TransRe boss Sapnar resurfaces at Stone Ridge-backed Bitcoin specialist NYDIG

Mike Sapnar, the former CEO of TransRe, has resurfaced at a Bitcoin technology company, which has also raised $100 million in new capital from a number of property/casualty insurers.

Sapnar led TransRe for nine years before unexpectedly stepping down in March this year. Now, it has been revealed that he will join NYDIG, a provider of technology and investment solutions for Bitcoin, as global head of insurance solutions.

In this new role, he will oversee all of NYDIG's insurance activities but especially focus on accelerating bitcoin-driven innovation in the global property/casualty industry.

He is joined by in the role by Matt Carey, NYDIG's US head of insurance solutions, who will focus on bitcoin-powered solutions for US-based life insurance and annuity providers. Prior to joining NYDIG, Carey was co-founder and CEO of Blueprint Income, the largest online annuity marketplace in the US, recently acquired by MassMutual from Stone Ridge.

The new hires were announced in tandem with NYDIG also raising $100 million of additional growth capital from strategic partners including property/casualty insurers Starr Insurance, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and other P&C insurers. These join NYDIG's existing life insurance and annuity-focused strategic partners New York Life and MassMutual.

Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, said: "The global property & casualty (P&C) industry is huge, paying out over $1 trillion in claims annually. I am excited to welcome Starr and Liberty Mutual to NYDIG, as part of our expansion of bitcoin into new areas of insurance.

"The team and I are also thrilled to welcome Mike and Matt to NYDIG. Mike has been a close collaborator with Stone Ridge since 2014, primarily with our catastrophe reinsurance asset management franchise and our non-catastrophe reinsurer, Longtail Re. Mike's more than 30 years of experience will help NYDIG lead the way in bringing bitcoin to the insurance industry."

Hank Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Starr, said: "We've been broadly and successfully investing with Ross and the Stone Ridge team across their various initiatives for years, including as a founding NYDIG investor in 2017. We are excited to continue our tradition of co-investment with them. We've also worked closely with Mike Sapnar for more than 25 years and congratulate Mike and NYDIG on his joining, and further propelling, the Stone Ridge ecosystem."

Ross Stevens, CEO of Stone Ridge and executive chairman of NYDIG, continued: "Fiat depreciation causes inflation in fiat premiums, while collapsing the purchasing power of claims. We see a brighter bitcoin-powered future for the billions who depend on the insurance industry every year. With the addition of Mike Sapnar, a trusted partner for years, and now with Starr, Liberty Mutual, New York Life, and MassMutual as shareholders of NYDIG, we will be working tirelessly to enable new bitcoin-denominated products for global insureds."

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