Paragon offers crime insurance for crypto exchange Bitstamp

Bitstamp, the world’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchange, has expanded the insurance offered to its customers with an additional crime insurance policy offered by Paragon International Insurance Brokers, which operates in London and Bermuda.

The crime insurance policy covers an array of crime-related cases, such as employee theft, loss while the assets are stored at any premises, loss in transit, loss caused by computer fraud or funds transfer fraud, and loss related to legal fees and expenses. It is offered in coordination with Woodruff Sawyer, and is underwritten by a number of insurance companies and syndicates at Lloyd’s of London.

Jeff Hanson, senior vice president at Paragon, said the policy had been designed with the specifics of digital assets in mind. “Traditional insurance policies do not translate directly into digital assets, which is why we’ve created and placed a policy to fit the bespoke requirements of highly respected and forward-looking exchanges such as Bitstamp, which value the safe custody of their customers’ funds above all else,” he said.

Bitstamp stores 98 percent of its digital assets offline with BitGo, a provider of institutional digital asset storage solutions. These offline assets were already insured by BitGo’s own insurance policy, with the new crime insurance policy offering additional, enhanced protection.

Miha Grčar, global head of business development at Bitstamp, said custody insurance is one of the most crucial and quickly developing areas in crypto.  “Introducing an additional crime insurance policy allows us to expand coverage to the assets held at Bitstamp and to protect our customers in a large array of scenarios they may find themselves in,” said Grčar.