Sam Altman-Backed Bitcoin Insurer Raises $37.5M; Ledger Probes $72M Reseller Theft

Bermuda-based Meanwhile, the first life insurer licensed to operate entirely in Bitcoin, announced $37.5 million in new funding from existing investors, bringing total capital raised above $180 million. The round was led by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Pantera Capital, Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Morgan Creek Digital. Backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meanwhile attributes the raise to surging international demand for its Bitcoin-denominated life insurance policies across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, regions where macro instability has driven wealthy holders toward BTC-preserving estate planning tools. "Wealthy families around the world already hold Bitcoin. What they haven't had is a regulated way to pass it on," said co-founder and CEO Zac Townsend.

Ledger is investigating suspected cryptocurrency losses tied to hardware wallets distributed by authorized Southeast Asian reseller CryptoBilis, operating in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The wallet manufacturer has instructed CryptoBilis to suspend all sales and shipments during the probe and warned customers who purchased devices within the past 90 days not to activate them. Existing users have been urged to transfer holdings to a freshly generated Ledger wallet with a new recovery phrase. Separately, onchain investigator tanuki42 identified eight addresses allegedly connected to more than $72 million in stolen crypto, while researcher Specter estimated cross-chain losses exceeding $86 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tron.

Security Alliance (SEAL) has called on potential victims whose funds reached the flagged addresses to coordinate response efforts, underscoring growing concerns over supply-chain vulnerabilities in hardware wallet distribution. The incident highlights the persistent risks consumers face when purchasing crypto storage devices through third-party channels, even authorized ones.

Separately, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) opened a public consultation seeking industry feedback on the use of tokenized collateral in central clearinghouses, a move that could reshape how digital assets underpin derivatives and securities financing in the EU. The request for comment signals ESMA's intent to formalize frameworks for tokenized collateral as tokenization moves from pilot programs into mainstream post-trade infrastructure.