Austrian Insurance Law: Are NFTs Insurable?

The NFT boom continues. After Christie's managed to auction an NFT linked to an artwork for over USD 69m this March, the original program code of the World Wide Web was also auctioned off as an NFT for USD 5.4m in the summer, proving that NFTs are a new asset class that can carry significant value. An asset that needs protection just like any other.

Accordingly, the question arises as to whether NFTs are insurable. What is the legal situation in Austria?

Are NFTs insurable according to Austrian insurance law?

Austrian statutory law does not define "insurance". Based on case law, an insurance contract requires:

• a risk;
• a transfer of that risk to an insurance undertaking; and