Jack Ma steps in! Yunfeng Financial leads a $22 million investment in the world's first Ethereum insurance.

The Yunfeng Financial Group, under Jack Ma, led a $22 million Series A funding round for Anthea Holding, which will launch the world's first life insurance product priced in ETH. This company, focused on crypto assets insurance, has received in-principle approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority and plans to integrate blockchain payment infrastructure to provide regulated insurance services for digital asset holders, marking a new milestone in the deep integration of TradFi and Web3.

Yunfeng Financial leads the investment: Jack Ma bets on the Crypto Assets insurance track

Anthea Holding Limited (referred to as “Anthea”), a life insurance company focused on providing services priced in Crypto Assets, announced on October 8 that it has successfully completed a $22 million Series A funding round. This round of financing was led by Yunfeng Financial Group Limited and attracted investors from the insurance, asset management, and fintech innovation sectors.

Yunfeng Financial Group was co-founded by Jack Ma and Yu Feng, the founder of 聚眾傳媒, in 2010. It is a Hong Kong-listed company focused on alternative asset management and fintech investment. This lead investment in Anthea Holding marks the official entry of Jack Ma's financial empire into the crypto assets insurance sector.

Yunfeng Financial Core Business:

Private Equity Investment: Focused on Technology, Healthcare, and Consumer Upgrade Areas

Wealth Management: Providing asset allocation services for high net worth clients

Fintech: Investment Payments, Blockchain, Digital Financial Innovation Projects

Alternative assets: including real estate, infrastructure, digital assets, etc.

Why does Yunfeng Financial have confidence in crypto insurance?

Industry analysts believe that Yunfeng Financial's investment reflects several important trends:

Accelerating Compliance of Digital Assets: Global Regulatory Frameworks are Gradually Improving, Increasing Demand for Institutional-Level Products

Insurance Market Gap: Traditional insurance companies have yet to offer products priced in Crypto Assets.

High net worth client needs: Clients holding large amounts of crypto assets require estate planning tools.

Policy window period: The Trump administration supports Crypto Assets, and the regulatory environment is friendly.

Technology Maturity: Blockchain infrastructure is sufficient to support complex financial products.

The Chief Investment Officer of Yunfeng Financial stated in a statement: “Anthea Holding represents the future direction of the insurance industry - combining traditional risk management with digital asset innovation. We believe this team has the ability to build a bridge connecting TradFi and Web3.”

Anthea Holding: The world's first Ethereum life insurance is about to be launched

The official announcement stated that this funding will support Anthea's business development and operations, accelerate product research and innovation, and further expand its sales network and market influence in the Asian market. The announcement emphasized that its first product will be a life insurance product priced in ETH, a world first.

Product Innovation Highlights

Revolutionary design priced in ETH:

Traditional life insurance is priced in fiat currency (USD, EUR, etc.), but products from Anthea Holding will be priced entirely in ETH, including premium payments, coverage calculation, and claims payout.

Operation Mechanism Diagram:

Why choose Ethereum over Bitcoin?

Anthea CEO Alex Pei explained the reasons for choosing ETH in an interview:

Smart Contract Functionality: Ethereum supports the automatic execution of complex insurance contract logic.

Staking Rewards: ETH can be staked to earn an annualized return of 3-5%, increasing the value of the policy.

Ecological Maturity: DeFi infrastructure is完善, facilitating asset management.

Institutional Recognition: Ethereum ETF has been approved, with high regulatory acceptance.

Programmable Money: Flexibly Designed Insurance Terms and Payment Conditions

Target Customer Group

Main Target Market:

High net worth individuals in crypto assets: Holding a large amount of ETH requires wealth inheritance tools.

Web3 Entrepreneurs: Income exists in the form of Crypto Assets, requiring matching protection.

Institutional investors: Seeking regulated digital asset investment channels

Transnational Families: Simplifying Cross-Border Insurance Claims Using Blockchain

DeFi Protocol: Providing Insurance Packaging for Smart Contracts

Anthea's vision is to provide tailored seamless insurance services for digital asset holders and traditional investors seeking regulated digital asset investment opportunities by integrating blockchain payment infrastructure, achieving yield generation, and promoting strategic innovation.

Alex Pei: The Best Time to Connect Innovation and Security

In this regard, Anthea CEO Alex Pei stated: “In recent years, the digital asset space has seen the emergence of regulated and consumer-centric products and institutions, and now is the best time to combine innovation with protection. We are pleased to welcome investors with rich TradFi experience and a passion for innovation to jointly create a global platform that integrates digital assets and life insurance.”

Why is now the best time to launch crypto insurance?

Mature Regulatory Environment:

· The Trump administration in the United States supports the strategic reserve of Crypto Assets.

· Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have been approved by the SEC.

· The EU MiCA regulations provide a clear compliance framework

· Multiple countries in Asia establish Crypto Assets regulatory sandboxes

Infrastructure Improvement:

· Custodian service provider (Fireblocks) is mature

· Stablecoins (USDC, USDT) provide fiat-pegged instruments

· DeFi protocols provide yield generation pipelines

· The blockchain's performance is sufficient to handle complex financial transactions.

Market Demand Explodes:

· There are over 500 million global Crypto Assets holders.

· The proportion of crypto assets allocated by institutions continues to increase.

· High net worth clients seek wealth transfer solutions

· Traditional insurance cannot meet the needs of crypto-native users.

Few Competitors:

· Traditional insurance companies are restricted by regulations, making it difficult to launch crypto products.

· Pure on-chain insurance agreements (such as Nexus Mutual) only cover smart contract risks.

· Anthea combines traditional insurance models with encryption technology to fill market gaps.

Team Background and Experience

Although the announcement did not disclose Alex Pei's full background in detail, according to industry sources, the core team members of Anthea come from:

TradFi insurance industry: AIA, Prudential, Manulife and other top Asian life insurance companies

Fintech: Ant Financial, Tencent Finance and other payment and technology platforms

Crypto Assets: Exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and Blockchain projects

Regulatory Compliance: Previously worked for financial regulatory agencies or large law firms.

This combination of “TradFi + encryption native + regulatory experts” gives Anthea Holding a unique advantage in complex cross-domain innovation.

Bermuda Regulatory Approval: Solid Compliance Foundation

Currently, Anthea's wholly-owned subsidiary Anthea Insurance Limited has received in-principle approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) to be registered as an innovative insurance company.

Bermuda is a globally recognized center for insurance and reinsurance, with a mature insurance regulatory framework and an open attitude towards innovative products.

Advantages of Bermuda as an Insurance Hub:

Regulatory Maturity: With over 100 years of insurance regulatory experience

International Recognition: BMA regulatory standards are recognized globally in the insurance industry.

Innovative and Friendly: Establish a category of “Innovative Insurance Company” to allow new types of products.

Tax advantages: no corporate income tax, no capital gains tax

Geographic Location: Located on the east coast of the United States, convenient for serving the North American and Asian markets.

Talent-intensive: with a large number of insurance actuaries and risk management experts.

BMA Innovative Insurance Company Framework:

In recent years, the Bermuda Monetary Authority has introduced the “Innovative Insurer” category, specifically designed for insurance companies that adopt new technologies or new business models.

Main Features:

· Simplify the registration process and accelerate approval time

· Allows the use of digital assets as premium and coverage valuation units

· Regulatory sandbox mechanism, initially can be pilot on a small scale

· Must comply with solvency, risk management, and consumer protection requirements

· Regularly report operational status and risk indicators to BMA

Anthea Insurance Limited has obtained “approval in principle,” meaning it has passed the preliminary review and is awaiting the completion of final document submission to officially register for operation.

Regulatory Compliance Advantages

Compared to purely on-chain insurance protocols (such as Nexus Mutual, InsurAce), Anthea Holding chooses a traditional insurance regulatory framework, which has the following advantages:

Consumer Confidence:

· Supervised by financial regulatory agencies to protect consumer rights

· Maintain sufficient solvency ratio to ensure claims-paying ability

· There is a legal framework for dispute resolution.

Institutional Cooperation:

· Traditional financial institutions are more willing to cooperate

· Access to the customer network of banks and wealth management companies

· Comply with corporate procurement compliance requirements

Product Design Flexibility:

· Can combine traditional actuarial models with on-chain data

· Provides complex products such as whole life insurance and universal life insurance.

· Integrate legal tools such as trusts and estate planning.

Crypto Assets Insurance Market Prospects and Challenges

Anthea Holding's innovative model opens up a whole new market, but also faces multiple challenges.

Market Size Estimate:

According to industry reports, the global life insurance market is approximately $3 trillion, and if 1-2% of the market shifts to products priced in crypto assets, the market space would reach $30-60 billion.

Potential Customer Base:

Global crypto asset holders: 500 million

Holders with asset sizes exceeding $100,000: approximately 50 million people

Institutional investors: More than 10,000 enterprises hold crypto assets.

High-net-worth family offices: More and more are allocating to digital assets.

Application Scenario:

Wealth Transfer: High Net Worth Individuals Optimize Taxation Through Insurance

Business Owner Protection: Web3 Entrepreneurs Provide Protection for Families

Collateral for Staking: DeFi protocol borrowers provide life insurance as credit enhancement.

Cross-border Protection: International Insurance Solutions for Digital Nomads

Retirement Planning: Annuity Products priced in ETH

Challenges and Risks

Price Volatility:

· The severe fluctuations in ETH prices may affect the value of the policy.

· Need to design dynamic actuarial models and risk hedging mechanisms

· Customers may find it difficult to understand volatility risk.

Regulatory Uncertainty:

· Different jurisdictions have varying attitudes towards Crypto Assets insurance.

· Tax treatment is complex (capital gains vs insurance benefits)

· Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements

Technical Risks:

· Smart contract vulnerabilities may lead to financial losses.

Improper management of private keys may result in no compensation.

· Blockchain performance bottlenecks affect user experience

Market Education Cost:

· Need to educate consumers to understand the concept of encryption insurance

· Traditional insurance agents may lack encryption knowledge.

· Need to establish new sales channels and service systems

Competitive Threats:

· Traditional insurance giants may come from behind.

· DeFi native insurance protocols continue to innovate

· Stablecoin-denominated products may become an alternative.

Asia Expansion Strategy: Seizing High Growth Markets

The announcement stated that the financing funds will be used to “further expand its sales network and market influence in the Asian market,” indicating that Anthea Holding will focus on Asia as its core market.

Why Focus on Asia?

High adoption rate of encryption: Asia has the most crypto assets users in the world.

Insurance penetration growth: The expansion of the middle class drives insurance demand

Regulation gradually opens up: Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UAE establish a friendly framework.

Wealth inheritance needs: Asian family businesses entering a generational transition period

Cloud Summit Financial Network: The lead investor has deep resources in Asia.

Target Market Priority:

The investment by Yunfeng Financial, under Jack Ma, in Anthea Holding marks the official entry of traditional financial giants into the crypto assets insurance sector. The launch of the world's first Ethereum life insurance will provide unprecedented wealth inheritance and risk protection tools for digital asset holders. Although the market is still in its early stages, the gradual improvement of regulatory frameworks and the increasing maturity of infrastructure are bringing crypto insurance from concept to reality. Keep an eye on the progress of Anthea Holding's product launch and Yunfeng Financial's subsequent layout in the Web3 field to seize investment opportunities arising from the integration of TradFi and digital assets.