American Insurance Offering Bitcoin Commercial, Governmental

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They did say that 2014 was the year of bitcoin business adoption, didn’t they?

Freshly announced: Great American Insurance Group’s Fidelity/Crime Division has announced on Monday that they are among the first in the industry to offer commercial coverage (for government entities, too) for bitcoins “as part of its ongoing commitment to meet the evolving needs of its customers.”

The company writes:

Standard crime insurance policies, including Great American’s crime policy, currently do not automatically provide coverage for virtual peer-to-peer mediums of exchange. Crime insurance coverage for bitcoins can now be granted by endorsement to an existing crime policy for mercantile and governmental customers who accept bitcoin in order to provide coverage for this increasingly popular method of payment, and to tailor coverage to fit the unique needs of insureds.

According to the company’s announcement today, coverage is available in most of the United States, though they are waiting on regulatory approval on some other, unnamed states.

It’s an interesting development, particularly given the stature of Great American in the insurance industry. And speaking of industry, Great American claims to be the first of its kind in the insurance industry with such an offering. We cannot independently verify that statement.

Great American Insurance Group is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, and underwrites fidelity and crime policies in the United States for mercantile businesses, financial institutions, and governmental entities. It is the fourth-largest Fidelity writer in the U.S. according to the Surety & Fidelity Association, with $50 million in underwriting capacity.

The Group is a part of the American Financial Group, a publicly-traded Fortune-500 holding company with revenues in excess of $4 billion annually.