Crypto-currencies starting to get insurance — a sure sign of legitimacy
New York — Major global insurers are starting to offer protection against crypto-currency theft, willing to tackle the daunting challenges it brings rather than miss out on this volatile and loosely regulated, but rapidly growing business. So far, only a few insurers sell such insurance, including XL Catlin, Chubb, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance. Yet several others told Reuters they are looking into theft coverage for companies that handle digital currencies such as bitcoin and ether, which trade between anonymous parties. Such efforts have so far garnered little attention, but the emergence of an insurance market marks an important step for the nascent industry’s mainstream recognition. The risks are clear: digital currency investors have already lost billions from dozens of crypto-currency hacks, technical errors and fraud. Many hacked exchanges later shuttered. On Friday, Tokyo-based exchange Coincheck became the latest casualty, reporting a loss of about $534m worth of coins to h...
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