Nayms creates first ‘crypto-native’ insurer on Bermuda

London-based cryptocurrency insurtech  Nayms has become the world's first crypto-native insurance marketplace to become fully-regulated in Bermuda, meaning its insurance partners can conduct regulated insurance business “on-chain” for the first time.

The company has received both the full Digital Asset Business Act licence and the Innovative General Business Insurance licence.

Bermudan Premier David Burt, said: "We are thrilled to see the announcement that  Nayms has graduated from the Bermuda Monetary Authority's (BMA) sandbox in not one, but two licence classes. Their Class F (Full) Digital Asset Business licence, and an Innovative Insurer General Business (IIGB) licence will allow Nayms to continue to expand their presence on Island, and demonstrate Bermuda's capacity to serve as the jurisdiction of choice for innovative digital asset businesses. We wish  Nayms success in this next chapter as the world's first crypto-compatible insurance marketplace."

Bermuda’s “flexible and progressive” attitude to regulation surrounding cryptocurrency made it the “ideal home” for  Nayms to build and test its platform and proposition, the company said. It has spent the last two years in the BMA sandbox, holding both DABA Class M and IGB licences. These licences have now converted to the DABA Class F and IIGB, making  Nayms a fully-regulated entity in time for its launch later this year.

Nayms CEO Dan Roberts (pictured) said: “It is very rewarding to see the hard work of the  Nayms team pay off as we reach this critical milestone. It has been a very positive experience working with the BMA, who have allowed  Nayms to grow within a developed regulatory framework. We look forward to taking this relationship forward, and furthering the innovation Bermuda is providing by scaling the Nayms marketplace on the island.”

A number of insurance programmes run by leading companies such as Aon and Breach will be going live post-launch, with plans to grow these programmes into a “transparent, tradable and trusted” environment for placing insurance risk, and into a fully-fledged marketplace for efficient risk transfer as activity grows,  Nayms said.

The licenced entity is Nayms SAC, a Segregated Accounts Company. Such companies may operate compliant digital asset insurance activities, all on-chain, under the full licensing that Nayms provides. This opens up access to a global market of insurance providers who can operate under the Nayms regulatory structure thanks to the relationship that  Nayms holds with the BMA, Nayms said.

Nayms is now also able to launch a second initiative, crypto-native captives.

The  Nayms infrastructure is now the only environment globally where crypto projects can hold treasury assets or their own native token in a regulated captive, a widely used structure in traditional markets for self-insurance. The first captive will be run by decentralised custody solution, Qredo.

Qredo said insurance products are a “bedrock” to enabling and underpinning the security and confidence of cryptoasset frameworks.

“Offering depth into this space is something the team is keen to do given the market is still forming,” Qredo said. “We're excited to participate in building a crypto-native captive and plan to use this to add depth not only to the Qredo insurance offering but also, in time, the market in general to support the amazing underwriting partners we've worked with so far. Every step helps accelerate the adoption of cryptoassets in the traditional markets.”

By "on-chain",  Nayms means "on the blockchain"; that is, it uses "smart contracts" that act as an insurance company's balance sheet, which allows them to raise funds, write risk and have claims and premiums all paid native to the digital asset space. This "on-chain balance sheet" can raise funds in crypto to write crypto risk of the same denomination, and do so in an "immutable and transparent way",  Nayms said.

Smart contracts are code that sit on a blockchain and automatically carry out pre-defined rules.

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