According to Lyushenko, the issue of digital inheritance requires urgent solutions, a conclusion supported by statistical data. Each year, substantial volumes of financial assets are effectively lost in the United States. According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), the total value of unclaimed property in the United States exceeds USD 70 billion, encompassing bank accounts, securities, pension assets, the contents of safe deposit boxes, and other financial instruments left without clear instructions for heirs.

Editorial insert
Dmytro Lyushenko is a specialist in international law and digital assets and serves as Director of NOTA LLC and NOTA Digital Currencies Research Center, Inc., a nonprofit research organization, in the United States. His professional work focuses on the legal and regulatory aspects of digital heritage, digital asset governance, and cross-border legal frameworks.

In its Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2024, NAUPA notes that during FY 2024 alone, state programs returned USD 4.49 billion to lawful owners and heirs. This figure underscores the systemic nature of the problem of accessing assets after the owner’s death. Analytical studies in the fields of finance and property law, including publications indexed on ScienceDirect, further confirm that a significant portion of these assets remains inaccessible precisely because of the absence of clear mechanisms for legal succession and controlled access.

More than 17 years of professional experience have enabled Mr. Lyushenko to analyze approaches to digital heritage not only in the United States, but also in the European Union, Asia, and Ukraine. The results of this comparative analysis are presented in the scholarly article “International Unification of Digital Heritage Standards as a Prerequisite for the Global Compatibility of Legal Systems,” published in 2025 in the peer-reviewed legal journal Scientific Notes of Lviv University of Business and Law. The article is indexed in academic databases and reflected in the author’s Google Scholar profile.

The research demonstrates that even in developed legal systems, approaches to digital heritage differ substantially. In some jurisdictions, priority is given to the protection of the deceased’s privacy; in others, to the expressed will of the testator; while in a number of legal systems, digital heritage remains largely unregulated. Even where rules exist, they are often advisory in nature and do not guarantee the secure transfer or protection of digital assets. Moreover, access to digital resources is frequently constrained by the internal policies of online platforms, many of which operate on the basis of licensing agreements rather than traditional concepts of ownership, thereby calling into question the applicability of classical inheritance principles.

The urgency of this issue is further intensified by demographic trends. According to projections by the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2030 more than 20 percent of the U.S. population will be aged 65 or older. This demographic shift will inevitably lead to exponential growth in the volume of digital assets, as contemporary generations approaching retirement possess significantly more digital accounts, data, and online assets than previous generations.

USPTO Patent as a Technical Solution for Digital Inheritance

In Lyushenko’s view, U.S. legislation is gradually adapting to digital realities through the concept of fiduciary access to digital assets. According to data from the Uniform Law Commission, as of 2025, 45 U.S. states have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) or analogous legislation, granting individuals the right to appoint fiduciaries to manage their digital assets in the event of death or incapacity.

At the same time, Lyushenko emphasizes that even these statutes do not resolve key practical challenges, including the secure inventory of digital assets, controlled transfer of access, and technical protection of data. This conclusion is supported both by unclaimed property statistics and by the practical application of RUFADAA.

In response to these challenges, Dmytro Lyushenko has, for more than two years, focused on integrating legal and technical solutions. His scientific and technical contribution is evidenced, among other things, by patent activity in the United States. In 2025, together with researcher Oleksandr Tuholukov, he filed a provisional patent application No. 63/831,833 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for an invention entitled “Web3-Based Encrypted Digital Life Safe with Automated Inheritance Mechanisms.” Information regarding the application is available through USPTO Patent Public Search and is reflected in the authors’ academic profiles on Google Scholar. The invention illustrates Lyushenko’s interdisciplinary approach, combining legal regulation, cryptographic mechanisms, and the practical needs of the U.S. market.

Official website and academic profile of Dmytro Lyushenko:
https://dmytrolyushenko.com
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9180-0934