The growth in popularity of cryptocurrencies has, in many ways, outpaced the infrastructure built to support it. In terms of security, cryptocurrency exchanges that serve both as a marketplace and a store of the digital assets have become a hacker’s favorite target. Now that the cryptocurrency market has grown to its current capitalization of more than $200 billion, demand for crypto insurance is gaining traction. Already, big-time insurers are emerging as major players in the market: Lloyd’s of London, a centuries-old insurer with a net worth of $45 billion, partnered with Coinbase last year to provide a $255 million policy …

Leading insurance broking and risk management firm Marsh has piloted a blockchain-based digital placement platform. According to a Sept. 24 news release, the Risk Exchange platform aims to deliver a more transparent and secure digital placement and enable users to receive real-time information and feedback on the placement and binding process. Insurance placement is the purchase of an insurance product or the renewal of an existing product. First participants in the pilot As part of the pilot, commodity chemical company Dow Inc. and domestic appliance manufacturer SharkNinja will bind United States trade credit policies with finance and insurance corporation AIG …

Montreal-based digital asset custodian Knøx has secured $6.2 million (8.25 million CAD) in a seed round to support its crypto custody service for institutional customers and fiduciaries. The funding round was led by San Francisco-based venture capital firm Initialized Capital, with the participation of financial services giant Fidelity and venture firm iNovia, Canadian technology-focused news outlet BetaKit reported on Sept. 24. Protection of customers against losses Knøx’s products are geared to asset management firms, liquidity providers and exchanges, specifically addressing the issue of customers’ protection against losses. Garry Tan, a managing partner at Initialized Capital, stated that “there is a …

Cardiff-based cryptocurrency insurance startup Coincover has launched an insurance policy covering theft and loss. Local news outlet Whales247 reported on Sept. 24 that this is “the first and only service to guarantee digital funds held online will not be lost or stolen.” Coincover’s service reportedly monitors the wallet at all times and issues warnings in case of suspected theft, recovers funds in case of private key loss, manages key backups, provides cash replacement value in case of theft, and checks for any suspicious activity. Making crypto less risky Furthermore, the startup covers over 100 different crypto assets and the company …

The cryptocurrency insurance market is expected to grow at a faster rate if United States regulators provide more regulatory clarity, according to industry experts. As Forbes reported on Sept. 5, CEO of San Francisco-based cybersecurity agency Coalition, Joshua Motta suggested that the market for digital currency insurance is now worth between $200 million and $500 million in premium revenue. He expects the market to outpace the current 20% to 25% expansion rate of the cybersecurity insurance sector. Lloyd’s of London, the world's leading insurance market providing specialist insurance services to enterprises, seems poised to become one of the major players …

The Capital Market, Insurance and Saving Authority, a division of Israel’s Ministry of Finance (MoF), is looking to accelerate the process of procuring licenses for blockchain and fintech companies in the country. Israeli business news outlet Calcalist reported the development on Aug. 19. According to the report, the authority has launched dedicated industry teams, some of which specialize in blockchain companies. According to the report, the authority is hoping to foster local competition by licensing more fintech companies. Moshe Barkat, who was appointed as the supervisor for the department back in 2018, remarked: "Business and technological innovation and the relationship …

German financial services giant Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) is developing a blockchain-based ecosystem to facilitate cross-border insurance payments for its corporate customers. Experimentations with blockchain technology Allianz is working on a token-based blockchain system, expecting it to streamline international insurance payments for its corporate customers, Forbes reported on Aug. 8. An Allianz spokesperson told Forbes that the company is still in the experimentation phase, although the basic core infrastructure of the ecosystem has already been built and tested. The spokesperson further explained that Allianz will next examine money transfers with a limited scope and for a short …

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), a federal insurance overseer and safety net provider, has issued a public warning about relying on cryptocurrency transactions in a press release on July 25. According to the press release, managing director and CEO of NDIC Umaru Ibrahim said that relying on cryptocurrencies is very risky, because they are unregulated and unbacked by central banks in most financial jurisdictions. Much like the United States’s Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the NDIC provides a safety net for depositors and aims to protect the banking system from instability caused by bank runs or loss of confidence. House …

American community bank The Provident Bank has begun offering deposit services to digital currency-related customers, according to an announcement published on July 9. The Provident Bank now offers deposit and other banking services to cryptocurrency issuers, exchangers and investors. The bank deploys Bitfury’s blockchain analytics tool Crystal that maps cryptocurrency transactions and related entities to reveal suspicious funds and parties. Crystal will purportedly ensure that the bank’s new clients are compliant with the Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer procedures. Additionally, the bank claims to provide full insurance to customers’ deposits because of its affiliation with the Depositors Insurance Fund, …

United States’ biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, is reportedly looking to launch a captive insurance company, industry news outlet Coindesk reports on July 10. Per the report, industry sources told the outlet that Coinbase is looking to launch its captive insurance company in partnership with insurance brokerage firm Aon. According to accountancy news outlet CPAJournal, “a captive insurance company is a subsidiary formed by a private company to finance its retained losses in a formal structure under the guidance of an appropriate state insurance department.” Such a solution allows the company to keep the money that would be normally spent on …

Decentralized insurtech firm Etherisc has launched a blockchain-based insurance platform for farmers in Sri Lanka The platform is the result of a partnership with the insurance company Aon and the charity Oxfam in Sri Lanka, according to a press release by Aon on July 1. As per the report, the aim of the insurance platform is to provide a way for Sri Lankan farmers to access risk protection in the face of potential crop-obliterating weather conditions. The report states that almost 200 farmers have enrolled to use this platform for “micro-insurance.” According to Michiel Berende, the Chief Inclusive Officer at …

The business of insurance is enormously complex: The process of evaluating and managing a variety of risks that individuals and organizations face every day inevitably involves coordination of the multiple parties’ efforts and reconciliation of extensive records. Both aspects make the insurance sector an appealing ground for blockchain-based optimization — and indeed, distributed ledger technology is a prominent feature of a rising tide of technological innovations, collectively known as insuretech, that seek to bring new efficiencies into the industry. As Cointelegraph previously reported, research firm MarketsandMarkets in 2018 projected that the value of blockchain components in the insurance market will …