Crypto insurance protocol Nexus Mutual's builders have requested $153,500 in NXM tokens to fund the next six months of operations.

Most of the funds are earmarked for salaries, with the rest going toward travel, infrastructure for the project's Discord server and R&D, according to a blog post. Nexus Mutual is an Ethereum-based insurance alternative that offers coverage for loss of crypto funds using assets supplied by its members, who earn interest for carrying the risk.

The funding request is a 41% decrease from the project's previous team budget. Much of the drop can be attributed to nearly $100,000 in unspent funds earmarked for the former head of marketing, who left in August. Marketing responsibilities will be shouldered by Nexus Mutual's Community team, the blog post said, but there are plans to eventually fill the role, Community team lead BraveNewDeFi told CoinDesk.

In a Telegram message, the pseudonymous turtle said Nexus' team is planning to "build up the community" in the next six months and get more people active in the mutual. The protocol is anticipating a "massive impact" in sales of coverage policies and premium growth stemming from its partnership with crypto reinsurance project Cover Re, BraveNewDefi said.

The budget proposal will be voted on by Nexus Mutual's DAO – the project's governing body of NXM token owners – between Jan. 30 and Feb 5.