Elliptic Vault - Insured Bitcoin Storage

[elliptic]

Hi everyone, Tom from Elliptic here.

We've had a great response to Elliptic Vault, our insured Bitcoin storage service: www.elliptic.co/vault
If anyone has any questions or comments, please post them here and I'll do my best to respond to them all.

Elliptic
www.elliptic.co

[LiteCoinGuy]

we will watch you 

[BTCIndia]

Hi Tom!

Greetings from India! How can Elliptic be helpful for someone who is planning to launch investment vehicle in developing country? We basically plan to act as bridge for common people interested in crypto-currency without going them in buying, selling, and storing. Hope you got an idea.
We're plan to establish SecondMarket like company to facilitate investment as per our local laws and market need.

[seldon]

Hi everyone, Tom from Elliptic here.

We've had a great response to Elliptic Vault, our insured Bitcoin storage service: www.elliptic.co/vault
If anyone has any questions or comments, please post them here and I'll do my best to respond to them all.

Elliptic
www.elliptic.co

Hi Tom,

will each customer receive a unique wallet - so they can "watch" their btc?

[phillipsjk]

I guess I have one question: does your service use more than one geographic location?.

[Rias]

Would've been nice if there was a possibility for litecoin storage. I think it's getting to the point where it's not safe any more to keep it on your PC.

[elliptic]

Can you post the exact terms of the contract that you have with your insurance company ?

Hi ghdp,

Applicants for our Vault service have access to our Certificate of Insurance, provided by Lloyds of London, as well as a summary of our cover.

As described in our Terms of Storage (www.elliptic.co/vault/terms) section 5, we commit to having an appropriate insurance policy in place.

Regards,
Tom

[elliptic]

Hi everyone, Tom from Elliptic here.

We've had a great response to Elliptic Vault, our insured Bitcoin storage service: www.elliptic.co/vault
If anyone has any questions or comments, please post them here and I'll do my best to respond to them all.

Elliptic
www.elliptic.co

Hi Tom,

will each customer receive a unique wallet - so they can "watch" their btc?

Hi Seldon,

Yes, all customers have their own unique wallet, so they can check the status of their funds on the blockchain.

Regards,
Tom

[elliptic]

I guess I have one question: does your service use more than one geographic location?.

Hi phillipsjk,

Yes, we use multiple, geographically-separated locations.

Regards,
Tom

[elliptic]

Would've been nice if there was a possibility for litecoin storage. I think it's getting to the point where it's not safe any more to keep it on your PC.

Hi Rias,

We have received a lot of interest regarding Litecoin storage, so this is something we will look into offering. Watch this space.

Regards,
Tom

[elliptic]

Applicants for our Vault service have access to our Certificate of Insurance, provided by Lloyds of London, as well as a summary of our cover.

As described in our Terms of Storage (www.elliptic.co/vault/terms) section 5, we commit to having an appropriate insurance policy in place.

If I understand correctly, there is no direct contract between the user and the insurance company.

What happens if your company goes bankrupt ?

Yes, we are providing an insured storage service - we are not selling the insurance policy itself. In the unlikely event of a loss, the customer makes a claim against the company. If the claim is successful, the insurance company then compensates the customer.

In the unlikely event of bankruptcy, the stored bitcoins remain the property of the customer and would be returned. We do not take ownership of the bitcoins, they are simply in our care.

Regards,
Tom

[elliptic]

Applicants for our Vault service have access to our Certificate of Insurance, provided by Lloyds of London, as well as a summary of our cover.

As described in our Terms of Storage (www.elliptic.co/vault/terms) section 5, we commit to having an appropriate insurance policy in place.

If I understand correctly, there is no direct contract between the user and the insurance company.

What happens if your company goes bankrupt ?

Yes, we are providing an insured storage service - we are not selling the insurance policy itself. In the unlikely event of a loss, the customer makes a claim against the company. If the claim is successful, the insurance company then compensates the customer.

In the unlikely event of bankruptcy, the stored bitcoins remain the property of the customer and would be returned. We do not take ownership of the bitcoins, they are simply in our care.

Regards,
Tom

Insurance is about dealing with unlikely events.
How exactly will one of your customers make a claim on the insurance company if they do not have a contract with them ?

The customer has a contract with Elliptic Vault, detailing Elliptic Vault's responsibilities regarding the safekeeping of the customer's bitcoins.
In the unlikely event of loss of the customer's bitcoins, the customer makes a claim against Elliptic Vault.
Elliptic Vault is insured against such claims. Therefore if the claim is valid, the customer is compensated by the insurer. There is no need for a direct contract between the customer and the insurer.

[elliptic]

Applicants for our Vault service have access to our Certificate of Insurance, provided by Lloyds of London, as well as a summary of our cover.

As described in our Terms of Storage (www.elliptic.co/vault/terms) section 5, we commit to having an appropriate insurance policy in place.

If I understand correctly, there is no direct contract between the user and the insurance company.

What happens if your company goes bankrupt ?

Yes, we are providing an insured storage service - we are not selling the insurance policy itself. In the unlikely event of a loss, the customer makes a claim against the company. If the claim is successful, the insurance company then compensates the customer.

In the unlikely event of bankruptcy, the stored bitcoins remain the property of the customer and would be returned. We do not take ownership of the bitcoins, they are simply in our care.

Regards,
Tom

Insurance is about dealing with unlikely events.
How exactly will one of your customers make a claim on the insurance company if they do not have a contract with them ?

The customer has a contract with Elliptic Vault, detailing Elliptic Vault's responsibilities regarding the safekeeping of the customer's bitcoins.
In the unlikely event of loss of the customer's bitcoins, the customer makes a claim against Elliptic Vault.
Elliptic Vault is insured against such claims. Therefore if the claim is valid, the customer is compensated by the insurer. There is no need for a direct contract between the customer and the insurer.

I don't know how contract law works in UK but in may country :
- A has a contract with B. B has a contract with C. B dies. There is no way A can make a direct claim to C. Whatever is written in either contract.

Your scheme works in the case that you lose the bitcoins or they are are stollen from you. It does not protect your customer in the unlikely-but-possible event that your company dies.
 

Even in the very unlikely event of Elliptic Vault's insolvency, our customers are still protected:

Under UK law, if a company (e.g. Elliptic Vault) holding a liability insurance policy incurs a liability to a third party (e.g. an Elliptic Vault customer), but goes bankrupt or into liquidation, the third party can pursue its claim directly against the insurer, and the policy proceeds are preserved from the pot of assets available to the insured's creditors.

See: http://www.out-law.com/page-10645

[raskul]

Well done to James on his BBC interview this morning.
I still think elliptic is a tad expensive tho - my wallet is stored on an external hard drive which is quite secure (and insured separately from home insurance, along-with my camera gear)
Do you have plans to lower your prices?

[elliptic]

Well done to James on his BBC interview this morning.
I still think elliptic is a tad expensive tho - my wallet is stored on an external hard drive which is quite secure (and insured separately from home insurance, along-with my camera gear)
Do you have plans to lower your prices?

Hi raskul,

Thanks for the feedback. Given the demand we have seen, we feel that the pricing is appropriate. We also offer reduced fees if our customers are willing to commit to six months of storage (the standard agreement is a one-month rolling contract). Get in touch for more information.

With regards to your insurance, I would check that it covers your Bitcoins. Unless this is specifically mentioned in your policy, they may well not be covered.

Regards,
Tom

[raskul]

Well done to James on his BBC interview this morning.
I still think elliptic is a tad expensive tho - my wallet is stored on an external hard drive which is quite secure (and insured separately from home insurance, along-with my camera gear)
Do you have plans to lower your prices?

Hi raskul,

Thanks for the feedback. Given the demand we have seen, we feel that the pricing is appropriate. We also offer reduced fees if our customers are willing to commit to six months of storage (the standard agreement is a one-month rolling contract). Get in touch for more information.

With regards to your insurance, I would check that it covers your Bitcoins. Unless this is specifically mentioned in your policy, they may well not be covered.

Regards,
Tom

Probably right Tom, nevermind, i'll be careful... most of the coins I mine are traded right away anyway, so there are only a few which I keep on the HDD, for a rainy day.