The United States is seemingly entering a "golden age of crypto." For the first time, Congress, the White House and regulators are working in unison to create a comprehensive digital assets framework. This coordinated shift is anchored by Executive Order 14178, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, the pending Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, recommendations from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets (PWG) and SEC Chairman Paul Atkin’s "Project Crypto" initiative.
From an insurance perspective, these developments are not abstract policy moves – they will directly influence the availability, cost and design of coverage for digital asset risks.
Executive Order 14178 established the President’s Working Group (PWG) and set national priorities: protecting self-custody rights, promoting stablecoins under robust consumer-protection rules, clarifying regulatory boundaries to encourage innovation, opposing a U.S. CBDC and expanding CFTC oversight of spot markets for non-security digital assets.
Importantly for insurers, the order also calls for targeted reforms to insurance, banking and tax rules that currently hinder market growth. The message from Treasury is clear: insurance is not a peripheral issue – it is central to the stability and scaling of the digital asset economy.
The GENIUS Act passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. GENIUS establishes a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins in the U.S. with a focus on consumer protection and market stability. Key provisions include consumer protection measures such as:
Federal financial and banking agencies must now implement its various provisions. We expect this process to take some time, but at least GENIUS gives the industry a roadmap of what to expect.
CLARITY has passed the House with bipartisan support and is expected to pass the Senate this fall. CLARITY seeks to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets by clearly delineating the roles of the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission in overseeing different types of digital assets.
The PWG, established under Executive Order 14178, was tasked with recommending regulatory and legislative proposals to ensure that the U.S. leads the blockchain revolution. Overall, the report recommends that Congress continue to capitalize on the bipartisan support of the House of Representatives for CLARITY and enact legislation that will provide the CFTC authority to oversee spot markets for non-security digital assets as well as embrace DeFi technology with possible integration of this technology into mainstream finance.
The report identifies specific regulatory and market issues or challenges:
To address these challenges, the PWG and Treasury recommend:
SEC Chairman Paul Atkin recently gave a speech at the America First Policy Institute where he outlined a five step process that he has directed the Security and Exchange Commission to undertake. Dubbed “Project Crypto,” these five steps seek to implement the PWG’s recommendations.
Up until now, insurers have largely approached digital asset risks with caution. Capacity has been limited, terms restrictive and many insurers have stayed on the sidelines. While recent years have brought some innovation, especially from specialist MGAs and niche underwriters, the market has remained fragmented and often expensive for buyers.
This new wave of regulatory clarity changes the equation. For the first time, insurers have the certainty they need to engage at scale, and when established carriers move, the entire market tends to move with them. With clearer rules, carriers are likely to expand capacity, ease certain exclusions, and offer more competitive pricing, particularly in areas like custody, crime and professional liability. Regulatory clarity will do more for digital asset insurance in the next five years than the last decade of market experimentation.
As stablecoins gain legitimacy and DeFi integrations move into regulated finance, the diversity of insurable risks will grow. The insurance market will not simply follow digital asset adoption - it will help enable it. That shift is likely to accelerate product innovation and improve market dynamics in several ways:
For brokers and advisors, this is the moment to translate policy change into practical coverage strategies, connect clients with emerging capacity and help shape the policy terms and conditions that will define the next phase of the market.
With Executive Order 14178 as the policy blueprint, GENIUS and CLARITY as legislative anchors and Project Crypto driving regulatory modernization, the United States is positioned to deliver one of the most comprehensive digital asset frameworks in the world.
For the insurance industry, this clarity creates the conditions for broader market participation, innovative product development, and more competitive capacity. The integration of stablecoins and decentralized finance into the regulated financial system will generate new categories of insurable risk, while reducing some of the uncertainty that has constrained underwriting to date.
The regulatory trajectory is now clear: policy alignment at the federal level will shape the digital asset insurance market for years to come. The challenge – and opportunity – lies in translating these structural changes into practical, resilient risk transfer solutions that keep pace with a rapidly evolving asset class.
If you have questions or would like to learn more about solutions related to digital assets, feel free to reach out to a WTW colleague or contact us here.
WTW hopes you found the general information provided here informative and helpful. The information contained herein is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied upon in lieu of consultation with your own legal advisors. In the event you would like more information regarding your insurance coverage, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. In North America, WTW offers insurance products through licensed entities, including Willis Towers Watson Northeast, Inc. (in the United States) and Willis Canada Inc. (in Canada).
