The hardening of the insurance markets may have reduced the
appetite for certain emerging risks but the increasing prevalence
of so-called digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and initial
coin offerings, will be hard for insurers to ignore.
The recent announcements that Google and Facebook will be
entering the cryptocurrency space, and that a number of major US
retailers will be accepting payment in cryptocurrencies, adds much
needed credibility and confidence to the digital assets industry.
In its infancy the sector experienced high volatility, theft and
lost tokens scandals and concern over the use of digital assets to
fund and conceal criminal activity. Digital asset businesses also
proved attractive to those looking to exploit an undeveloped
regulatory environment and to defraud naïve investors,
including through implausible, but often unverifiable, claims
regarding the existence and value of tangible assets said to back
the digital assets.
