How Dmytro Lyushenko Connects Succession Law, LegalTech, and Web3 in Digital Asset Research - Закон і Бізнес
Ukrainian attorney Dmytro Lyushenko is researching how to translate legal rights to digital assets into secure access for heirs, addressing a critical gap in succession law.
Digital assets present a unique challenge for succession law: individuals may have lawful rights to property but lack the technical ability to access it. Cryptocurrency held in self-custody wallets depends on private keys or seed phrases, while other assets may require separate verification of heirs or estate representatives.
This gap between legal ownership and technical control has become the central focus of research conducted by Dmytro Lyushenko, a Ukrainian attorney based in Sacramento who specializes in digital inheritance, LegalTech, Web3, and cross-border regulation.
Cross-Border Complications
Lyushenko began investigating these issues systematically while in Ukraine, publishing research between 2023 and 2025 on digital asset inheritance in the U.S. and Ukraine, blockchain-based succession models, and digital heritage management systems.
Cross-border cases add complexity: an asset owner may reside in the U.S., an heir in Ukraine, the platform registered in a third country, and the asset itself on a decentralized network. Traditional questions about property location no longer have clear answers in such scenarios.
Digital Vault Solutions
After relocating to California, Lyushenko's research gained a technological dimension. He worked on concepts for secure digital vaults—systems that can hold digital assets under defined rules for access and transfer to authorized persons.
The concept goes beyond the simple storage of a password or key: it seeks to connect legally established authority with a technological mechanism for transferring control.
He is also a co-inventor of a U.S. provisional patent application for a "Web3 Based Encrypted Digital Life Safe with Automated Inheritance Mechanisms" that bridges legal authority with technical implementation.
Regulatory Proposals
In November 2025, Lyushenko and Oleksandr Tuholukov submitted proposals to the SEC Crypto Task Force concerning digital asset custody, inheritance, and tokenization of real-world assets. The submission suggested formal procedures for custodians in case of client death or incapacity.
Their work has influenced independent academic research, including a 2026 study titled "Self-Sovereign Digital Heritage Systems" that builds upon their framework for digital asset inheritance in Web3 ecosystems.
Lyushenko's research illustrates how digital inheritance is expanding beyond cryptocurrency to encompass digital wallets, tokenized assets, investment accounts, and other rights dependent on technological infrastructure, creating a new specialty at the intersection of succession law, private international law, LegalTech, and Web3.
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