From Bitcoin insurance policies to wealth inheritance, the cryptocurrency insurance company backed by Sam Altman and Bain Capital Crypto.

Written by: ChandlerZ, Foresight News

On October 8, Bitcoin life insurance company Meanwhile announced the completion of a $37.5 million new financing round led by Bain Capital Crypto, with existing investors Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Pantera Capital, Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Morgan Creek Digital participating. Thus, Meanwhile has raised over $180 million in total, with previous rounds announced in April and October 2025, raising $40 million and $82 million respectively, and early supporters including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Unlike most crypto finance companies that focus on trading, payments, and lending, Meanwhile has chosen to enter the life insurance market. Founded in 2022, the company attempts to address a problem: as more families hold Bitcoin as a long-term asset, how can they accumulate wealth, provide risk protection, and ensure intergenerational inheritance through insurance?

Meanwhile's core product establishes a life insurance mechanism completely priced in Bitcoin, with policyholders paying premiums in BTC, accumulating cash value in BTC, and receiving death benefits in BTC, even allowing for loans against the policy's value in BTC.

A life insurance company entirely priced in Bitcoin

Meanwhile was co-founded by Zac Townsend and Max Gasner, with its insurance entity Meanwhile Insurance Bitcoin (Bermuda) Limited registered in Bermuda. The company launched its Bitcoin life insurance products in 2023, and after approximately two years of regulatory sandbox testing, received the first Class IILT innovative life insurance license issued by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) in July 2024.

Compared with traditional dollar-denominated life insurance, the biggest difference for Meanwhile is that BTC serves as the pricing unit for premiums, insurance liabilities, and reserve assets.

Policyholders pay premiums in BTC, and the policy's cash value, loans, and death benefits are all also denominated in BTC. In contrast to traditional insurance products priced in fiat currencies like dollars, Meanwhile uses Bitcoin as both the pricing unit for policies and reserve assets, attempting to offer insurance and wealth management services independent of the fiat currency system to those who hold Bitcoin long-term.

Currently, Meanwhile primarily offers two types of products: BTC Life 10-Pay, designed for U.S. taxpayers, adopts a ten-year premium payment plan, enabling policyholders to pay BTC premiums in installments to gain lifelong life insurance protection. BTC Life 1-Pay is set to launch in early 2026, targeting high-net-worth clients outside the U.S., allowing policyholders to make a one-time BTC premium payment for lifelong coverage denominated in BTC.

Among these, 1-Pay is Meanwhile's key product for expanding into international markets.

As an example from publicly disclosed product calculations, a 45-year-old non-smoking male who pays a one-time premium of 10 BTC can obtain a guaranteed death benefit of 15.8 BTC. After purchasing the policy, the insurance contract takes immediate effect, and the policyholder does not need to continue paying premiums; their beneficiaries can receive payouts in the form of BTC if the conditions set in the contract are met.

Meanwhile, the policy also accumulates cash value over time; in the aforementioned case, the initial surrender value is about 8.5 BTC, growing to about 10.2 BTC in the fifth year, and reaching approximately 12.3 BTC by the time the policyholder turns 70. It is important to note that the cash value of the policy is not the same as the death benefit; the former is the policyholder’s right to cash out or use for financing during their lifetime, while the latter is the contractually agreed-upon death payout amount. The above numbers are examples under specific underwriting conditions and do not represent the same treatment for all clients.

Another important feature of 1-Pay is the policy loan; after the policy has been in effect for one year, the policyholder can apply for a BTC loan up to 90% of the policy's surrender value, with the currently disclosed loan interest rate being 3%. The loan does not have a fixed repayment schedule, nor are there additional margin requirements triggered by fluctuations in BTC market prices. If the policyholder does not repay the loan, the accumulated principal and interest will be deducted from the final death benefit.

For example, the policyholder can gain partial BTC liquidity through the policy loan without surrendering the policy, using it for other financial arrangements while retaining remaining insurance rights. Unlike typical crypto collateral lending, this type of loan is secured by the policy value created by the insurance contract, rather than external crypto assets that can rapidly fluctuate with market prices.

Moreover, the 1-Pay policy can be held by individuals, trusts, or companies, allowing it to integrate with family trusts, estate planning, and corporate wealth management structures.

How does bitcoin insurance profit? What risks does a BTC decline bring?

According to the company’s 2025 audited financial report, as of the end of that year, Meanwhile's total assets reached 1183.11 BTC, a year-on-year increase of around 437%, including 548.29 BTC in digital asset investments and 403.19 BTC in mortgage loan assets. The company achieved a net profit of 20.89 BTC for the year, marking its second consecutive profitable year.

However, the BTC-based insurance model also has unique risks; for policyholders, the policy guarantees the quantity of BTC, not the dollar value. A policy that provides 15.8 BTC in death benefit for a 10 BTC premium would see its dollar value shrink by 80% if the BTC price were to decrease by 80%, even if the insurance company pays out in full.

For the insurance company, pricing assets and liabilities in BTC can reduce currency mismatch risks, but some reserves generate returns through institutional loans, which still carry risks of borrower default, insufficient collateral, and liquidity risk.

Therefore, Meanwhile’s long-term challenge lies not only in attracting more Bitcoin holders to purchase insurance but also in whether it can navigate different market cycles to maintain stable investment returns and insurance payout capabilities.

Founding team from fintech entrepreneurs to insurance industry experts

The founding team of Meanwhile has a composite background in fintech, banking infrastructure, and traditional insurance.

Co-founder and CEO Zac Townsend previously founded the banking-as-a-service (BaaS) company Standard Treasury, which was selected for Y Combinator and acquired by Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in 2015. He then became the first Chief Data Officer for the state of California and worked in McKinsey's financial services division, bringing experience in financial infrastructure, fintech, and regulatory fields.

Another co-founder, Max Gasner, serves as the company’s CTO, mainly directing technical aspects. The two began discussions about creating a financial institution focused on the Bitcoin economy at the end of 2021 and launched Meanwhile in 2022. Townsend has previously noted that the team initially considered cryptocurrency financial services like banking, payments, and exchanges, but ultimately realized that the traditional insurance field lacked mature Bitcoin-native products.

The company’s management team also includes Chief Insurance Officer Jim Cristallo, Chief Financial Officer Tia Beckmann, Chief Risk Officer Carsten Ragborg, and Michael Grob, responsible for international distribution, forming a management structure that covers insurance operations, finance, risk control, and sales channels.

From the team's composition, Meanwhile is not a typical crypto protocol startup, but rather a licensed financial institution jointly operated by fintech entrepreneurs and professional insurance management personnel. Its competitiveness depends not only on the application of Bitcoin technology but also on long-term insurance liability management capabilities, regulatory compliance, and the establishment of institutional channels.

Over $180 million raised, beginning to enter global wealth management channels

Since its establishment, Meanwhile has secured multiple rounds of financing.

In 2023, the company completed early financing totaling approximately $19 million, with investors including Sam Altman, Lachy Groom, and Gradient Ventures, a venture capital firm backed by Google. In April 2025, the company completed $40 million in Series A financing; in October of the same year, it secured another $82 million in Series B financing, led or co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Haun Ventures, with participation from traditional finance institutions such as Apollo and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures.

In addition to crypto-native funds, Meanwhile has also attracted support from alternative asset management institutions like Apollo and the investment division of the U.S. mutual insurance institution Northwestern Mutual. In terms of business expansion, Meanwhile is extending its target customers from individual Bitcoin holders to high-net-worth families globally. The company states that since launching its operations, it has established partnerships with 15 insurance brokerage firms targeting affluent families, covering wealth management markets in Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Switzerland. Its partners include insurance and family office service provider Lioner, which has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Zurich, as well as insurance platform Apeiron Group, aimed at high-net-worth individuals. The company also noted that its net insurance underwriting income in 2026 is expected to more than double that of 2025.

The development of this type of company also reflects a shift in the demand for crypto financial services, as Bitcoin gradually enters the long-term asset portfolio of high-net-worth families, creating new market space for financial services related to asset inheritance, insurance protection, long-term financing, and family wealth planning.

However, while Bitcoin pricing can reduce currency mismatch between insurance assets and liabilities, it does not eliminate credit risks, liquidity risks, and long-term payout risks. Currently, Meanwhile holds a Bermuda regulatory license, with products aimed at specific qualifying clients and are not available for sale in all jurisdictions. The ability to establish a stable actuarial, investment, and payout system in broader markets will determine how far this Bitcoin-native life insurance model can go.