Metromile Inc., the San Francisco-based digital insurer, has announced that it will allocate $10 million toward Bitcoin in the second quarter. Although it didn’t specify an exact date, a $10 million purchase equates to roughly 175.4 BTC at current price levels.
It has been reported that Metromile is making Bitcoin (BTC) a core part of its business operations, offering further evidence of the growing mainstream adoption of digital assets.
However, the company will soon give policyholders the option to pay for insurance and receive payment on eligible insurance claims in BTC or dollars. That makes Metromile the first insurance company to both accept premiums and pay insurance claims in cryptocurrency.
An industry first? Insurer Metromile announces plans to accept insurance premiums and pay claims in cryptocurrency. https://t.co/Dc5wvuTSxZ — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 6, 2021
The report said that the company said it believes that accepting crypto payments “will support its commitment to fairer insurance and promote financial resilience for policyholders as cryptocurrency becomes mainstream and a more significant portion of consumers’ assets.”
Dan Preston, the CEO of Metromile, explained:
“Supporting decentralized finance and adding bitcoin as a new payment option is the next logical step for our digital insurance platform and end-to-end AI claims automation. The result is fairer insurance for all.”
Likewise, the company claims that its insurance coverage produces an average savings of 47% per year. It held its fourth-quarter earnings call on March 30, during which it reported a sizable increase in policies in force. Insurance revenue was down slightly compared with 2019, which was a big year in terms of growth.
Thus, Metromile shares, which trade under the Nasdaq ticker symbol MILE, closed 2.1% down at $8.81 last Wednesday.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Ft