RWA Tokenization Expands to Life Insurance with Infineo Minting $9M of Policies on Provenance Blockchain

This was the first example of transferring tokenized versions of life insurance policies, the company said.

AccessTimeIconJun 18, 2024 at 2:21 p.m. UTC
Updated Jun 18, 2024 at 5:25 p.m. UTC

Life insurance is the latest traditional financial product to receive crypto's red-hot tokenization treatment.

Infineo, a company that focuses on blockchain-based life insurances, said Tuesday that it has transferred the "first-ever" tokenized life insurance policy on distributed ledger system. The firm minted a total of $9.4 million worth of policies using the Provenance network, according to a press release reviewed by CoinDesk.

  • Philippines Taps Blockchain
    06:22
    Philippines Taps Blockchain
  • BlackRock CEO Predicts Tokenization Is the Future of Markets
    04:56
    BlackRock CEO Predicts Tokenization Is the Future of Markets
  • Tokenization on Public Blockchains Democratizes Access: Securitize CEO
    00:48
    Tokenization on Public Blockchains Democratizes Access: Securitize CEO
  • Bitcoin Bounces Back Above $20K
    07:08
    Bitcoin Bounces Back Above $20K
  • The policies were tokenized with Provenance Blockchain Labs, the ecosystem development organization behind the Provenance network. Infineo said it is also developing secondary markets for tokenized policies that enable peer-to-peer transactions and new offerings backed by tokenized life insurances.

    Infineo's minting happened as traditional capital markets and crypto are becoming increasingly intertwined, with institutions placing old-school financial products like credit, bonds and private equity on blockchain networks in the form of tokens. The process is often referred to as tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), and a Bank of America report said it could transform and disrupt legacy financial systems. Participants hope that tokenization could create more efficient systems, speed up settlements and increase transparency.

    "The digitization of life insurance policies not only unlocks global accessibility to life insurance, but also delivers efficiencies and cost savings for industry stakeholders at every point along the value chain," infineo founder and CEO Cole Snell, said in a statement.

    Infineo said the $3 trillion life insurance market could benefit from using blockchain rails, for example by protecting policy holders and beneficiaries from more than $7 billion worth of unclaimed benefits.

    Provenance hosts more than $7 billion worth of active home equity lines of credit, rwa.xyz data shows, and has a $13 billion of total value locked (TVL) on the chain, according to Provenance's website. It's a Cosmos-based blockchain created in 2018 by fintech lender Figure.

    Edited by Stephen Alpher.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Krisztian  Sandor

    Krisztian Sandor is a reporter on the U.S. markets team focusing on stablecoins and institutional investment. He holds BTC and ETH.