As the world moves to adopt cryptocurrencies as a mainstream mode for facilitating transactions, it is interesting to know that some big companies are contributing their quota to this mass adoption, and hopefully it will come sooner than expected, as more companies and businesses get involved in the process.
In a recent development, one of the world’s largest insurance brokerage companies by revenues, Aon has gotten some insurers to facilitate the cryptocurrency coverage needed for Metaco’s clients (Metaco is a technology firm for digital asset custody). According to the announcement made on the 11th of June 2019, the insurer will provide a type of product for crime insurance to various organizations and institutions, while using the wallet solution provided by Metaco.
Based on the report from Aon, there are different policies, and they cover various types of losses including the loss of offline private keys as a result of natural disasters, or 3rd party hacks of the users’ hot wallets. However, there was no disclosure about the dollar amount of the available coverage.
We hardly see insurance for cryptocurrencies that get held at exchanges or custodians, especially when using hot wallets. It is worth of note that the insurance industry is beginning to see the need to have them insured, and have begun to respond to the increasing demand. The insurance industry is starting with the provision of cold storage cover, which can be likened to the storage if cash or bullion in a vault.
According to Aon Risk Solutions’ official, Jacqueline Quintal, the demand on insurers is as a result of the interests of financial institutions and banks in holding cryptocurrency and other digital assets.
Big Names Involved
Metaco is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is owned partly by Swisscom (Telecom provider), Swisspost (national postal service), and Avaloq (a vendor for banking technology). The company was created to provide crypto-based institutions with custody tools and solutions. One of its clients is the Swiss branch of the Gazprombank, Russia. Furthermore, SILO, which is the hardware security module (HSM) of Metaco, has components that are from Guardtime, which is a digital security firm based in Estonia.
It will interest you to know that Metaco is among the firms that constitute the Custodigit partnership facilitating Deutsche Borse, an exchange in Switzerland. In the near future, Metaco will work with distinct crypto exchanges.
This move by the insurance industry is a plausible one, and there are indications that several other companies will follow suit, and begin to offer different types of blockchain and crypto-based services across different sectors and industries, which will in turn create the perfect ambience for the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies.
If we go down memory lane to when blockchain and cryptocurrency got introduced to us, and make comparisons with what it is now, we can agree that there have been major improvements in the attitude companies and businesses have shown to both technologies. It feels like everyday it keeps getting better in the crypto world, as more possibilities keep getting discovered.
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