Technology
Property/Casualty Carriers Invest in Bitcoin Services Company NYDIG

• Renée Kiriluk-Hill
• June 2021
• 

Bitcoin services company NYDIG said it raised $100 million from partners that include Starr Insurance, Liberty Mutual Insurance and other property/casualty carriers, and launched a global insurance solutions business.

It appointed outgoing TransRe President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Sapnar as global head of insurance solutions. He is tasked with overseeing insurance activities and accelerating Bitcoin-driven innovation in the global property/casualty industry, NYDIG said in a statement.

TransRe previously announced Sapnar's departure, with Ken Brandt, then the TransRe co-president of global underwriting, named president and CEO-elect.

NYDIG appointed Matt Carey, who co-founded and was CEO of online annuity marketplace Blueprint Income, as head of U.S. insurance solutions. He will focus on Bitcoin in the U.S.-based life insurance and annuity sector, NYDIG said. Blueprint recently was acquired by MassMutual, which is also an NYDIG strategic partner, from NYDIG parent Stone Ridge Holdings Group.

The depreciation of fiat money—government-issued currency not backed by a commodity such as gold or silver—“causes inflation in fiat premiums, while collapsing the purchasing power of claims,” NYDIG Chairman and Stone Ridge CEO Ross Stevens said in a statement. “We see a brighter Bitcoin-powered future for the billions who depend on the insurance industry every year. … We will be working … to enable new Bitcoin-denominated products for global insureds.”

NYDIG offers Bitcoin investment and technology services to insurers, banks, corporations, institutions and high net worth individuals.