This blog post was written by: Dave Madan, Senior Manager, Scotiatrust

Digital assets have become an increasingly common topic in estate planning. What once seemed like a niche hobby has turned into a meaningful part of some clients’ financial picture. From cryptocurrency to NFTs and even online gaming inventories, these assets can hold real world value, sometimes in the millions. Yet recent events in the gaming world have shown just how fragile that value can be.

Earlier this month, the digital economy surrounding Counter Strike 2 (CS2), one of the most popular online games in the world, suffered a sharp collapse. According to market tracking sites, the value of CS2’s in game skin market dropped by roughly US$2 to 3 billion within days (Tom’s Hardware, Forbes). This “market” exists entirely within Steam, a digital platform operated by Valve Corporation, where players buy, sell, and trade virtual weapon skins. Some individual items have previously sold for more than US$100,000.

The cause of the crash was deceptively simple. Valve released a small software update expanding its “trade up” system, allowing players to exchange a set of rare items for a chance at an even rarer one, such as knives or gloves that had long commanded premium prices. That change effectively increased the supply of high value items and destroyed scarcity overnight. Prices tumbled, inventories lost value, and a market once valued at around US$6 billion shrank by nearly half.

For many, this may sound like little more than a story about video games. But for estate professionals, it is a vivid illustration of the risks that accompany digital asset ownership. It shows how asset value can depend on the rules of a private company, how liquidity can vanish instantly, and how documentation around these holdings is often incomplete or misunderstood.

Unlike traditional property, most digital assets, whether gaming skins, social media accounts, or crypto tokens, exist only under licence. The user typically does not own the asset outright. Instead, they have access rights governed by the platform’s terms of service. In the case of Steam, the platform retains broad discretion to change, restrict, or even remove items. When that happens, there may be no legal recourse for users and no guarantee of compensation.

That lack of legal clarity complicates valuation and transfer at death. Executors may be faced with trying to determine what a digital item is worth, how it can be accessed, or even whether it can be inherited. While the CS2 market may appear as a speculative trading hub, the same principles apply to other classes of digital property. Cryptocurrency wallets, online accounts, NFTs, digital art, and gaming collections can all fluctuate dramatically in value and may be lost altogether without proper access and planning.

Traditional valuation methods do not always translate well. Fair market value relies on active, transparent markets. In digital economies, markets are often fragmented, illiquid, and dependent on the continued operation of a single platform. The Counter Strike crash showed how governance risk, meaning the possibility that a company can change the rules, can instantly override any valuation model. Even assets that appear liquid one day can become nearly worthless the next.

For estate planning purposes, this raises several considerations. Advisors should first identify whether clients hold any digital assets, broadly defined to include in game inventories, cryptocurrencies, domain names, or social media accounts. The next step is to confirm what rights actually exist. Does the client truly own the item, or merely have permission to use it? Some assets, like Bitcoin, can be owned outright. Others, like Steam skins, are controlled by corporate terms and cannot be legally transferred outside that ecosystem.

Valuation also requires care. When digital assets form part of an estate, it may be appropriate to apply steep discounts for liquidity and governance risk. Documentation should clearly describe how any value was determined, whether by recent comparable sales, platform exchange rates, or third party appraisal. Advisors should also ensure that executors and trustees have the necessary credentials and authority to access digital accounts after death or incapacity.

Beyond valuation, estate professionals should consider education and disclosure. Many clients underestimate how meaningful these assets have become. Parents may not realize that a teenager’s gaming inventory could have real resale value. Others may hold digital collectibles or NFTs that represent substantial, though volatile, wealth. These holdings often go unlisted in wills and estate inventories, leaving executors without a full picture of the estate.

The Counter Strike market collapse offers an important reminder that digital assets are dynamic, dependent, and sometimes ephemeral. Their value is driven by technology, community sentiment, and platform rules, not by intrinsic worth. From an estate perspective, that makes them both interesting and risky.

For professionals working with estates, the practical steps are clear. Ask clients about their online holdings. Record login information and instructions securely. Confirm what legal rights attach to each digital asset. Use conservative valuations and note assumptions in file records. And perhaps most importantly, educate clients that digital value is not guaranteed. Just as the CS2 crash erased billions in days, similar shocks can occur in other digital markets.

As digital wealth continues to grow, these assets will increasingly appear in estate files. Understanding how to value and administer them will be essential. The recent events in the gaming world, while seemingly remote from the traditional wealth landscape, underscore a familiar truth. Markets change, assumptions fail, and good planning remains the best defence.