London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Lloyd’s Of London, Aon and Others Poised to Profit From Cryptocurrency Hacker Insurance

Lloyd’s Of London, Aon and Others Poised to Profit From Cryptocurrency Hacker Insurance

Where there are assets, there’s insurance, and that’s becoming increasingly true in crypto, where the value of all digital coins vastly exceeds the amount of insurance currently available. Over the past three years, cryptocurrencies’ market value has risen 25-fold, hovering near $300 billion today. Meanwhile, theft of crypto assets by hackers continues unabated, reaching $480 million in the first half of 2019. Some insurance companies are leaping at the opportunity.

Lloyd’s of London is a $45 billion insurance marketplace where companies can form syndicates and co-underwrite insurance. Its roots date back to the 17th century, and it’s famous for helping insure exotic entities ranging from the R.M.S. Titanic to a cartoon drawn by Leonardo da Vinci. Now it’s emerging as a major player in crypto insurance. It facilitated the $255 million policy that Coinbase announced in April, as well as crypto custodian BitGo’s $100 million policy. Aon, the second-largest broker in the world, which is also based in London, brokered the Coinbase policy. Chubb, the Swiss behemoth that’s the largest commercial insurer in the U.S., has paid claims related to cryptocurrency hacking. (Chubb says it does not write insurance policies for cryptocurrency exchanges or digital wallets.) Other companies that store investors’ cryptocurrencies like Fidelity, Gemini, Anchorage and Kingdom Trust have also purchased insurance. 

Coalition, a two-year-old San Francisco cybersecurity insurance startup, already has more than 500 cryptocurrency companies as clients, including exchanges, firms that created their own digital currencies and digital-asset hedge funds. Coalition cofounder and CEO Joshua Motta is a former C.I.A. analyst who also cofounded Cloudflare, an internet software and security company that’s aiming to go public at a $3.5 billion valuation in the coming weeks. Motta has grown Coalition to 11,000 total customers and $50 million in premium revenue (premiums are the recurring fees that insurers collect annually from their clients).

Cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians—the venues where you can buy, sell and store assets—are hackers’ top targets, because they collectively hold billions of dollars in crypto. They face a unique challenge, because they need to let customers move their assets quickly while also storing them safely. Even Binance, the largest crypto exchange that has historically had a reputation for strong security, fell victim to a $40 million theft earlier this year. It reimbursed customers through its own “Secure Asset Fund for Users” or SAFU, a sort of self-insurance it announced last year. Binance says it diverts 10% of all trading fees into the fund in the event of theft, and it doesn’t purchase any outside insurance. The company declined to say how large the SAFU fund is.

Two years ago, the market for crypto insurance was “nonexistent,” Coalition CEO Motta says. Today he thinks it’s worth between $200 million and $500 million in premium revenue. Motta expects the market for crypto insurance to grow faster than the 20% to 25% pace at which the larger cybersecurity insurance sector is currently expanding.

The market would likely grow even faster if U.S. regulators provided more clarity on questions like which digital assets will be deemed securities and are bound by the same laws that govern public companies. The patchwork of state-by-state regulations in insurance also creates a speed bump. “Regulation has to catch up,” says Eric Boyum, head of Aon’s technology insurance brokerage arm. More regulatory clarity would increase insurers’ comfort with underwriting policies and taking new risks. 

With $300 billion in crypto assets on the planet and less than $1 billion in available insurance coverage, there’s a huge imbalance between supply and demand. Ty Sagalow, a 36-year insurance industry veteran and former AIG executive who is currently chief insurance officer at crypto insurance startup BlockRe, has lofty expectations. “I see this market as the next cyber,” he says. “It will grow to a multibillion-dollar premium market within the next five to ten years.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×