Hudson Structured backs bitcoin denominated life insurer Meanwhile

Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd. (HSCM), the insurance, reinsurance and transportation focused investment manager, has participated in a seed funding round for cryptocurrency denominated Bermuda life insurance start-up Meanwhile.

Meanwhile wants to help bitcoin holders make some of their assets active, by purchasing life insurance from the only insurer to be fully denominated in that specific cryptocurrency.

The company is launching with an offer of Bitcoin (BTC)-denominated whole life insurance, and Meanwhile hopes to attract long-term holders of bitcoin to see the opportunity to make some of the assets more active, rather than just holding them as a store of value.

“As one of the few innovations in money in the last century, Bitcoin is on track to become a global store of value and functional currency,” said Zac Townsend, Co-Founder and CEO of Meanwhile.

“When you combine that with artificial intelligence, we see the potential to build a full-stack life insurance company with the aim to reach over a billion people globally. To start, it makes perfect sense for long-term holders of BTC to invest in life insurance denominated in that asset and to enable a percentage of their BTC holdings to become active,” Townsend said.

Meanwhile also uses artificial intelligence in its underwriting of life insurance policies, with an AI-powered underwriting, claims, and operations system, as it hopes to deliver a more efficient end-to-end insurance experience, while also reducing manual labor and promoting transparency.

The start-up has raised $18 million across two seed rounds, with Hudson Structured Capital Management (HSCM) a participant, alongside other well-known venture and tech investing, as well as insurtech investing names, such as Sam Altman of OpenAI, former senior Stripe employee Lachy Groom, Gradient Ventures, Mouro Capital, and MS&AD Ventures.

Meanwhile says it is licensed and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, although we’re unsure what class of company it is using at this stage. The company does state that its “licensed and regulated Bermuda subsidiary is entirely denominated in BTC, accepting all premiums and paying out all claims in BTC.”

“Meanwhile is sitting at the confluence of the AI and digital assets transformation,” explained Anna Patterson, Managing Partner at Gradient Ventures. “The team has an opportunity to change how consumers use digital money and set a new standard for tech-enabled life insurance providers. We’re excited to support Zac and Max on their mission.”

“The insurance sector is often regarded as inefficient and adverse to new technologies, and frankly, that is true in many cases,” added Jon Soberg, Managing Partner of MS&AD Ventures. “Meanwhile flips this perception on its head, uniting both blockchain and AI to create a truly one-of-a-kind, dynamic life insurance program. We are delighted to participate in this funding round and look forward to seeing the unique financial products Meanwhile will unveil.”

Meanwhile is also a tax advantaged way to make bitcoin active, the company states, with users able to access some of the liquidity of their life policies tax-free, while also acting as a way wealth can be passed on in a tax efficient manner.