Hong Kong-based virtual insurer, OneDegree will offer insurance services for crypto assets. The provision of insurance of the crypto assets results from a partnership with a local cryptocurrency exchange.
OneDegree Partners with a Local Crypto Exchange Platform
OneDegree, which is part of Hong Kong’s several licensed virtual insurers, will offer up to $100 million in coverage to a local crypto exchange. The local crypto exchange in question is Hkbitex. The Hkbitex is a local Hong Kong trading platform that operates in the global financial hub.
Hkbitex and OneDegree have teamed up to protect the exchanges’ clients’ cryptocurrencies against risks such as hacking and theft. In general, the partnership aims to reduce concerns that make potential investors shy away from the crypto market.
On Thursday, a Hong Kong-based newspaper reported that OneDegree became Asia’s first insurer to underwrite crypto asset insurance policies. Few companies around the world offer this type of service.
The aforementioned post also revealed that available coverage is roughly $1 billion per transaction. OneDegree’s chief risk officer, Becky Tam, shared that less than 1% of companies buying crypto insurance policies are eligible for such a cover.
Cyber threats have been a big concern for crypto businesses as several of them have experienced hacking attacks. Asia’s head of financial specialties at global insurance broker Aon, Murray Wood, shared that asset insuring is a” good hedge against such risks.”
This collaboration is not the first of its kind. A few years back, Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange partnered with Callaghan Insurance to insure its digital assets. Additionally, crypto wallet provider, Bitgo, partnered with Lloyd’s in 2019. This partnership saw the wallet provider secure a $100 million policy.
About OneDegree
Alex Leung co-founded OneDegree in August 2016 alongside Alvin Kwock. The company, whose legal name is OneDegree Hong Kong Limited, is under the leadership of CEO Arthur Lee.
The company has had two funding rounds to raise money for its operations. OneDegree held its first funding round back in May 2019. Through the help of three investors with BitRock Capital as the lead investor, the company raised $30 million.
The company held its second funding round this year, on August 30 to be exact. The round had two investors, and the company raised $28 million. The company is yet to disclose the lead investor of the second round of funding.
The Latest on Cryptocurrency
The Hkbitex x OneDegree partnership announcement comes after Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $68,500 this week. Bitcoin hitting its all-time-high value has brought the total crypto value to over $3 trillion. Among all crypto coins, BTC has the largest market cap of 1.205 trillion.
According to CoinMarketCap, Ethereum is currently trading at $4,635.34, a 0.40% drop in 24 hours. Meanwhile, Floki Inu is presently trading at $0.000242, a 4.39% increase. On the other hand, the Shiba Inu coin is trading at $0.00005153, a 0.83% decrease within 24 hours. Lastly, at the time of writing, Dogecoin is trading at $0.2588, a 1.05 increase within the last 24 hours.