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Opium, UMA to Launch Decentralized Insurance for SpaceX Flights
Opium is to offer a DeFi derivatives contract allowing users to hedge against the risk of a failed SpaceX launch.
Updated May 9, 2023, 3:19 a.m. Published May 24, 2021, 1:00 p.m.
Crypto derivatives protocol Opium and decentralized finance (DeFi) platform UMA are working together to provide insurance products for SpaceX flights.
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- The partnership will see Opium plug into UMA's Optimistic Oracle product to provide financial derivatives for hedging risks related to SpaceX flights.
- The derivatives work as binary options contracts, allowing users to purchase insurance against a failed launch on SpaceX, the Elon Musk-founded space-transportation services company.
- SpaceX's SmallSat Rideshare flights allow multiple payloads to share launches into space, so bookers can send smaller, lighter payloads.
- The first launch of its kind took place Jan. 24, when a Falcon 9 rocket transported 143 satellites into space.
- Owners of these payloads and their stakeholders may wish to hedge the risk of a failed launch. Furthermore, the attention that a SpaceX flight draws may lead some enthusiasts to speculate on its success or otherwise and potentially profit from the outcome.
- Insurance is already offered by SpaceX at about 5% of the value of the payload. Opium and UMA are attempting to compete with that.
- "If the market price is less than 5%, we can show how strong DeFi is in making insurance cheaper," an Opium spokesperson told CoinDesk. "If the market sets the price at more than 5% we can invite Elon to stake money and earn free interest."
- SpaceX did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.
See also: Musk’s SpaceX Accepts Dogecoin as Payment for Sending a Satellite to the Moon
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The service will allow customers to buy and sell BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq.
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- French banking group BPCE will start offering crypto trading services to 2 million retail customers through its Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne apps, with plans to expand to 12 million customers by 2026.
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- The move follows similar initiatives by other European banks, such as BBVA, Santander, and Raiffeisen Bank, which have already started offering crypto trading services to their customers.
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