Crypto Inheritance Protocol - Privacy-First Crypto Inheritance on Secret Network #192
Description
CIP Team
Project Description
CIP is a privacy-first inheritance protocol designed for Secret Network that enables secure crypto asset transfers to beneficiaries without compromising private keys or requiring trusted intermediaries. CIP leverages Secret Network's confidential computing capabilities combined with AI-powered intent verification to protect against fraud and misuse.
This tackles a major problem in the crypto space where over $140 billion in assets have been lost because there's no secure way for families to inherit them when owners pass away. We've already proven CIP works by building and deploying it on COTI network (see ciprotocol.com). Now we're ready to bring it to Secret, where its advanced privacy infrastructure will unlock the full potential of confidential inheritance and AI-driven fraud protection.
Problem / Solution
Problem: There's no safe way to pass on crypto assets. Sharing seed phrases in advance creates major security risks, while keeping them private means families often lose everything when the owner passes. Over $140B in crypto assets have already been lost due to inaccessible inheritance; a problem growing by $10B+ each year.
The solution: Inheritance rules are written into Secret contracts, keeping them private and trustless. Assets only transfer when verified signals such as: time locks, health data, or executor approvals confirm it's time. To prevent mistakes or fraud, an AI assistant provides an additional layer of intent verification, protecting both owners and beneficiaries.
Detailed product description
CIP is built on three core components:
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Confidential Smart Contracts – Store inheritance rules completely encrypted on Secret Network and execute transfers only when specific triggers are met, such as verified wallet inactivity, time locks, executor approvals, or death signals.
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AI Verification Layer – AI assistant running privately within Secret's environment to guide plan creation, validate inheritance claims, detect fraud attempts, and ensure legitimate transfers while preventing abuse. This adds an extra layer of safety without slowing execution.
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User Interface – Simple, secure dashboard where users create inheritance plans, manage beneficiaries, and monitor their cross-chain portfolio setup without technical complexity.
Additional Features:
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Cross-Chain Support: Most people don’t hold just one coin. CIP will integrate with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major chains through Secret’s interoperability, allowing users to cover their whole portfolio under one inheritance plan while keeping everything private.
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Migration Tools: Simple path for existing CIP users on COTI to move to Secret Network securely
Go-to-Market plan
Phase 1 – Crypto Native Launch
We'll begin with the early adopters within the Secret Network community, existing CIP users from COTI, and privacy-conscious crypto holders. These users already understand the risks of lost inheritance and will quickly see the value of confidential transfers. Our campaigns will highlight the $140B+ in crypto lost forever when inheritance fails and why CIP fixes this.
Phase 2 – Wallet Integration
Our next step is to reach broader adoption by making CIP available directly where users already manage assets. We will partner with wallets such as Keplr, MetaMask, and Ledger to integrate CIP as a native feature. This removes friction and allows millions of holders to add inheritance planning without moving funds elsewhere. By making inheritance a native feature inside familiar platforms, we increase our reach without forcing new habits.
Phase 3 – Wealth Management Bridge
As crypto matures, families, offices and high-net-worth investors are looking for secure ways to pass on digital assets. Partnering with wealth managers and advisors who want a secure, private way to protect client portfolios positions CIP as the inheritance layer they're missing.
Phase 4 – Global Expansion & Developer Network
We'll focus on regions with strong crypto adoption and supportive inheritance frameworks (Singapore, Switzerland, Portugal). At the same time, we'll expand adoption through our CIP Campus program in Africa, onboarding developers who will build with Secret's privacy tools while spreading awareness of CIP across new markets.
The inheritance gap is huge: 73% of crypto holders want solutions, but none are truly secure or private today. CIP fills that gap and positions Secret Network at the center of the market.
Value capture for Secret Network ecosystem
The main KPIs for Secret Network are TVL (privacy value add), number of transactions, and number of users.
TVL Growth: CIP will attract significant assets to Secret Network as users migrate inheritance planning to the only privacy-preserving solution, potentially bringing $100M+ in managed inheritance assets.
Transaction Volume: Each inheritance plan involves multiple encrypted transactions (setup, updates, triggers, distributions), significantly increasing Secret Network transaction count.
User Acquisition: CIP addresses a universal need (inheritance planning) that will bring new users to Secret Network who previously had no reason to use privacy-focused crypto infrastructure.
Developer Ecosystem: This grant will attract additional developers to the ecosystem through our CIP Campus program in Africa, onboarding new builders to Secret Network development while expanding the privacy-first crypto inheritance category.
Team members
- Samson Ajah - Technical Lead & Co-Founder
- Beatrice Ajah - Partnerships & Growth Lead & Co-Founder
- Paschal Ojezele - Legal & Compliance Advisor
- Ugochukwu Michael - Lead Smart Contract Developer
Team Website
Team's experience
Samson Ajah — Technical Lead & Co-Founder
With 7+ years in blockchain engineering and product development, Samson has led projects from inception to market scale. He guided Trust AI from its earliest stage to a $40M market cap and has designed and deployed multiple audited smart contract systems. His expertise across EVM chains, DeFi primitives, and reputation scoring systems directly shapes CIP's secure, scalable infrastructure.
Beatrice Ajah — Partnerships & Growth Lead & Co-Founder
Beatrice helps guide CIP's community and partnerships. She co-founded the project and has played a steady role in bringing in our first users and organizing developer events like CIP Hackathon 1.0. With a background in business development, she focuses on building relationships, supporting user adoption, and keeping the project connected to both communities and partners.
Paschal Ojezele — Legal & Compliance Advisor
Paschal supports CIP by helping us think through the compliance side of inheritance. His background in fintech and banking compliance gives him a clear view of how inheritance planning fits into different legal frameworks. He works with the team to shape our approach to verification, executors, and cross-border considerations so that CIP can grow responsibly in different markets.
Ugochukwu Michael — Lead Smart Contract Developer
Ugochukwu is a seasoned Web3 developer with hands-on experience building decentralized applications using Python, Solidity, and Rust. He specializes in designing and deploying smart contracts across Ethereum and Solana ecosystems, and has built the current CIP smart contracts deployed on COTI mainnet. His proven track record with inheritance protocols and multi-chain development makes him essential for migrating CIP to Secret Network's confidential computing environment.
We've been a team for 6 months and successfully launched CIP on COTI mainnet with 120+ active users.
Team Code Repos
Team LinkedIn Profiles
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/samson-ajah-10aa03217 (Samson)
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatrice-ajah-1a4904159 (Beatrice)
Development Roadmap
We will require 3 months to complete this project. We intend to have 3 developers full-time and 1 advisor part-time, at a total cost of $45,000.
Phase 1 – Core Secret Network Integration (Weeks 0–4)
- Develop core inheritance contracts using CosmWasm on Secret Network testnet
- Implement encrypted beneficiary data storage with Secret's confidential computing
- Build first version of AI rules engine (time locks, inactivity, executor triggers)
- Deliverable: Working prototype where users can register beneficiaries and set transfer rules
- 💰 Milestone 1 – $15K: Core contracts deployed + functional prototype live
Phase 2 – AI Assistant + User Experience (Weeks 5–8)
- Expand confidential AI assistant for risk scoring and natural-language inheritance setup
- Launch user-facing dashboard for plan creation, editing, and inheritance simulation
- Add executor/backup approval flow with private verification
- Deliverable: Full-featured application ready for beta testing
- 💰 Milestone 2 – $15K: AI assistant integrated + complete dashboard released
Phase 3 – Mainnet Launch + Growth (Weeks 9–12)
- Deploy to Secret Network mainnet with security audit
- Build enterprise features: multi-beneficiary plans, organization executors
- Run pilot program with 100+ users (existing CIP community + Secret Network users)
- Deliverable: Live mainnet application with active user base
- 💰 Milestone 3 – $15K: Mainnet deployment + 100+ active inheritance plans created
Additional Information
We've already proven CIP works in the real world. Since launching on COTI mainnet just one month ago, we've gained over 120 active users who are actively creating and managing inheritance plans. This rapid adoption demonstrates genuine market demand for secure crypto inheritance solutions.
Beyond individual users, we've built a thriving community of 300+ developers and crypto enthusiasts through our CIP Hackathon 1.0. This community engagement shows our ability to grow ecosystems around inheritance technology and brings valuable network effects to any blockchain we deploy on.
Our work has gained industry recognition, with COTI featuring us as a pioneer in inheritance protocols and recent TEDx engagement highlighting our mission to solve crypto inheritance challenges. This validation proves our technical approach resonates both within blockchain ecosystems and broader innovation communities.
Most importantly for Secret Network, we're not starting from zero. Our existing user base and active community provide an immediate foundation for adoption, bringing proven demand and engaged users to Secret's ecosystem from day one.