Mitsui Sumitomo to offer bitcoin product

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance has plans to launch an insurance product specifically designed to cover losses and damages for bit coin exchanges.

The product, developed with Japanese bit coin exchange operator bitFlyer, will protect both exchanges and their customers. The total coverage, ranging from JPY10 million (USD89000) to JPY1 billion, will be offered against damages and losses caused by cyber attacks and other unauthorised accesses, as well as mistakes and impropriety by employees.

The insurance will also pay for the costs of dealing with problems, such as notifying customers of an incident and handling damages suits from outside Japan. The insurance premium, calculated based on the exchange’s commission revenue, will range between several hundred thousand to several million yen. Similar products are already offered in some countries, but this will be the first of its kind in Japan.

In Japan, the bit coin has yet to recover from image problems caused by the 2014 bankruptcy of Japanese bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox, according to a report by Nikkei.

Still, the use of the crypto currency continues to grow, as more people buy it as an investment while payment services allowing people to send money and pay for purchases using the bitcoin increase. Japanese market research firm Seed Planning in August predicted that total bitcoin transactions at exchanges that accept orders denominated in Japanese yen will quadruple between 2016 and 2017.