In a pair of recent developments highlighting Bitcoin’s evolving role in traditional finance, Barbados-based insurer Tabit has raised $40 million in BTC to fully back its regulatory reserves, while Standard Chartered has proposed a revised version of the “Magnificent 7” tech index that swaps Tesla for Bitcoin.
Tabit Raises $40M in Bitcoin to Revolutionize Insurance Capital with Digital Assets
Barbados-based insurer Tabit has announced the successful raise of $40 million in Bitcoin to support its regulatory capital, making it the first property and casualty insurer to hold its entire regulatory reserve in BTC. The move, disclosed on March 24, marks a significant milestone in the convergence of digital assets and the legacy insurance industry.
Founded by former executives of Bittrex, the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Liechtenstein, Tabit positions itself at the vanguard of a growing trend: leveraging blockchain and crypto assets to modernize long-standing financial frameworks. The raised Bitcoin capital will be used to back US dollar-denominated insurance policies, meaning customers remain insulated from crypto volatility while Tabit benefits from Bitcoin’s upside and alternative yield strategies.
While traditional insurers often rely on bonds and fiat reserves to meet regulatory obligations and backstop policy risk, Tabit’s fully Bitcoin-backed regulatory reserve challenges the orthodoxy. The company, which officially launched in January 2025, operates under a Class 2 license issued by Barbados’ Financial Services Commission, enabling it to write property and casualty policies while maintaining alternative capital strategies.
The strategy reflects a growing sentiment within parts of the crypto industry: Bitcoin, while volatile, is also seen as a resilient store of value by long-term holders ("hodlers"). For many institutional players, the challenge lies in finding regulated use cases that allow them to earn a yield on their BTC holdings. Insurance may now be one such avenue.
Tabit’s announcement arrives amid a broader trend of innovation at the intersection of blockchain and insurance. While most discussions to date have focused on using smart contracts to automate claims or using onchain analytics to improve transparency, a quiet evolution is taking place behind the scenes — one that involves insurance capital itself.
Nayms, an onchain insurance marketplace, is a prime example. It connects brokers and underwriters with capital providers using segregated smart contract accounts, offering a secure and transparent funding mechanism. Similarly, Ensuro curates underwriting opportunities and deploys stablecoins as insurance capital. With more than 12,000 active policies and returns as high as 22% APY, Ensuro exemplifies how DeFi principles can power real-world financial products.
According to a 2023 report from Boston Consulting Group, the blockchain-insurance market could reach $37 billion by 2030, driven by demand for transparency, capital efficiency, and alternative financing methods.
A Strategic Bet on Bitcoin
Tabit’s model signals a growing institutional belief that Bitcoin can play a foundational role in capital formation — not just as an investment or hedge, but as a working reserve. By transforming Bitcoin into a yield-generating, regulatory-compliant asset, Tabit is helping redefine how insurers think about solvency, capital efficiency, and risk tolerance.
It also presents a new frontier for crypto adoption. Unlike DeFi protocols that often carry opaque risks, Tabit offers US dollar-denominated, regulated policies, giving customers the stability they expect from traditional insurance, while allowing the back-end to leverage alternative capital sources.
With the crypto market maturing and regulatory frameworks evolving, Tabit may be the first of many insurance firms to adopt a Bitcoin-native model. Its success could usher in a wave of insurers and reinsurers exploring how crypto can power the next generation of financial infrastructure.
Bitcoin In, Tesla Out: Standard Chartered’s Hypothetical ‘Mag 7B’ Index Outperforms Original Tech Giants
In a provocative new report, Standard Chartered Bank has unveiled a hypothetical reimagining of the iconic “Magnificent 7” tech index—replacing Tesla with Bitcoin—and the results could fuel a new wave of institutional investment in digital assets. The newly dubbed "Mag 7B" portfolio, which swaps out Tesla in favor of the world’s leading cryptocurrency, has outperformed the original Mag 7 index in both returns and volatility, according to Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research.
The move to position Bitcoin alongside some of the biggest names in tech—Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta—challenges conventional asset classification and signals Bitcoin’s emerging role as a multi-functional asset: part tech, part hedge.
Kendrick's analysis is rooted in a growing correlation between Bitcoin and the Nasdaq, which he noted is “almost always” stronger than the correlation between Bitcoin and gold, especially in the short term. That behavior, he argues, makes a compelling case for Bitcoin to be treated like a tech stock, rather than just a digital alternative to gold or a speculative commodity.
This reframing becomes even more relevant as Bitcoin’s market capitalization has soared to $1.7 trillion, more than double that of Tesla, which currently stands at around $800 billion. The rationale for dropping Tesla—Mag 7’s smallest constituent by market cap—is grounded in both market metrics and a shift in investor perception.
Kendrick’s Mag 7B model was backtested beginning in December 2017, a notable decision given that Bitcoin was nearing its then-all-time high of just under $20,000 at the time. The high starting point was chosen deliberately to avoid biasing the outcome in favor of Bitcoin’s massive rally from lower levels.
The results speak volumes:
Mag 7B beat the original Mag 7 in five of the past seven years
Average annual returns were about 1% higher
Volatility was nearly 2% lower every year
Information ratio—a key measure of risk-adjusted return—was 1.13 for Mag 7B vs. 1.04 for the original Mag 7
In financial terms, these differences are significant. The information ratio reflects how efficiently an asset or portfolio generates returns relative to the risk it takes on. A higher ratio means better risk-adjusted performance, and that’s exactly what Bitcoin brought to the table.
The potential real-world implications of Kendrick’s findings are profound. With the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in early 2024, institutional access to BTC has never been easier. Investors can now gain Bitcoin exposure with the same ease, cost-efficiency, and regulatory comfort as buying any other member of the Mag 7 index.
He emphasized that Bitcoin’s multi-purpose function—as a tech asset, a hedge against traditional finance, and a macro portfolio diversifier—makes it increasingly attractive for large funds, asset managers, and even pension schemes that have traditionally shied away from crypto exposure.
Looking ahead, Kendrick sees positive momentum building for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market. With a key US tariff announcement due on April 2, and the Nasdaq closing out its worst quarter since mid-2022, the stage is set for potential portfolio rebalancing that could benefit both tech stocks and BTC.
His analysis highlights how macro trends, institutional infrastructure, and behavioral correlations are converging to make Bitcoin more than just a fringe asset—it’s increasingly part of the core tech narrative.
A New Era for Tech and Crypto Convergence?
The Standard Chartered report adds momentum to the growing movement that sees Bitcoin as more than just a hedge or a speculative vehicle. Instead, it posits BTC as a dynamic, dual-purpose asset that belongs alongside tech giants, not just in alternative investment allocations.
If the market takes Kendrick’s thesis seriously, it could lead to a strategic realignment in institutional portfolios, with Bitcoin earning a spot not just in crypto funds—but in the very same buckets that hold Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Whether or not Bitcoin becomes an official part of tech indices in the future, one thing is clear: the asset’s institutional legitimacy continues to rise, and its role in shaping modern portfolio theory is no longer hypothetical—it’s happening now.
