What happened
Gardiner's death was confirmed this week. She was 61. Her son, also a Race Across the World co-star, died in a crash in the year before. The two losses, coming so close together, leave a family's affairs - including any digital assets - in an uncertain state. That's not a market story. It's a human one.
... market snapshot ...The inheritance problem nobody talks about
Crypto is self-custodial by design. If you hold your own private keys, no bank, no lawyer, and no exchange can reach in after you're gone. Without a documented plan, those assets are effectively sealed - locked on-chain with no recovery mechanism. A court order can't sign a wallet. A family member can't guess a passphrase. The funds sit there, unreachable, and gradually become part of the market's lost supply.
It's an uncomfortable topic, and it's one most owners avoid. A will often covers bank accounts and property, but it rarely covers a 24-word phrase stored in a drawer or an exchange
