10
Apr, 2025
Meanwhile raises $40M to bring BTC life insurance to inflation-prone economies
Altcoin News, Bitcoin News, Crypto Analytics, Crypto Industries & Currency Updates
Crypto startup Meanwhile has raised $40 million to scale its Bitcoin-denominated life insurance business, targeting so-called “inflation-prone economies” where policyholders may seek alternatives to traditional fiat-based payouts.
The Series A investment round was led by Framework Ventures and Fulgur Ventures, with additional participation from Xapo founder Wences Casares, the company disclosed on April 10.
Meanwhile previously secured $20.5 million in seed funding backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others.
Source: Meanwhilelife
Regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Meanwhile offers a whole life insurance policy denominated in Bitcoin (BTC), giving policyholders the ability to safeguard the value of their life insurance against currency debasement.
Policyholders can access the value of their life insurance anytime through loans and tax-free partial withdrawals.
Meanwhile co-founder Zac Townsend told Fortune that the company’s life insurance policies operate similarly to typical life insurance policies, but monthly premiums are paid in Bitcoin. When a policyholder passes away, their family receives the value of the claim entirely in BTC.
The company’s policies are geared toward clients living in regions with high inflation or currency instability, Townsend said. Given the inflationary tendencies of Western economies and the extreme currency fluctuations in emerging markets, Meanwhile has cast a very wide net on its addressable market.
Related: Bitcoin price could rally even as global trade war rages on — Here’s why
Bitcoin and the inflation problem
Bitcoin’s deflationary design has made it a popular store of value for early cryptocurrency adopters, but its role as an inflation hedge in the traditional sense is subject to debate.
A 2025 study that appeared in the Journal of Economics and Business determined that Bitcoin’s inflation-hedging abilities have weakened in recent years due to rising institutional adoption. The study referenced Bitcoin’s 60% drop in 2022 when US inflation surged to a 40-year high above 9%.
However, some analysts may counter that claim by arguing that investors purchased Bitcoin during the pandemic on expectations that inflation would rise due to massive government stimulus.
During this period, “Investors saw that inflation was coming, so they began buying bitcoin hand-over-fist,” said investor and analyst Anthony Pompliano.
Regardless of whether Bitcoin meets the technical definition of an inflation hedge, the asset has significantly outperformed inflation, or the debasement of currency, since its inception.
The Bitcoin price dipped below $80,000 on April 10 after the latest US inflation data triggered renewed volatility in the market. Nevertheless, the report showed a sharp deceleration in annual inflation in March, with the Consumer Price Index falling to 2.4% from 2.8% in February.
The Bitcoin price experienced heavy intraday volatility following the latest US CPI data. Source: Cointelegraph
Related: As Trump tanks Bitcoin, PMI offers a roadmap of what comes next
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Learn MoreMeanwhile raises $40M to bring BTC life insurance to inflation-prone economies
10
Apr, 2025
Trump’s tariff escalation exposes ‘deeper fractures’ in global financial system
Altcoin News, Bitcoin News, Crypto Analytics, Crypto Industries & Currency Updates
Escalating trade tensions and renewed uncertainty in global markets are driving investors toward alternative assets, including Bitcoin and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), as concerns mount over the long-term stability of the financial system.
Global trade tensions continue pressuring investor sentiment despite US President Donald Trump announcing a 90-day pause on higher reciprocal tariffs on April 9, reverting the tariffs to the 10% baseline for most countries.
At the same time, Trump escalated his tariffs on Chinese goods from 104% to 125%, the Financial Times reported on April 9.
“President Trump’s tariff escalation marks a significant inflection point for global markets,” a move that signals “more than a trade disagreement,” said Teddy Pornprinya, co-founder of Plume, a layer-1 blockchain focused on tokenized real-world assets. He added:
“It exposes deeper fractures in the global monetary system.”
With both the US and China facing what he described as unsustainable debt levels, Pornprinya warned of increased reliance on inflationary tools, including the potential depreciation of the Chinese yuan.
“These dynamics will test the resilience of every asset class” and inspire greater adoption for tokenized credit and private yield products that “aren’t exposed to sovereign devaluation games,” he said.
Related: Bitcoin ETFs lose $326M amid ‘evolving’ dynamic with TradFi markets
The tariff fears led tokenized gold trading volume to surge to a two-year high this week, topping $1 billion for the first time since the US banking crisis in 2023, Cointelegraph reported on April 10.
Top tokenized gold assets, trading volume. Source: CoinGecko, Cex.io
Onchain real-world assets (RWAs) also surpassed the $20 billion all-time high on April 9, with tokenized private credit representing the lion’s share, or $12.7 billion of total RWA value, according to data from RWA.xyz.
RWA global market dashboard. Source: RWA.xyz
Some industry watchers said that Bitcoin’s lack of upside momentum may drive RWAs to a $50 billion all-time high before the end of 2025, as their increased liquidity will help RWAs attract a significant share of the $450 trillion global asset market.
Related: Bitcoin’s safe-haven appeal grows during trade war uncertainty
Tariffs are “US bargaining tool,” not lasting policy shift
Despite investor concerns, analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex said the tariff hike may not represent a long-term policy shift.
“We believe, however, that the threat of tariffs by the current US administration is a negotiating tool to be used to persuade other countries to lower tariffs on American manufactured goods and services and are unlikely to become permanent policy,” they told Cointelegraph.
Source: Raoul Pal
Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor, also said that the tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach an agreement with China.
The tone of the negotiations may dictate the recovery of global risk assets, including the crypto market which has a 70% chance to bottom by June 2025 before recovering, Nansen analysts predicted.
Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29
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Learn MoreTrump’s tariff escalation exposes ‘deeper fractures’ in global financial system