MassMutual’s $100 million Bitcoin (BTC) purchase shows that the demand for cryptocurrency will be growing further, according to strategists at major investment bank JPMorgan. In an investor note on Dec. 11, JPMorgan strategists including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou reportedly suggested that Bitcoin adoption is now expanding from family offices and wealthy investors to bigger investors like insurance firms and pension funds. As reported by Bloomberg, the experts said that insurance firms and pension funds are unlikely to invest large amounts in Bitcoin, but even a small shift toward crypto could be significant. If pension funds and insurance companies in the United States, …

On Friday, decentralized finance (DeFi) stablecoin project Origin Protocol announced a plan to compensate users affected by a $7 million November exploit — part of a wider trend from developers, users, and traders that has seen actors across the DeFi space more widely embrace insurance products and other exploit backstops. On November 17th, Origin Dollar announced that its yield-bearing stablecoin project had been the victim of a $7 million flash loan attack. While the attack is just another instance of what has been a brutal summer and fall for DeFi protocols facing hacks and exploits, the Origin Dollar team’s response …

This morning, Yearn founder Andre Cronje announced the latest in a spate of high-profile mergers and collaborations for the multi-faceted decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol: Yearn Finance will be “joining forces” with market coverage provide Cover. In a blog post, Cronje notes that the merger will be a natural one, as Yearn and Cover developers have been working together since Cover’s inception. Cronje also listed a series of promising possible synergies, including enhanced utility for the Cover’s CLAIM token, which will act as collateral and become a borrowable asset for Yearn, as well as enhanced security for Yearn vaults via Cover's …

In what might be an important step towards the maturation of the decentralized insurance space, a claim was filed yesterday with DeFi insurance protocol Cover following the $19 million Dai hack of Pickle Finance — and so far, the majority of users want to see a payout happen. According to the claim on Cover’s website filed Nov. 21, there have been 99 votes at the time of publication throwing roughly 9,800 COVER tokens — more than 99% of respondent tokens — behind a "yes" vote to pay out affected coverage holders. Ivan Martinez, a technical advisor for Cover, said on …

Today the Chainlink Community Grant program announced funding for a low-cost insurance collaboration between Etherisc, a decentralized insurance protocol, and ACRE Africa, a microinsurance issuer focused on the second-most populous continent on the planet. According to an announcement from Chainlink, the project aims to build a blockchain-based insurance platform that delivers affordable coverage for the nearly 250,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, many of whom are expected to be disproportionately affected by climate change over the next three years. The planned platform will also provide insurance policies with payment installments valued as low as the equivalent of 50 cents in local …

Digital asset exchange Bitstamp has beefed up its insurance measures to combat the inherent uncertainties associated with the crypto space. "The policy covers an array of crime-related cases, such as employee theft, loss while the assets are stored at any premises, loss in transit, loss caused by computer fraud or funds transfer fraud, and loss related to legal fees and expenses," an Oct. 15 statement from Bitstamp detailed with regard to the firm's updated insurance measures. Cryptocurrency offers added freedom when compared to traditional finance, allowing users to transfer the assets they own with greater ease and self-sovereign control. Such …

A major health insurance provider in Switzerland has made Bitcoin and Ether payments available to its policyholders. According to an Aug. 31 announcement, Atupri Health Insurance is partnering with crypto financial services company Bitcoin Suisse for its 200,000 customers to make payments using Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH). Atupri, based in Bern, will not be holding any digital assets itself, but rather just receiving fiat payments in Swiss francs once the BTC or ETH is exchanged by Bitcoin Suisse. The insurance company — with roughly $887 million in annual sales as of 2019 — will have customers paying for any …

Arbol, a platform that allows farmers to hedge weather risks, is integrating Chainlink data oracles. Arbol's CEO, Siddhartha Jha, told Cointelegraph that the company uses blockchain technology to solve a problem that affects billions of people around the world: “It's crazy that so much of the world's livelihood, it's about two to three billion people, they estimate, is affected by weather day to day.” Farmers are likely the hardest hit by weather unpredictability. For many, severe weather conditions can lead to the loss of their livelihood, or even starvation. Although farmer insurance has been around for decades — if not …

This week’s headlines from Japan included real estate player Tosei and Tokyo Financial Holdings listing an asset-backed digital financial product, Cointelegraph Japan interviewing a former Japanese central bank staffer, Coinage registering as an exchange with Japan's financial services agency, and a life insurance company testing digital asset billing transaction. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. Tosei and Tokyo Financial Holdings launch a digital securities product Real estate outfit Tosei and Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, hold plans for a digital securities product. The pair "will list digital securities backed by the rental …

Major South Korean insurance firm KB Insurance plans to implement a blockchain-enabled mobile message delivery system for its clients. According to a June 9 report by industry news outlet Ledger Insights, KB will use the system jointly developed with local telecommunication firm KT Corp starting next month. The service will at first deliver payment and termination notices to auto insurance customers, but the firm plans to expand it to all its customers. The purpose is to reduce mailing costs and non-delivery of notifications. Blockchain ensures the message delivery The new message delivery solution uses blockchain to send insurance policy changes …

This week’s headlines from Japan included SBI Holdings pairing up with Redstone Digital for a joint venture fund, LayerX teaming up with GMO Aozora for digitalization research, Decurret working to put aspects of the health system on the blockchain with Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, BitFlyer exchange releasing a commercial, and a data company producing a report on crypto in Japan. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. SBI Holdings starts up joint venture fund with Redstone Tokyo-based SBI Holdings has paired up with Redstone Digital, a German venture capital outfit, …

Crypto.com has secured a $100 million direct insurance policy provided by Arch Underwriting at Lloyd’s Syndicate 2012. Per a May 11 announcement, the new policy brings Crypto.com’s total coverage to $360 million — with the firm claiming to now have the largest insurance coverage within the entire cryptocurrency sector. With Crypto.com also reporting that its userbase has doubled over six months to tag $2 million, Cointelegraph spoke with the firm’s chief executive, Kris Marszalek, to find out more about the firm’s new coverage and spike in users. Crypto.com secures $100 million direct coverage Marszalek stated that the new $100 million …