Cryptocurrency Custodian Anchorage Adds Insurance Coverage

Cryptocurrency custody services firm Anchorage has added insurance coverage for storing digital assets, it announced in a blog post on May 29.

In the post, Anchorage — which raised $17 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz —  announced insurance coverage for institutions that covers digital assets under custody.

The coverage comes as the result of a partnership with major insurance broker Aon.  Previously, Aon stated that the firm was seeing more cryptocurrency-specific protections catering to the new cryptocurrency industry.

Anchorage outlined in the post that not all coverage of cryptocurrency custody insurance is equal as most custodians use a combination of hot and cold storage, on which policies may differ.

The custody firm stated that it has acquired a crime insurance policy, which ostensibly covers both types of digital asset storage under one policy.

When launched in January, Anchorage claimed to be based on the principles of easy access to assets, voting, auditing proof of existence, and quick transactions. Anchorage stated that large scale investments in digital assets, such as those from institutional players, will bring new growth to the blockchain space.

In March, insurance giant AXA XL and insurance technology startup Assurely jointly rolled out a new insurance product dubbed CrowdProtector, that covers equity crowdfunding and security token offerings.

Earlier in May, Alexandre Kech, CEO of Onchain Custodian, predicted that collaboration between cryptocurrency and traditional custodians will grow. By Kech’s reasoning, traditional custodians are often reluctant to take on new coins due to institutional barriers. They partner with crypto custodians so that they can gain access to these assets for their customers.