In 2023, crypto crime surged to unprecedented levels, with blockchain transactions worth a staggering $20.6 billion impacted by criminal activities.

The number of affected transactions doubled compared to the previous year, underscoring the alarming rise in crypto asset investment fraud. Victims facing such scenarios encounter significant financial burdens in their pursuit to recover stolen assets. Investigations and recovery efforts can incur costs upwards of £250,000, often requiring the engagement of litigation funders who demand substantial cuts from any recovery.

In response to this pressing need, M2 Recovery has launched a pioneering crypto legal expenses policy. Designed to provide coverage for crypto assets valued at more than £250,000, this policy aims to offer protection against the escalating threat of crypto fraud.

M2 Recovery founder Neil Holloway said: “Our insurance policy is the first of its type globally, which provides policyholders with legal expenses following crypto fraud. We can insure legal expenses relating to crypto assets collectively worth tens of millions for investors, neobanks and in-play betting companies.

“This includes digital assets invested through the metaverse, utility tokens such as Freeway Tokens, and crypto assets appropriated through man-in-the-middle attacks. And with more investment scams in play than ever before, reducing your exposure to risk on large crypto investments has never been more important.”

Investors purchasing the policy gain access to M2 Recovery’s top-tier in-house legal team for asset recovery. The policy also covers the expenses incurred during the recovery process.

This insurance product stands as the sole offering in the market, extending coverage of legal expenses and associated disbursements up to £250,000 for the retrieval of assets lost due to theft or fraud.

Lloyd’s of London and McGill and Partners, collaborate

McGill and Partners, a renowned global boutique specialist (re)insurance broker, collaborated with M2 Recovery in crafting and securing placement for the policy with Lloyd’s of London insurers, facilitating the product launch.

Paul Morgan, Partner in the Financial Lines team at McGill and Partners explained: “The issue of fraud and loss of assets is a growing problem in the crypto world, and we’re delighted to be working with M2 Recovery on this pioneering solution, offering pre-incident crypto legal expenses insurance. That we’ve been able to work in partnership to develop a solution that responds to a pressing need, emphasises the agility we have as a business to respond quickly and in a way that meets the pressing needs of the marketplace more widely.”

M2 Recovery’s director of legal services Louise Abbott also commented, saying: “The threat to crypto assets has never been greater, with cyber criminals becoming increasingly sophisticated in how they act. We have built a team of cyber intelligence specialists, recovery agents, forensic investigators and expert lawyers, all working under one roof with our proprietary technology to combat this fraud.”

She added: “In what is an incredibly complicated market, we are incredibly proud to have a high success rate, and this new policy means more victims will be able to use our exceptional skill set to recover their crypto assets.”