An Insurance App Offers Crypto Rewards for Premium Payments

A mobile wallet that allows users to shop and pay for insurance has added a rewards program that offers cryptocurrency based on premium payments. Marble, a New York City-based company that started up in 2020, says it has integrated its wallet with Gemini, a crypto exchange, to let users redeem their rewards points for Bitcoin or Ethereum through a Gemini account.

Marble touts the wallet as allowing users to manage a wide range of policies, including home, auto, life, renter, and pet, in one place. The rewards points, called Marbles, can be earned from premium payments through the app, which launched in a public beta in April last year, but also via referrals of potential users, the company says. They can be spent for gift cards and to make charitable donations, in addition to the new crypto option. The company claims “tens of thousands” of users have signed up for the app.

“In conversation with Marble members, it was clear they wanted a cryptocurrency rewards offer, and one they could trust,” says Stuart Winchester, a former securities analyst and founder & chief executive of Marble, in a statement.

Winchester says the new rewards capability is a response to rising premiums in the insurance industry. “We built Marble for the 92 million insurance customers in America who want to put some of that money back in their pockets,” he adds in a statement.

The new program from Marble comes as volatility is sweeping through the cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin, which in November was trading at nearly $67,000, was down to $21,357 early Friday, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Similarly, Ethereum was priced at $1,206 early Friday, down from $4.735 in November. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the first- and second-largest digital currencies by market cap.

The 8-year-old Gemini exchange was founded by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. It is the 10th largest crypto exchange, with $114.3 million in daily volume, according to Coinmarketcap.com