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Lloyd’s launches new cryptocurrency wallet insurance solution for Coincover

28 Feb 2020

Lloyd’s has launched a new insurance policy to protect cryptocurrency held in online wallets against theft or other malicious hacks.

The first of its kind liability policy, with flexible limits from as little as £1,000, was created by Lloyd’s syndicate Atrium in conjunction with Coincover to protect against losses arising from the theft of cryptocurrency held in online, hot wallets.

It is a new type of liability insurance policy with a dynamic limit that increases or decreases in line with the price changes of crypto assets. This means that the insured will always be indemnified for the underlying value of their managed asset even if this fluctuates over the policy period.

The policy is backed by a panel of other Lloyd’s insurers, which includes TMK and Markel, all of whom are members of Lloyd’s Product Innovation Facility (PIF).

As part of the Future at Lloyd’s ambition to be the world’s most customer-centric digital insurance platform, the Facility is an important step towards building a marketplace that offers better value for the changing and diverse needs of customers through highly-responsive, cutting-edge risk management products and services.

This is the second new insurance product to be backed by PIF members in recent months. The first – a profit protection policy for hotels with an innovative event-based trigger – was launched in September.

Matthew Greaves, Underwriter, Atrium, said:

“There is a growing demand for insurance that can protect cryptocurrency as it becomes increasingly popular. It is a testament to Lloyd’s that the market has put together an innovative solution to mitigate these new risks and protect against theft – from physical as well as online vaults – thereby providing customers with piece of mind that their assets are safe.”

David Janczewski, CEO, Coincover, commented:

“We are delighted to have worked with Atrium and the Lloyd’s PIF members to bring such a unique and timely solution to the crypto asset market. As the crypto asset market heats up again at the start of 2020, a new wave of crypto-curious customers are standing by at the ready to jump in, having previously been put off by the lack of adequate protection against theft and loss. With this innovative new policy, we can remove these barriers and broaden the appeal of crypto. It represents another step forward in enabling cryptocurrency adoption.”

James Gadbury, Senior Broker, Prospect, the insurance broker that worked with Atrium and Coincover to create the policy, said:

“We are delighted to have provided Coincover with this new insurance cover, which demonstrates the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Lloyd’s. We believe Prospect and the wider insurance market should support this rapidly developing sector as it moves into the mainstream.”

Trevor Maynard, Head of Innovation at Lloyd’s, added:

“As more money flows into the crypto asset market, losses from hacks are on the rise. Nevertheless, cryptocurrency companies have found ways to protect their digital assets from theft and, by working closely with Lloyd’s underwriters, to insure losses that do slip through the net.

“Lloyd’s is the natural home for insurance innovation because of the unique ability of syndicates to collaborate to insure new things. I am delighted that our Product Innovation Facility – now with almost £150 million of capacity and 27 underwriters, is providing a fast route to increase insurance capacity for difficult and hard-to-insure risks.”

  1. The Product Innovation Facility was launched in June 2019 and now includes 27 Managing Agents at Lloyd’s and shared capacity approaching £150m.
  2. Lloyd’s studio is available for TV and radio broadcasts.
  3. More news and information available from lloyds.com lloyds.com

Enquiries to:
Nathan Hambrook-Skinner
Senior Media Relations Manager
Tel: +44 (0)20 7327 6125
Email: nathan.hambrook-skinner@lloyds.com

About Lloyd’s

Lloyd’s is the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace. Through the collective intelligence and risk-sharing expertise of the market’s underwriters and brokers, Lloyd’s helps to create a braver world.

The Lloyd’s market provides the leadership and insight to anticipate and understand risk, and the knowledge to develop relevant, new and innovative forms of insurance for customers globally.

It offers the efficiencies of shared resources and services in a marketplace that covers and shares risks from more than 200 territories, in any industry, at any scale.

And it promises a trusted, enduring partnership built on the confidence that Lloyd’s protects what matters most: helping people, businesses and communities to recover in times of need.

Lloyd’s began with a few courageous entrepreneurs in a coffeeshop. Three centuries later, the Lloyd’s market continues that proud tradition, sharing risk in order to protect, build resilience and inspire courage everywhere.

About Coincover

Coincover was founded in 2018 with the aim of making owning cryptocurrency safer and more accessible for all.

Coincover works in partnership with Bitgo wallets which are the leading institutional-grade wallets for digital assets and are used by hundreds of exchanges and institutional investors around the world.

Coincover protects $300M+ of crypto, spanning 200+ different cryptocurrencies, held in more than 15,000 wallets. It has helped retrieve $350K+ of lost funds since launching in 2018.