This is the first of several chapters intended to explain the unique value of an Evertas underwriting and why Evertas alone can offer blockchain innovators the crypto insurance products needed to thrive in the Web3 ecosystem.
Origins
Evertas was launched in 2017 by our CEO, custodial crypto expert J. Gdanski, and our president, insurance expert Raymond Zenkich. The company was originally called BlockRe but rebranded as Evertas in 2020.
The idea to form Evertas was J’s. It came to him while he oversaw a major financial institution’s custodial crypto operations. In that position, J was exposed to the severe lack of insurance capacity for crypto. J then connected with Raymond, a friend who was also investigating crypto insurance and who, in 2016, had put on the first conference dedicated to discussing the concept.
Market Need
At the time, the reasons for the lack of capacity were many. Primarily, carriers tend to be reticent to cover risks they don’t understand, and crypto is a famously non-obvious technology, deeply understood by a relative few. This remains the case today but was acutely true during the previous decade, as custodial crypto was emerging. This was exacerbated by the extent to which the risks associated with custodial crypto resemble those associated with cyber insurance, and in those days, ransomware and other breaches were generating significant cyber policy losses.
Another reason for the lack of capacity has been the simple lack of providers, a situation linked to the fact that investors operating in the crypto space tend to prefer projects built on some kind of token they can amass. And let’s face it: insurance is vital but most people don’t really understand the business side, and here too, investors prefer to take risks on things they understand.
J had realized that the solution to the capacity problem was only going to be solved by creating the solution, and it needed to be a firm dedicated entirely to creating a complete crypto insurance product.
Specialization
Because of our extreme focus and specialization, today Evertas supports about a third of all crypto policy underwriting globally, often in conjunction with the largest and most sophisticated carriers in the space.
In early 2022, Evertas gained Lloyd’s of London coverholder status. Coverholders are specialty insurance providers authorized by Lloyd’s to write and service policies covering risk in geographies or niche sectors requiring high levels of expertise. Evertas is the only dedicated crypto insurance provider in the Lloyd’s marketplace.
Financial Stability
As managing general agent (MGA) under Lloyd’s syndicate Arch, Evertas policies are rated A+ (superior) by AM Best. These ratings provide an independent opinion of an insurer’s financial strength and ability to meet its ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations.
Our financial strength is bolstered further still by outside investment. Investors’ reluctance to dedicate resources to insurance notwithstanding, Evertas has managed to successfully raise both seed and series A venture rounds. Some of our investors include such leading Web3 VCs as Polychain Capital, SinoGlobal Capital, CMT Digital Ventures and Hashkey.
Key Accomplishments
In the years since our founding, Evertas as achieved several crypto insurance firsts:
- First and only complete insurance program
- First and only dedicated crypto policy application form
- First and only claims team
- First and only scalable underwriting framework
- First and only to be granted Lloyd’s of London coverholder status (giving us authority to write A+ rated policies on behalf of Lloyd’s syndicates)
- First regulatorily approved carrier
- First to adjust a claim globally
