CNBC's Crypto Trader Says Institutions Are Doubling Down on Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin and Stellar

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The host of CNBC’s Crypto Trader says news from BitGo and the University of Michigan shows institutions are doubling down on the emerging industry.

Ran NeuNer points to the University of Michigan’s plans to further invest in cryptocurrency, and BitGo’s announcement that it will provide $100 million of insurance to cover digital assets, as two big signs of the institutional growth and maturation of cryptocurrency.

BitGo announced that Lloyd’s of London is underwriting up to $100 million of insurance coverage per claim for lost, stolen or damaged private keys. The insurance, through provider Digital Asset Insurance, covers investments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Zcash, Bitcoin Gold and Bitcoin SV.

NeuNer calls it the most significant and under-reported story of the past week.

“I think that this story’s been underplayed… For me, this is the biggest story of the week.

I think that one of the biggest barriers for entry for institutions is that they don’t understand this asset class, and in particular how to store it. And for them, this unknown increases the perception of how risky an investment in the crypto space is. Now that we’ve got significant insurance with a credible provider like Lloyd’s, it’s another big hurdle out of the way and opens up the gates for this huge flow of institutional money.”

The co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital Anthony Pompliano agrees.

“This is a huge deal. Obviously, one of the big concerns is that if I put my money into cryptocurrencies or crypto assets and then I lose the keys, they’re destroyed or stolen, I lost all my money. That’s not something the institutional world is really excited about.

Now that there is up to $100 million of insurance per claim, I think you’ll see a little bit more interest because they feel like hey, if something does happen around lost, theft or damaged keys, I have this insurance policy that will help me recoup my capital. So I think it’s a big deal, an important step and hopefully will elicit many more institutional investors to come into the space.”