Even to think about insuring a digital asset makes traditional heads spin. Some major insurers, however, have a more positive attitude and believe that the industry will continue to expand. Cryptocurrencies are bound to gain a wider mainstream recognition, even though they might presently constitute a mere fraction of the world's annual $720bn spend on commercial insurance.

Forward-thinking firms, such as Chubb, will spend a lot more time than is usually necessary for a quotation, and the process may take months. Everything must be scrutinised, including the personnel, the scale of operations, data storage procedures and data security. In the explosion of interest surrounding cryptocurrency, many new enterprises offering trading platforms or wallet facilities may not have anticipated the level of due diligence that must take place ,before any underwriting can be contemplated.

There is also a distinction to be applied according to how the currency is stored. Some companies may offer protection against theft of Bitcoin internally by employees, but not against external assaults by hackers. Other companies may offer cover for "cold storage" – in hardware wallets – but not for "hot storage" – in software wallets kept online and more vulnerable to assault. Coinbase, for example, keeps less than 2% of its customer funds in hot storage, and those are insured.