“Industry insiders and experts” told Reuters that underwriters are expected to investigate whether crypto clients are vulnerable to cyber heists such as the suspected North Korean operation that made off with $6.3 billion from global exchange Binance last week.
Jacqueline Quintal, financial institutions and digital asset industry leader at insurance broker Marsh, told the agency she wouldn’t want to be the individual who renews or writes a policy for a crypto institution just to see another massive theft. Insurance capacity, pricing, and coverage are unlikely to change, she added, but questions about security will. It’s easy to see how that could result in higher barriers for policies or more claim rejections. Experts told Reuters insurance policies that cover losses as huge as Binance’s already don’t exist, and that the crypto industry, valued at over $2.5 trillion, will face tougher scrutiny when renewing policies (usually on an annual basis).
Bloomberg had previously reported Binance insures some executives against personal liability, but “unlike other crypto companies” lacked cyber insurance.
“A loss of this magnitude prompts underwriters to re-examine their whole crypto book, not just the affected insured, reassessing aggregate exposure, wordings and sub-limits across the portfolio,” Alan Lyons, co-chair of the insurance group at law firm Herrick, told Reuters.
According to Cybersecurity Dive , the general trend for large businesses and cyber insurance has been decreasing frequency of claims but ballooning payouts, reflecting that the attacks that do get through defenses tend to be highly disruptive or damaging. 4 million in 2025, or up 586% since 2021.
Source link
