It was only a matter of time, but now comes insured Bitcoin storage. Launched by UK startup Elliptic, the company’s new Vault offers cloud based insured bitcoin wallets. Insured by Lloyd’s of London, Vault wallets are denominated in GBP with current pricing costing 2% per annum. According to the firm, Vault “uses advanced “deep Cold Storage ” techniques to provide the highest possible level of security for its customers’ Bitcoin holdings. Deep cold storage refers to storage where both strong encryption and secure physical locations are used.”
The product answers one of the greater concerns for bitcoin holders; security. With values of bitcoins hitting records, it has also led to an increase of malware and digital currency theft as malignant hackers target .dat files of locally hosted biotcoin wallets. While reaching a larger audience over the past year, general populace opinion of bitcoins still includes complaints of ‘its too hard to buy’ and ‘too difficult to secure’. In terms of future potentials, Vault, and similar products that are sure to follow, bring bitcoin banks a step closer to existence, with owners depositing the majority of their funds with an insured bank and transferring smaller figures to their local computer or mobile based wallets.
Elliptic is led by co-founders Tom Robinson, James Smith, and Adam Joyce. Previously launched as a bitcoin exchange named BitPrice, the company pivitoed its plans to become Elliptic and create its Vault product.
Commenting in the company’s public release, Robinson stated “Securing your bitcoins involves implementing advanced encryption and even then you are still at risk of losing them. Elliptic Vault secures your Bitcoins for you and is insured against theft or loss, so our customers can have peace of mind that their bitcoins are safe".
