Hong Kong virtual insurer OneDegree expands digital asset insurance offering to UAE as city boosts ties to Middle East

Hong Kong online insurance provider OneDegree has expanded its digital asset insurance offering to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through a local partnership, as Hong Kong seeks to boost business ties with the Middle East.

As part of OneDegree's expansion to the Middle East, the start-up will work with the 33-year-old Dubai Insurance Company to jointly insure digital asset firms in the UAE, co-founder and chief executive Alvin Kwock Yin-lun told the Post in an interview this week.

OneDegree is also in the process of setting up a new entity in Dubai and bringing on new hires in the city, according to Kwock.

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The move comes after the UAE's economy minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri met with OneDegree during his visit to Hong Kong for the Belt and Road Summit in September.

At this time he expressed interest in bringing OneDegree's digital asset expertise to the UAE and more broadly to the Middle East and North Africa region, Kwock said.

Hong Kong has been ramping up its efforts to deepen the city's business ties with the Middle East following visits by the city's chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in February this year.

OneDegree and Dubai Insurance Company will offer several types of insurance required by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority's (VARA) new cryptocurrency regulatory regime in Dubai, including commercial crime insurance, professional indemnity insurance, and directors and officers insurance, according to the founder.

Seven-year-old OneDegree launched its digital-asset insurance service OneInfinity in November 2021, which offers insurance to digital-asset businesses such as cryptocurrency exchanges, custodians and wallet providers.

Hong Kong virtual insurer OneDegree is expanding its offerings to the UAE via a partnership. Pictured is Dubai, with the Burj Khalifa at its centre. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=Hong Kong virtual insurer OneDegree is expanding its offerings to the UAE via a partnership. Pictured is Dubai, with the Burj Khalifa at its centre. Photo: EPA-EFE>

The product has recently become profit-making after signing up more than 30 clients without receiving any claims, Kwock told the Post last month.

OneDegree has been "extremely prudent" in taking on digital-asset businesses as customers, owing to "a number of bad actors" in the space, Kwock said last month, referring to recent scandals involving crypto exchanges FTX and JPEX.

The firm had only accepted 25 per cent of all insurance applications over the past two years, Kwock said in November.

OneDegree has so far raised a total of US$85 million in funding over five rounds, according to Crunchbase data.

In June this year, the company raised US$27 million in a series B funding round from investors that include Gobi Partners, Sun Hung Kai and Bitrock.

As part of the firm's new partnership with Dubai Insurance Company, OneDegree also received board approval to have Dubai Insurance participate in its Series B funding completed in June, Kwock said in the interview.

While OneDegree did not disclose the size of Dubai Insurance's investment, Kwock said that "it's not a small number".

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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