A new Bermuda company is the world’s first fully regulated collateralised reinsurance business that can accept both fiat and crypto as collateral.

Bermuda-licensed Relm, the first and only commercial insurer globally to hold Bermuda’s IIGB License – and which bills itself as the world’s leading insurance provider to the crypto sector – has now launched Relm II.

The company unveiling coincided with the start of Bitcoin 2022, the world's largest gathering of bitcoiners.

More than 6,000 industry leaders, 80 speakers, and more than 4,000 companies are taking part in the event, which began Wednesday.

Relm II enables the creation of regulated reinsurance capacity for companies operating in the crypto space.

The company said: “These businesses are pioneering new technology, products and services and need significantly higher limits of insurance protection than the current (re)insurance market is able to provide.

“This capacity in turn will enable Relm to expand its support for crypto businesses to achieve significant scale and growth with enhanced levels of insurance protection.

“The ability for Relm II to accept collateral in either fiat or crypto is a critical distinction within the collateralised reinsurance space.

“Relm can now tap into the substantial pools of aligned investor capital in support of traditional lines of coverage, such as D&O and professional indemnity, as well as Relm’s recent product launches for smart contract failure insurance, slashing insurance and BTC denominated crypto theft insurance, among others.

“Coupling Relm’s unique underwriting strategy with investor capital will enable Relm to continue solving problems in the fast-growing crypto industry where the demand for regulated insurance outpaces the capacity.”

The company continued: “A particular need for regulated coverage exists within the rapidly expanding decentralised finance space.

“According to theblockcrypto.com, there is currently more than $225 billion of total value locked in smart contracts across nearly 2,000 projects.

“Since early 2020, more than $1.8 billion of capital committed to DeFi has been lost via exploits.

“With the onboarding of Relm II’s capacity, Relm will be able to offer higher limits of coverage for smart contract failure enabling institutional capital to move into the DeFi sector with more appropriate levels of insurance protection.”

Joe Ziolkowski, CEO and co-founder at Relm and Relm II, said: “I am excited to be announcing the launch of Relm II at the iconic Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, where Relm is a sponsor for the second year running.

“As the world’s leading crypto insurer in our third year of operations, our mission is to energise crypto businesses, enabling them to scale and grow.

“Relm II is an extension of that mission and a further demonstration of our commitment to support emerging sectors and our ability to think creatively and utilise regulated (re)insurance infrastructure to solve capacity problems in the crypto industry. We are excited to collaborate with aligned capital partners to build meaningful insurance capacity as the crypto economy becomes mainstream.”

Mr Ziolkowski is also a speaker at the event.

Relm II is domiciled in Bermuda and will operate under the Innovative Insurer – General Business authorisation regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. The IIGB licence means that Relm II as well as Relm can trade financially in either fiat or crypto.