Directors & Officers (D&O)
Directors & officers (D&O) insurance protects your founders, executives, and board members personally against claims arising from how the company is run — regulatory enforcement, investor and shareholder suits, and management decisions. Critical given crypto's regulatory scrutiny.
D&O for Crypto Founders & Executives
In few industries is management liability as acute as in crypto. Founders and executives face regulatory enforcement (SEC, CFTC, state actions), investor and token-holder lawsuits, and allegations tied to disclosures, token launches, and governance. D&O insurance protects those individuals personally — their own assets — when claims target how the company was run, not just the company itself.
D&O is structured in layers: Side A protects individuals directly when the company can't indemnify them, Side B reimburses the company for indemnifying its leaders, and Side C covers the entity for securities claims. For crypto companies, regulatory defense costs are often the single largest exposure — investigations alone can run into seven figures before any finding is made.
Why It's Hard to Place — and Why You Need It
Many D&O carriers avoid crypto entirely, and those that write it scrutinize token structures, regulatory posture, and disclosures closely. But for a venture-backed protocol or exchange, D&O is frequently required by investors as a condition of funding, and it's what stands between a regulatory inquiry and a founder's personal bankruptcy. We place D&O through specialty markets experienced with digital-asset companies.
What's Covered
Frequently Asked Questions
Because crypto founders face unusually high personal exposure — SEC/CFTC enforcement, investor suits, and token-holder claims that target individuals, not just the entity. D&O protects their personal assets and funds the regulatory defense, which is often the largest cost in this space.
Frequently, yes. Venture investors commonly require D&O coverage as a condition of a round, both to protect the board members they appoint and the founders. We place D&O through specialty markets that understand token structures and crypto regulatory risk.