Ledger, the global leader in security and infrastructure solutions for digital assets and blockchain applications, today obtained a crime insurance policy covering digital assets secured by the Ledger Vault platform.

This program follows a rigorous evaluation of Ledger Vault’s hardware and software security infrastructure as well as governance policies. Ledger Vault worked for the last year with leading broker and risk advisor Marsh and a lead underwriter of crypto-asset insurance, Arch Insurance (UK) Limited (Arch), to develop the custom program at the behest of Vault clients.

The Ledger Vault platform now has a customized crime insurance program insuring crypto assets for up to USD 150 million (subject to full policy terms and conditions) including against:

• Third-party theft of the master seed and private keys following a physical breach of a hardware security module in a secure data center;
• Secure transmissions of the master seed fragments as part of the client onboarding;
• Insider Ledger employee theft caused by collusion.

All the coins and tokens currently supported by the Vault platform are covered by the Ledger Vault policy. There is also a mechanism to add new coins/tokens to the policy coverage as may be necessary.

As a security technology platform Ledger Vault is not required to obtain digital asset insurance, unlike custodians, banks and exchanges. Despite this, Ledger understood the difficult process Vault clients would undergo to obtain insurance of this magnitude and proactively obtained insurance for the Vault platform at no additional cost for its clients. Vault clients are now alleviated from the majority of the burden of independently undergoing the insurance security evaluation process, and ultimately saving significant time and money to focus on their businesses.

Vault clients also have the opportunity to directly purchase their own primary coverage as needed on top of the Ledger Vault policy. With this feature Ledger Vault is the first digital asset security platform to enable seamless access to a customized crime insurance policy from the best in class underwriting.

Pascal Gauthier, Chief Executive Officer at Ledger, said: We consider insurance a crucial part of a comprehensive plan as digital assets gain a foothold in institutional portfolios. As a new class of assets, securing digital currencies has become a complex challenge for both institutions and insurers. Through our efforts with Marsh and Arch to curate this comprehensive crime insurance policy, we are playing a pivotal role in the movement to secure and insure all critical digital assets.”

Demetrios Skalkotos, Global Head of Ledger Vault, said: “The combination of Ledger Vault's secure hardware and software operating systems, along with our governance protocols, allowed Marsh and Arch to expand standard cold storage coverage to the Ledger Vault solution. The policy also covers the clients’ onboarding process, their personal security devices and the secure encrypted communication channel that is established when using the Vault platform. This unique policy is a true end-to-end solution that gives our customers the flexibility to both store and move funds without compromising on security and governance.”

Jennifer Hustwitt, Senior Vice President with Marsh’s global Digital Asset Risk Transfer Team, said: “As this asset class matures, we are focused on structuring insurance programs that align with how the underlying technology functions. This Ledger insurance program marks the next chapter in the burgeoning insurance market for digital asset risks.”

James Croome, Vice President of Specie at Arch, said: “We spent over 6 months working with the Ledger Vault team to develop a customized offering for their clients. Ledger took the time to educate us on every detail of the end-to-end security and governance that the Vault platform provides. This $150 million policy underscores just how impressed we are with the security technology platform they’ve built.”

Ledger has sold more than 1.5 million Nano devices globally and recently celebrated its five year anniversary. Vault, Ledger’s institutional offering with enhanced software security protocols, has more than 40 clients located across the APAC, EMEA and the Americas regions. Ledger Vault has a broad customer base that includes family offices, exchanges, trust and payment companies, and custodians, and clients such as Bitstamp, Uphold and Crypto.com.