Epitaph is a non-custodial, trustless protocol that enables blockchain wallet owners to create immutable on-chain wills — programmable final instructions that execute automatically when predefined trigger conditions are met.
Unlike traditional estate planning, Epitaph requires no lawyers, notaries, or intermediaries. A will is defined once, sealed on-chain, and executed by smart contracts with mathematical certainty — regardless of geographic jurisdiction, legal system, or the passage of time.
"The blockchain does not mourn. It does not forget. It only executes."
An estimated $140 billion in Bitcoin alone is permanently inaccessible due to lost private keys — predominantly from holders who passed away without securely transferring access to their assets.
This problem compounds annually. As the global crypto holder base grows, so does the volume of assets that will be permanently orphaned upon their holders' deaths.
```| Asset Class | Estimated Permanently Lost |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | ~$140B+ |
| Ethereum (ETH) | ~$20B+ |
| All ERC-20 tokens | Unknown — estimated $50B+ |
| NFTs | Incalculable |
Epitaph introduces a primitive that has been missing from blockchain infrastructure since its inception: programmable, trustless last wills.
A user deploys a Will — a smart contract object defining trigger conditions, beneficiary distribution, and optional final message. The Will sits dormant on-chain, consuming no gas, until its trigger condition is met. At that point, execution is automatic, irreversible, and mathematically guaranteed.
```Epitaph consists of three core smart contracts deployed on Base (primary), with cross-chain execution planned via LayerZero and Wormhole.
```The primary contract. Handles will creation, modification, activity pinging, revocation, and execution. All will state lives here.
An indexing contract that maps wallet addresses to their associated will IDs. Enables efficient lookups for automation networks and frontends.
An optional escrow module for users who wish to pre-deposit assets into a protocol-managed vault rather than relying on in-wallet distribution at execution time.
Epitaph is designed to be execution-agnostic. The executeWill() function is public and permissionless — it can be called by:
A trigger is a boolean condition that, when satisfied, makes a will eligible for execution. Epitaph supports four trigger types:
```The most common trigger. Fires if the owner wallet has had no on-chain transactions for a specified number of days (30–3,650).
Fires at a specific Unix timestamp. Useful for time-locked transfers, scheduled distributions to heirs on a particular date, or expiry-based wills.
Requires 2-of-3 designated guardian addresses to confirm before execution. Provides human verification as an additional safeguard against false inactivity triggers (e.g., owner is in a coma, not deceased).
Fires when an asset price crosses a threshold, verified via Chainlink price feeds. Enables conditional wills: "If ETH reaches $10,000, transfer to beneficiary."
```When a trigger condition is met, any party may call executeWill(). The execution engine:
Epitaph never holds user assets during the ACTIVE state. Assets remain in the owner's wallet until executeWill() is called. This eliminates custodial risk entirely.
Only the will owner can modify or revoke a will. The protocol enforces this via msg.sender checks. No admin key, no multisig, no upgrade path that could affect individual wills.
All state changes occur before external calls. The ReentrancyGuard modifier prevents nested execution attacks.
Epitaph charges a flat 0.5% fee (50 basis points) on assets distributed at execution time. This fee accrues to the protocol treasury and funds ongoing development, audits, and automation network costs.
```| Action | Fee | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy will | 0 | No barrier to entry |
| Ping activity | 0 | Encourage active use |
| Revoke will | 0 | Owner rights are free |
| Execute will | 0.5% | Value-aligned — we earn only when you do |
The fee model is intentionally aligned: Epitaph only earns revenue when a will executes successfully and assets are transferred. There is zero incentive to trigger wills prematurely.
```| Phase | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 0 | Frontend terminal interface + wallet connect | ✓ Complete |
| Phase 1 | EpitaphCore on Base testnet | ⟳ In Progress |
| Phase 1 | Chainlink Automation integration | ⟳ In Progress |
| Phase 2 | Third-party security audit | ○ Scheduled Q3 2026 |
| Phase 2 | Base mainnet deployment | ○ Post-audit |
| Phase 3 | Cross-chain execution (ETH, SOL, Polygon) | ○ Planned |
| Phase 3 | ZK identity for beneficiary auth | ○ Research |
| Phase 4 | Mobile app | ○ Planned |
| Phase 4 | DAO governance | ○ Planned |
Epitaph addresses a fundamental gap in blockchain infrastructure: the absence of a native, trustless succession mechanism. As digital assets become a meaningful component of global wealth, the need for programmable, jurisdiction-independent inheritance will only grow.
By building on Base and leveraging the security of Ethereum's settlement layer, Epitaph provides a permanent, low-cost, and non-custodial solution to one of crypto's most underserved problems.
Your instructions. Immutable. Eternal.
"When you're gone, your crypto shouldn't be."
© 2026 Epitaph Protocol · epitaph-agent.xyz · @EpitaphAI · GitHub
This whitepaper is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Smart contracts involve risk. Use at your own discretion.