Smart Insurance Contracts Based on Virtual Currency

Abstract

It this paper it has been analyzed whether and under what conditions an insurance company can accept insurance premiums and claims payments in Bitcoins or other crypto currency based on a smart insurance contract. On the one hand the question has been explored with regard to private law, especially insurance contract law; on the other with regard to public law, in particular financial supervisory law. The research for the present paper has been conducted primarily by taking into consideration the relevant legal frameworks in the European Union, Switzerland, UK and Liechtenstein, while referring at the same time to general legal principles of public and private law, which have their validity in most other jurisdictions of common or civil law, such as for example in the US, Hong Kong, Singapore or Japan.