New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) – a provider of Bitcoin tech and investment solutions for insurers, banks, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals – has raised $100 million of additional growth capital, with the help of P&C insurers Starr Insurance, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and other strategic partners.
NYDIG is a subsidiary of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, which owns Stone Ridge Asset Management and Longtail Re.
In addition to securing additional capital, NYDIG has appointed Mike Sapnar – former CEO of TransRe – to the role of global head of insurance solutions. Sapnar will oversee all of NYDIG’s insurance activities and focus on accelerating Bitcoin-driven innovation in the global P&C industry.
NYDIG has also named Matt Carey as its US head of insurance solutions; in this new role, Carey will be focused on providing cryptocurrency-related solutions to US-based life insurance and annuity providers. Carey joins from Blueprint Income, where he was the co-founder and CEO of the online annuity marketplace.
“The global property & casualty (P&C) industry is huge, paying out over $1 trillion in claims annually. I am excited to welcome Starr and Liberty Mutual to NYDIG, as part of our expansion of bitcoin into new areas of insurance,” said NYDIF co-founder and CEO Robert Gutmann.
“The team and I are also thrilled to welcome Mike and Matt to NYDIG,” Gutmann added. “Mike has been a close collaborator with Stone Ridge since 2014, primarily with our catastrophe reinsurance asset management franchise and our non-catastrophe reinsurer, Longtail Re. Mike’s more than 30 years of experience will help NYDIG lead the way in bringing bitcoin to the insurance industry.”
“We’ve been broadly and successfully investing with Ross and the Stone Ridge team across their various initiatives for years, including as a founding NYDIG investor in 2017,” stated Starr Insurance chairman and CEO Hank Greenberg, who added that Starr had also worked closely with Mike Sapnar for more than 25 years.
“Fiat depreciation causes inflation in fiat premiums, while collapsing the purchasing power of claims. We see a brighter bitcoin-powered future for the billions who depend on the insurance industry every year,” commented Stone Ridge CEO and NYDIG executive chairman Ross Stevens.
“With the addition of Mike Sapnar, a trusted partner for years, and now with Starr, Liberty Mutual, New York Life, and MassMutual as shareholders of NYDIG, we will be working tirelessly to enable new bitcoin-denominated products for global insureds,” Stevens prefaced.
