native infrastructure layer that can be deployed across the Web3 stack.
The protocol supports multiple integration depths, allowing blockchains, protocols, and institutions to adopt inheritance execution capabilities without rearchitecting their existing systems.
Base Chain Integration
Afterchain can be deployed as a native execution primitive for Layer-1 blockchains, enabling inheritance-aware smart-contract execution secured by cryptographic verification and deterministic enforcement.
Protocol & Application Layer
DeFi protocols, DAOs, and application-layer platforms can integrate Afterchain modules to make assets, treasuries, and smart contracts inheritance-ready through composable execution logic.
Institutional & Custodial Layer
Banks, custodians, and exchanges integrate Afterchain as infrastructure to ensure inheritance-readiness, compliance alignment, and downstream execution certainty.
Across all layers, the same guarantees apply:verifiable confirmation, deterministic execution, and tamper-evident auditability.
Not a Will. A Protocol.
Afterchain is not a legal testament.
It does not interpret law.
It does not adjudicate heirs.
It does not replace statutory succession.
It executes cryptographic instructions defined in advance.
Any legal effects are emergent properties of deterministic execution — not legal claims asserted by the protocol.
About Afterchain
Afterchain was founded by Mark J.F. Milczarek, legal architect and author of
"Proof of Death - The Inheritance Layer of Web3"
The protocol is developed by a multidisciplinary team spanning cryptography, blockchain engineering, and legal systems design.
The guiding principle is simple:
Systems that ignore their final state are not sovereign.
Further Reading
Proof of Death – The Inheritance Layer of Web3 (2025)
The Final State Is Not Optional
Every user dies.
Every wallet becomes dormant.
The only open question is where execution occurs — or whether it remains unresolved.
Afterchain completes the Web3 lifecycle by making inheritance deterministic, auditable, and inevitable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Afterchain vaults allow users to configure irreversible fallback rules. These rules activate only after verified conditions are met, providing a structured recovery path for assets that would otherwise remain locked.
Yes. Afterchain is a technical protocol, not a legal document. It does notserve as a will or testament. Exchanges function only as technical operatorsinteracting with smart contracts or verification endpoints.
Verification is accepted only from certified sources with PKI signatures. All submissions are validated against revocation lists and timestamped to ensure integrity and resistance against tampering.
Many competing solutions rely on email, manual review, or password-based systems. Afterchain operates entirely on-chain, supports zero-knowledge proofs, and avoids centralized dependencies. This makes it scalable and compatible with multiple jurisdictions.
Partners integrating Afterchain can provide structured claim workflows or custodial assistance, creating a bridge for users unfamiliar with blockchain interfaces.
Contact Us
Afterchain is integrated and licensed selectively, depending on execution responsibility.
Email:afterchain@kotiq.eu© 2026 Afterchain®. All rights reserved.
Afterchain is a registered trademark in the European Union.
All technical architecture, documentation, and related materialsare the exclusive property of Kotiq OÜ, Estonia
The protocol and its components were developed and used commercially before the release of any similar system. Prior use is established within the European Union as of 2025.
Any replication or commercial imitation may violate intellectual property, trade secret, or unfair competition laws in multiple jurisdictions.
Trademark ownership: Kotiq OÜ, Sepapaja tn 6, 15551 Tallinn, Estonia.