What Is Digital-Asset Insurance?

What Does Digital-Asset Insurance Cover?

A lost private key can leave your business unable to access assets even when no one stole them. ²

If your business holds, safeguards or provides services for digital assets, compare custody, crime and business-liability protection separately. ^1,2

Custody and Business Liability

First identify whether you need protection for assets or private keys in custody, or for claims about your services and management decisions. ^{2 1,2 2 3}

Who Needs Digital-Asset Insurance?

If your business holds digital assets, keeps them for customers or provides custody services, a loss can affect assets you own and assets others entrust to you. ^1,2

Digital-Asset Insurance Coverage Examples

What happened

Your Custodian Reports a Theft

Your custody provider reports stolen assets and tells you it has insurance.

How coverage may help

That policy may protect the custodian rather than you directly. You'll need to establish whose assets are insured and how a customer loss would be paid. ^1,2,3

What happened

You Lose Access to a Wallet

A key-management problem leaves your business unable to access a wallet.

How coverage may help

Coverage for theft doesn't automatically include lost or destroyed keys. The insured wallets, cause of loss and valuation terms determine whether this loss fits. ^1,2

How Do You Compare Digital-Asset Insurance Coverage and Costs?

Assets, Wallets and Insured Entities

An insurance description should identify the assets, wallets, storage arrangements and legal entity insured. Explain who controls the keys for business assets and customer assets. If different entities or custodians control different wallets, a single statement that your assets are insured isn't enough to establish which holdings are protected. ^1,2

Insurance Advertised by a Custodian

If your custodian advertises insurance, ask whether you are insured directly or the policy protects the custodian, and how your loss would be handled. ³

Valuation and Limits

Check the valuation method, currency and limits before comparing the proposed limit with your asset values. ¹

What Losses Need Separate Discussion?

Theft and Key Loss

Ask separately whether the policy addresses outside theft, employee theft and lost or destroyed keys; an insurance headline does not show that all three are covered. ²

Price Changes and Technology Failures

Ask how the contract treats market-price changes and code or network failures; custody or theft insurance does not guarantee asset value. ¹

How Does Digital-Asset Insurance Compare With Related Coverage?

Cyber, Professional Liability and D&O

Cyber, professional liability and D&O address different business risks; buying one does not establish that assets in your custody are insured. ²

FDIC Deposit Insurance

FDIC deposit insurance does not insure cryptocurrency. ⁴

What Do You Need for Digital-Asset Insurance Quotes?

Map the assets your business owns or holds for customers, custody arrangements, key access and approvals, and outside technology dependencies. ^1,2

A Custody and Exposure Map

^{1,2 1,2 1}

Digital-Asset Insurance: Key Terms in Plain English

Custody

The arrangement for holding assets and controlling their keys. Identify the insured entity and wallets. ^1,2

Valuation Method

The basis and currency used to measure a loss, which need checking against the value of the digital assets. ¹

Frequently Asked Questions About Digital-Asset Insurance