The global cryptocurrency market has surpassed $2.5 trillion, according to Forbes Advisor, with it forecast to reach $6.4 billion by 2025. As of February 2024, Bitcoin was the most popular cryptocurrency, making up nearly half (48.6%) of the total value of the crypto market. With so much invested in these currencies, what insurance coverages exist to protect them? Cryptocurrency insurance is still in its infancy, and Investopedia reports that most crypto insurance providers only offer services to institutions like exchanges, rather than individuals. However, these policies sometimes provide protection for individuals when their cryptocurrency is involved in an exchange hack or a failure of an institution's systems. One of the key challenges of crypto insurance is that it is difficult to make the policies comprehensive, and many insurers are still working to analyze and evaluate the different elements of cryptocurrency and blockchain. The issue of crypto mining presents a challenge for underwriters, as well, as these operations are often large and involve expensive equipment. Investopedia explains that each mining rig is expected to generate a certain amount of income over it's lifespan, which adds to its value, but these rigs still depreciate in value over time. As such, underwriters must account for all of these factors when writing crypto policies. As it stands, cryptocurrency is not insured by the FDIC and there are no other federal protections for crypto. Despite the insurance challenges, many people in the U.S. who previously may not have been interested in sticking their toe in the crypto market have begun to research the currency. In the slideshow above, we'll look at the ten states whose residents have done the most Googling about cryptocurrency this year according to research from Gamdom.

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