Winklevoss-Led Gemini Exchange Now Has Its Own Insurance Company

Gemini announced today that they have created their own insurance company that will provide them with $200 million of coverage against their cold storage assets. The captive insurer dubbed “Nakamoto” will provide coverage for customers of Gemini Custody, the crypto cold storage service of Gemini Trust Company. With the addition of Nakamoto, Gemini now insures all customers’ assets including USD deposits and cryptocurrencies both in hot and cold wallets.

Why it matters:

• It's been notoriously difficult for cryptocurrency custodians to gain insurance given the unique underwriting challenges presented by the industry. Although some custodians have been able to successfully get insurance on customer assets, many have elected to self-insure, simply setting aside their own cryptocurrency holdings to cover against any customer losses
• Gemini is now one of the safest exchanges, insuring virtually every asset they hold on behalf of customers. It remains to be seen whether or not insurance is the primary hurdle holding back institutional adoption, but it will give potential institutional investors more peace of mind holding funds with Gemini.