A crypto startup called Meanwhile has secured $40 million to expand its Bitcoin-based life insurance business. This focuses on economies struggling with inflation, where people might seek alternatives to traditional fiat payouts.
The Series A funding round was spearheaded by Framework Ventures and Fulgur Ventures, with additional investments from Xapo founder Wences Casares. Meanwhile previously gathered $20.5 million in seed funding, backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others.
Regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Meanwhile offers whole life insurance policies denominated in Bitcoin. This allows policyholders to protect the value of their life insurance against currency devaluation. Policyholders can access the value of their policies at any time via loans and tax-free partial withdrawals.
Meanwhile’s co-founder, Zac Townsend, told Fortune that their life insurance policies work similarly to traditional policies, but premiums are paid in Bitcoin. Upon the policyholder’s death, their family receives the claim value entirely in Bitcoin. The company’s policies target clients from regions with high inflation or currency instability.
The debate over Bitcoin’s role as an inflation hedge persists. A study in the Journal of Economics and Business suggested that Bitcoin’s inflation-hedging abilities have weakened due to rising institutional adoption. However, some analysts argue that investors bought Bitcoin during the pandemic due to expectations of high inflation brought about by massive government stimulus.
Regardless, Bitcoin has significantly outperformed inflation since its inception. The Bitcoin price dipped below $80,000 on April 10 after the latest US inflation data caused market volatility. However, the report showed a sharp deceleration in annual inflation in March, with the Consumer Price Index falling from 2.8% to 2.4%.