Opium, UMA to Launch Decentralized Insurance for SpaceX Flights

Crypto derivatives protocol Opium and decentralized finance (DeFi) platform UMA are working together to provide insurance products for SpaceX flights.

The partnership will see Opium plug into UMA's Optimistic Oracle product to provide financial derivatives for hedging risks related to SpaceX flights.
The derivatives work as binary options contracts, allowing users to purchase insurance against a failed launch on SpaceX, the Elon Musk-founded space-transportation services company.
SpaceX's SmallSat Rideshare flights allow multiple payloads to share launches into space, so bookers can send smaller, lighter payloads.
The first launch of its kind took place Jan. 24, when a Falcon 9 rocket transported 143 satellites into space.
Owners of these payloads and their stakeholders may wish to hedge the risk of a failed launch. Furthermore, the attention that a SpaceX flight draws may lead some enthusiasts to speculate on its success or otherwise and potentially profit from the outcome.
Insurance is already offered by SpaceX at about 5% of the value of the payload. Opium and UMA are attempting to compete with that.
"If the market price is less than 5%, we can show how strong DeFi is in making insurance cheaper," an Opium spokesperson told CoinDesk. "If the market sets the price at more than 5% we can invite Elon to stake money and earn free interest."
SpaceX did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.

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Jamie Crawley

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