Almost half of current life insurance and annuity owners already hold digital assets, and they now looking for their insurance carrier to provide more direct and indirect cryptocurrency exposure through insurance products, according to the new survey released by NYDIG, a technology and financial services firm dedicated to Bitcoin.
With more than 46 million Americans owning Bitcoin today, insurance carriers have an opportunity to provide more exposure to it.
One of the key findings of the survey is that half of people surveyed want to receive all or some of their insurance payouts in Bitcoin.
In addition, the survey notes that 75% of respondents expressed at least some interest in learning more about Bitcoin annuities and Bitcoin life insurance, and of those who don’t yet own digitals assets, 55% said they may consider it in the future.
Nearly 4 out of 5 survey respondents also expressed at least some interest in life insurance or annuity products that provide indirect Bitcoin exposure.
“Cryptocurrency is an exciting development in the world of alternative finance, but insurance companies are conservative in their outlook, and it’s very predictable that they are proceeding with caution,” David Grasso, CEO of BoldTV told GOBankingRates. “They have a long-term view, and cryptocurrency is too new to just automatically assimilate it as an asset class without question.”
Some insurers are starting to dip their toes in cryptos, such as Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., who said in December 2020 that it purchased $100 million in Bitcoin for its general investment account, as well as a $5 million equity stake in NYDIG. “We are proud of this incredible moment in the history of both Bitcoin and the insurance industry. This reflects the expansion of Bitcoin to insurance company general investment accounts,” Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, said in a statement at the time.