I have mentioned "the letter" in about eight articles now, always in passing, always as the thing you should obviously write. A reader pointed out, reasonably, that I have never actually shown one.

Fair. So here it is — the template, in full, free to copy and adapt.

A quick note on why this matters more than anything technical I've written. Tuga's care instructions live on the fridge, in handwriting, because if something happened to me tomorrow the person who steps in would need to know about the medication, the 7pm routine, and the colony at the end of the garden. None of that knowledge is in my head in a useful form. It's only useful once it's written where somebody else can find it.

Your bitcoin is in exactly the same position, and the stakes are higher, because a cat will meow until somebody works it out. Your coins will not.

1. What the Letter Is Not

Before the template: this is not a copy of your seed phrase. Ever. Under any circumstances.

The letter is a map, not a key. It tells someone that the thing exists, where to find the parts, and who can help. If the letter is stolen, it's embarrassing and a privacy problem. It should never be sufficient to steal your coins.

Keep the seed on metal, in its locations. Keep the letter with your will. Never in the same place.

2. The Template

Copy this, fill it in, print it, date it, sign it.

FOR [NAME] — PLEASE READ IF SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED TO ME

Written [DATE]. This replaces any earlier version.

1. What this is about I own some bitcoin — a form of digital money. It is real, it has value, and it is not held at any bank, so no institution will contact you about it. If nobody follows these instructions, it is lost permanently. Nobody can recover it on your behalf. As of writing, it is worth roughly [RANGE — e.g. "the price of a used car" / "about a year of our household expenses"]. Its value changes a lot; treat that as an estimate, not a promise.

2. The physical items you need to find

• A small device that looks like a USB stick or a slim remote. It is a [BRAND/MODEL]. Location: [WHERE].
• One or more metal plates or cards stamped with words. These are the most important objects in this letter. Locations: [LOCATION A] and [LOCATION B].
• [If applicable] A sealed envelope marked [LABEL], containing an additional password. Location: [WHERE].
• [If applicable] A printed sheet of technical text labelled "wallet descriptor". Location: [WHERE]. It is not secret, but without it the words alone may not be enough.

3. What NOT to do — read this before anything else

• Do not type the words from the metal plates into any website, app, or form, for any reason, no matter who asks or how official it looks. Anyone who asks for them is stealing from you. There are no exceptions.
• Do not photograph them or send them to anyone — not by message, not by email, not to me if someone claims to be me.
• Do not respond to anyone who contacts you offering to help recover cryptocurrency. People who do this watch for exactly this situation.
• Do not rush. Nothing expires. Taking three months to do it carefully is fine.

4. How to access it The software is called [APP NAME], downloaded only from [OFFICIAL URL]. The device is connected to a computer, the app is opened, and the balance appears. To move the money, the words from the metal plates are entered into the device itself, never into a computer or phone. [If multisig: This wallet requires [N] of [M] keys. I hold [WHICH]. The others are held by [WHO / WHERE]. Nothing can be moved without at least [N] of them together.]

5. Who to ask for help [NAME], [RELATIONSHIP], [CONTACT]. They understand this and have agreed to help. Second option: [NAME], [CONTACT]. If neither is available, a solicitor who handles digital assets can help you find someone reputable. Do not pick someone who approaches you.

6. What I'd like done with it [Free text — sell and add to the estate / hold for the children / specific wishes. Keep this consistent with your will; the will is the legally operative document, this letter is the instructions.]

7. Other accounts [Exchange name], registered to [EMAIL]. The account recovery goes through that email address. [Repeat as needed.]

Signed, [NAME], [DATE].

3. Five Rules for Keeping It Useful

• Date it, and destroy old copies. A map to a house you moved out of is worse than no map.
• Tell the person it exists. A perfect letter nobody knows about is a letter nobody reads. One sentence, once: "if anything happens, there's a letter with the will about the bitcoin."
• Store it with your will, never with the seeds. Different place, different failure mode.
• Write it for someone who has never heard the word 'blockchain'. Read it back and remove every term you'd have to explain. If it only makes sense to you, it fails at the exact moment it's needed.
• Review it once a year — same afternoon as the recovery drill. Devices change, people move, amounts change.

4. The Part That Isn't Paperwork

Ask the person. Properly, in a conversation, while you're alive and well.

"If something happened to me, would you be willing to deal with this? There's a letter, and there's a person who'd help you." That's it. Thirty seconds, and it converts a document into an arrangement somebody has actually agreed to.

A letter addressed to someone who never consented is a surprise, delivered on the worst week of their life, about a technology they may distrust. Half of the failures here are social, not technical.

The Point

The instructions on the fridge are handwritten, unglamorous, and would save a cat's life. They work because they exist in a place somebody else will look, in words somebody else can follow, about things somebody else can find.

Everything you've built — the metal plate, the hardware wallet, the multisig, the carefully tested restore — ends at the edge of your own life unless you write the map. It takes twenty minutes and it is, by a distance, the highest-value thing in this entire series.

Write it this week. Put it with the will. Tell one person it's there. 🐾⚡