Bitcoin insurer Meanwhile raises $37.5M led by Bain Capital Crypto

Bitcoin life insurer Meanwhile raised $37.5 million in new funding from its existing investors, with Bain Capital Crypto leading the round, the company announced Oct. 8 from Hamilton, Bermuda. Total backing has now passed $180 million.

Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Pantera Capital, Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Morgan Creek Digital joined the round, according to the company statement. CoinDesk's Oct. 9 account shortens that list to Haun, Framework, Pantera, Apollo and others, while The Block's Oct. 9 report names all six. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman remains among the backers.

Meanwhile calls itself the first life insurer licensed to operate entirely in bitcoin. Its Bermuda carrier holds the first Class IILT license the Bermuda Monetary Authority has granted, received in July 2024 after two years in the regulator's sandbox, the statement says. The balance sheet, reserves and audited financials are all denominated in bitcoin, with policyholder coins held by regulated institutional custodians.

The product and the demand

Early this year the company launched BTC Life 1-Pay, a single-premium whole life policy built for high-net-worth clients outside the United States. A client pays one premium in bitcoin and receives a guaranteed death benefit in bitcoin for life. The policy value grows in bitcoin, and after the first year the owner can borrow up to 90 percent of it with no repayment schedule and no margin calls. Policies can sit with individuals, trusts or companies, the statement says.

The earlier BTC 10-Pay line was designed for US taxpayers, Decrypt noted in its Oct. 10 coverage. The new round follows a surge in international demand, particularly in Asia, Europe and the Middle East amid broader macro instability, Cointelegraph reported.

Distribution is moving through brokers. Meanwhile has signed 15 serving wealthy families since launch, including in Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and Switzerland. Two named partners are Lioner, with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich, and Apeiron Group, the statement says.

"Wealthy families around the world already hold Bitcoin. What they haven't had is a regulated way to pass it on," co-founder and CEO Zac Townsend said in the statement. "Brokers came to us because their clients kept asking. This round lets us keep up with them." Bain Capital Crypto partner Stefan Cohen answered: "Meanwhile owns every layer of a regulated life insurer and builds it like an AI-enabled startup. The growth this year proves the model, and we're glad to back them again."

Net long-term underwriting income has already passed last year's total and is on track to more than double in 2026, though the company gave no absolute figure. Audited financials published in April show 1,183.11 BTC in total assets at the end of 2025, up 437 percent from 220.41 BTC a year earlier, with 20.89 BTC in net income, The Block reported. Statutory capital and surplus reached 759.11 BTC, up from 123.23 BTC in 2024. The same report dates the prior $82 million round to October 2025. No valuation for the new round appears in the readable coverage.

The company is led by co-founders Zac Townsend and Max Gasner under parent Meanwhile Incorporated, headquartered between Hamilton, Bermuda and San Francisco. Broker partners added their own praise in the statement. "High-net-worth individuals with international interests and ties are thinking more broadly about how they manage wealth for the future," said Giorgio Jeni, partner and head of Switzerland at Lioner, in the release. "We're reaching a turning point where more high-net-worth clients are asking not just how to hold Bitcoin and digital assets, but how to plan around them and ultimately transfer that wealth to the next generation," said Justin Man, CEO of Apeiron Group. An AFP-hosted copy of the BusinessWire text timestamps the announcement Oct. 8 at 18:12, confirming the company dateline against the Oct. 9 and 10 press coverage.