Insurance & Blockchain: Better Together
Preaching to the choir
The most bemoaned and loathed problems in insurance normally originate from the chaos ‘legacy’ technology causes in the industry. I’d be stating the obvious to tell you the future of insurance is about solving how to build businesses that can take the best of innovative technologies and combine them with the stability & trust required of the industry. Of all the technologies, crypto, blockchain and digital assets have had the least insurance innovation, both in how they’re served as insured businesses and how the technology they bring is applied within insurance.
But, to me, combining insurance businesses and blockchain technologies has as much opportunity to progress the industry as automation and AI. Our dream at Native is to build a business that combines the best of all of these industries and technologies, setting a blueprint for a tech-first insurance company, one we think serves the next 100 years.
Our clear first step is in bridging worlds: bringing together the reliability of traditional insurance with the transformative potential of blockchain technology and onchain finance. As crypto is reshaping the traditional finance landscape, we’re engineering a hybrid approach to the future of insurance.
The state of traditional insurance and onchain insurance
The digital asset industry faces a critical insurance gap. Traditional carriers, constrained by a lack of access to technical expertise, legacy systems and inflexible risk assessment models, struggle to provide adequate coverage or capacity. Meanwhile, pure decentralised “insurance alternatives”, while innovative, lack the regulatory framework and institutional trust necessary for the widespread adoption of these early blockchain pioneers. Onchain insurance represents a fundamental shift in how coverage can be structured, managed, and delivered. At its core, it leverages blockchain technology to create transparent, automated, and efficient finance solutions. Smart contracts can enable parametric claims processing and instant premiums or claims settlements. Crypto-denominated policies align with how digital asset businesses operate. Risk pools & reserved capacity can be tokenised and managed using publicly auditable smart contract code, increasing both capacity and liquidity while enhancing transparency and trust.
This is where the real innovation begins: hybridising these powerful blockchain capabilities with traditional insurance underwriting and capacity. Regulated frameworks provide the security and trust that institutions demand. Risk assessment by blockchain security experts ensures sustainable underwriting through deep technical expertise. Expert claims adjusters understand the technical complexities of digital asset incidents. When merged thoughtfully, these elements create something more powerful than either approach alone. I see it as more than the sum of its parts, but currently a luxury of start-ups like ours.
Our hybrid approach
Native brings an entirely new approach to digital asset insurance by seamlessly combining regulated insurance with onchain solutions. Rather than forcing clients to choose between traditional coverage or pure blockchain alternatives, we create bespoke solutions that leverage the strengths of both worlds. Our hybrid model means we offer crypto-denominated limits that match how many digital asset businesses operate, while maintaining the security of regulated insurance frameworks. Smart contracts provide unprecedented transparency in policy terms and claims processing, while traditional underwriting expertise ensures sustainable risk assessment. For brokers, this means access to greater capacity and more flexible coverage options. For underwriters, it means better data and risk insights, enabling them to confidently enter the digital asset space. And for clients, it means finally having coverage that truly understands and adapts to their needs. What makes this approach powerful is its adaptability. Whether working with traditional insurers looking to enter the digital asset space, or crypto-native businesses seeking institutional-grade coverage, Native's platform bridges the gap. By bringing together blockchain with traditional insurance expertise, we're laying the groundwork for a more ambitious vision. Our systems are built to harness AI to enhance everything from how we communicate to how we assess real-world risk. We depend on automation for seamless operations, and are architected to be quantum-ready as the technology matures. We're not just solving today's challenges – we're building the foundation for how insurance will evolve over the next 100 years.
Singing with the choir
The insurance industry stands at a crossroads as crypto, AI and cutting-edge technologies approach their critical mass. The rapid evolution of digital assets and blockchain technology presents both unprecedented challenges and opportunities. The future belongs to those who reimagine what's possible by combining traditional insurance with groundbreaking technology. Native was born out of an undying need to build that future today. We're not just bridging traditional insurance with blockchain technology - we're creating solutions that weren't possible before. We want to help create the blueprint for how insurers can truly evolve alongside innovation to meet the needs of a civilisation progressing at break-neck speeds. The technology exists. The expertise exists. It's time to bring them together in ways that serve the best of multi-industry innovations, the inevitable Singularity and the next 100 years.