Regulatory Disruption: The Start of Insurance Products Globally


One challenge in getting Takaful to all Muslims globally is the lack of truly global Takaful cover, cover which can be purchased anywhere and is available to anyone worldwide. Furthermore, Takaful is about sharing risks, which depending on the coverage can be challenging in a particular market. For instance, a drought likely affects all participants in the same area at the same time. Thus, if there is a Takaful fund covering drought in a country then all participants may claim at the same time, which defeats the purpose of a Takaful fund with participants helping each other. However, if there were participants joining together worldwide, the spirit of Takaful remains.

Global earthquake coverage is now available (not Takaful), whereby premiums and payouts are using Bitcoin via a smart contract on a monthly basis. Coverage is not guaranteed, meaning it is a discretionary mutual scheme. Whilst the choice of Bitcoin can be questioned, the risk of volatility is reduced via coverage being monthly. The availability of online global statistics for earthquakes makes smart contracts efficient and cost effective.

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