Meanwhile, the Bermuda-based life insurer that denominates its balance sheet, reserves and audited financials entirely in Bitcoin, has closed a $37.5 million funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto, taking cumulative capital raised above $180 million. The company announced the raise on Thursday, with participation from existing investors Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Pantera Capital, Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Morgan Creek Digital. Backers also include OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.

What is Meanwhile actually selling?

Meanwhile describes itself as the first life insurer licensed to operate entirely in Bitcoin. The Bermuda Monetary Authority granted the carrier its license in July 2024 after a two-year stay in the authority's regulatory sandbox, a controlled environment for novel financial products. All policyholder Bitcoin sits with regulated institutional custodians, the company said.

The flagship offering is BTC Life 1-Pay, a single-premium whole life policy launched in early 2026 for high-net-worth clients outside the United States. Under the structure, a client pays one premium in Bitcoin, receives a guaranteed death benefit denominated in Bitcoin for life, and may borrow up to 90 percent of the policy's cash value after the first year without a repayment schedule or margin calls.

A 10-payment version built for American taxpayers preceded it. Meanwhile has signed 15 brokers since launch across Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, and reported that net long-term underwriting income has already exceeded last year's full-year figure. The company called 2025 a record year, driven by international demand.

Why are wealthy families buying this?

"Wealthy families around the world already hold Bitcoin. What they haven't had is a regulated way to pass it on," said Zac Townsend, Meanwhile's co-founder and chief executive.

The product addresses a structural problem for holders with large, illiquid positions: transferring Bitcoin to heirs without triggering taxable events or liquidating into fiat currency. Meanwhile frames its policy as an inheritance vehicle denominated in the same unit of account as the underlying wealth, with regulated custody replacing self-storage and an insurance wrapper replacing estate-planning trusts.

What does the new capital change for the business?

The $37.5 million extends a runway that already sits above $180 million in cumulative funding, a substantial base for a single-line carrier selling one product to a narrow customer segment. Meanwhile did not disclose a specific deployment plan, but the round indicates continued institutional appetite for non-dollar-denominated insurance aimed at the global Bitcoin-holding wealthy, a population that institutional surveys now place in the low millions of households worldwide.

The raise also lands against a wider push by insurers to embed Bitcoin exposure inside conventional vehicles. Delaware Life last year partnered with BlackRock to offer Bitcoin-linked fixed indexed annuities, evidence that long-duration insurers see a market in pairing a volatile asset with longevity planning products.

Meanwhile's next operational milestones will likely center on scaling broker distribution outside the United States, deepening the Bermuda license footprint granted in July 2024, and converting the single-premium policy's early underwriting momentum into a multi-jurisdiction book of business.