So, the Murdoch family finally wrapped up their real-life Succession episode. Lachlan Murdoch walks away with the crown, and his siblings? They didn’t get HBO screen time, but they did get something better: about $1.1 billion each in cold, hard cash.
That’s one way to solve a dynasty problem. But it’s also very… old-school. If this were a crypto family, the whole thing would’ve looked wildly different. How, you ask? Read on to find out!
The billion-dollar payouts vs. tokenized wills
The Murdoch heirs solved it with cash. Simple, final, done. But in crypto circles, billion-dollar inheritance battles don’t end with trust funds and lawyers. They end with tokenized wills, smart contracts, and cold wallets.
Instead of waiting months for settlements, the blockchain could’ve triggered the payouts automatically. No shouting matches, no private jets to family meetings, no lawyers billing by the hour. Just code executing.
Imagine Roman losing the seed phrase. Or Shiv clicking “send” and watching half her inheritance vanish to a random ENS address. Chaotic? Yes. But at least it’s fair chaos.
Centralized trusts vs. DAO drama
Lachlan Murdoch now has the keys, the votes, and the final say. The Murdoch empire is centralized all over again.
But crypto doesn’t play that game. Unlike the Murdoch trust, where siblings cashed out for $1.1 billion each, crypto DAOs allow token holders to vote in real-time; no billion-dollar lawsuits are required.
One guy decides what Fox News puts on your screen. In a DAO, thousands of token holders argue in Discord and vote from their couches. The Murdochs might call it chaos. We call it Tuesday.
Why does crypto keep winning the conversation?
The Murdoch saga proves one thing: traditional empires still rely on paper trusts, big payouts, and power struggles. Meanwhile, the crypto crowd is experimenting with governance tools that make those disputes obsolete.
Sure, a DAO can be messy, and smart contracts don’t care about your family feuds. But if inheritance can be coded, maybe future dynasties won’t need billion-dollar settlements.
So here’s the question: would Lachlan rather battle his siblings in courtrooms… or token holders in a DAO vote?
What are your thoughts on this analysis?
