My story
I'm originally from South Africa, where I studied Law (LLB) and Political Thought (BA) before qualifying as an attorney and spending a decade working in commercial real estate and investment. Along the way I picked up a Master's in Real Estate (MSc) and later, after moving to Australia in 2018, a Diploma in Financial Planning (RG146).
Down the rabbit hole
I'd come across Bitcoin twice before and dismissed it both times. The third time was different. In 2020, while studying for my financial planning diploma, I encountered it again and this time I had the headspace to go deep. For the first time, I asked the question every Bitcoiner eventually asks: what is money? And if governments can simply print money to keep the economy alive, why do we pay tax?
That question changed everything. I went down the rabbit hole and never came back up.
What I do today
Since then, I've been fully immersed in the Bitcoin world. Today, I'm the Managing Mentor at Bitcoin Mentor Australia, where I help everyday Australians understand and safely adopt Bitcoin. I also host The Why Bitcoin Show, a podcast where I sit down with thinkers, builders, and everyday Bitcoiners to explore why Bitcoin matters in the real world. I'm a regular speaker and MC at conferences including Bitcoin Alive, Bitcoin Bush Bash, and Adopting Bitcoin Cape Town.
The problem I couldn't ignore
Through my mentoring work, I've been helping people secure their bitcoin in self-custody and have spent a lot of time looking for ways to add genuine value to the community I'm part of. My clients at Bitcoin Mentor were increasingly asking the same question: what happens to my bitcoin when I die?
Then last year, a change in my own life meant I needed an updated will. When I went looking for a solution, I couldn't find one that actually worked.
What's out there today
The current options for Bitcoiners who hold in self-custody are surprisingly limited:
1. Buy a generic will template. These don't think about bitcoin self-custody at all. You need secondary documentation because you're not going to put seed phrases in your will, or even reference them. It's an operational security issue.
2. Hire a lawyer for a bespoke estate plan. That'll cost $5,000 to $20,000, and there's a good chance they won't understand UTXOs, hardware wallets, or multisig. I went this route myself, spent over $1,000, and came away feeling like the lawyer didn't grasp the self-custody issue at all.
3. Hand your bitcoin to a wealth manager. That's not self-custody. Fees are typically 1% of assets under management, and if you understand compound interest, that amounts to 10 to 20% of the upside over time. That's expensive insurance for little value, and it's not aligned with the Bitcoin ethos of radical self-responsibility. These providers have a vested interest in making bitcoin security seem harder than it is, but it genuinely isn't for those prepared to invest the time.
Three problems, one kit
When a Bitcoiner dies without a plan, three things go wrong:
1. Technical. If you've optimised for security and secrecy but haven't put a plan in place to transfer your bitcoin, it's gone. Forever.
2. Legal. If you don't have a valid will, you don't get to decide what happens to your bitcoin. The State does.
3. Educational. Even if you have a will and an inheritance plan, do your loved ones understand bitcoin? Do they know why it mattered to you, how to unlock it, or who to speak to? Without that groundwork, they could treat it as a financial windfall, and the prospect of generational wealth evaporates.
Why I built My Bitcoin Will
Drawing on my legal training and hands-on experience helping people secure their bitcoin, I created My Bitcoin Will to close that gap. It's a low-cost, accessible starter kit with will templates, education, and practical guidance designed specifically for bitcoin holders in self-custody. The goal is to help people get the process started with a practical, legally informed structure they can later refine with a local solicitor.
I believe there's nothing worse than the State deciding how your estate is distributed because you never put a clear will in place, especially when self-custodied bitcoin can so easily be lost forever. I'm focused on solving a real and pressing need: helping everyday Bitcoiners "get off zero" when it comes to a will, so their sats actually reach the people they care about.
