Meanwhile, a Bermuda-based life insurer that denominates premiums and death benefits in bitcoin, has raised $37.5 million in a round led by existing investor Bain Capital Crypto, bringing total funding to $180 million, according to a company announcement distributed by email on Thursday.

Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Pantera Capital and Apollo also participated in the round. Meanwhile raised $82 million a year ago.

What does Meanwhile actually sell?

The company offers life insurance policies priced and paid out in bitcoin rather than fiat currencies. Its BTC Life 1-Pay product, launched earlier this year, lets a customer pay a single bitcoin premium in exchange for a guaranteed BTC-denominated death benefit.

The model pushes bitcoin deeper into traditional wealth management. Instead of functioning purely as a trading or investment asset, the cryptocurrency here underwrites inheritance planning — a structural use case that has so far seen few regulated entrants.

Meanwhile received its insurance license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority in 2024, giving it a regulated base in a jurisdiction known for captive insurance and reolvency frameworks.

Where is the company expanding?

The new capital funds growth outside the United States. Meanwhile has signed 15 brokers serving high-net-worth clients across four markets:

• Switzerland
• Singapore
• Hong Kong
• The United Arab Emirates

The broker channel matters operationally. Life insurance for wealthy clients typically sells through advisors rather than direct-to-consumer, so broker count functions as a leading indicator of distribution reach. The four target jurisdictions combine large private-banking sectors with established crypto custody rules, positioning the product where bitcoin holdings and estate planning already intersect.

Why does the backer list matter?

OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman backs the company, a signal that has drawn attention to a niche otherwise crowded out by exchange and stablecoin fundraising. The investor roster — Bain Capital Crypto, Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Pantera Capital and Apollo — spans crypto-native venture firms and a major alternative asset manager, suggesting the round drew interest beyond the digital-asset specialist base.

The $180 million cumulative total also places Meanwhile among the better-capitalized startups in tokenized or crypto-denominated insurance, a segment where regulatory licensing, not technology, remains the main barrier to entry.

What comes next?

The company's near-term execution test is converting its 15-broker network into issued policies across Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE — markets where competition from traditional insurers offering crypto-adjacent wealth products is expected to intensify as tokenization of financial instruments broadens.