**Founders:** Becca Rubenfeld and Rob Hamilton
**Date Founded:** March 2022
**Location of Headquarters:** Nashville, TN
**Number of Employees:** Five (soon to be seven)
**Public or Private?** Private
After nearly three years of development, AnchorWatch has launched its product — a collaborative bitcoin multisig vault accompanied by an insurance policy. The company has introduced what it calls a Trident Vault, which leverages smart contracts on Bitcoin to provide features such as timelocks, multisig quorums, and spending conditions. AnchorWatch insures the bitcoin secured by these vaults as a Lloyd’s of London Coverholder.
This combination of advanced technology and top-tier insurance safeguards AnchorWatch clients against risks associated with theft, kidnappings, fraud, or catastrophic events, offering a level of protection unprecedented in the Bitcoin industry. “We identified that insurance in the Bitcoin space was totally lacking,” stated Becca Rubenfeld, co-founder and COO of AnchorWatch. “There are certain risks that technology can’t mitigate — like sophisticated wrench attacks, a customer passing away with their keys, or even the possibility of AnchorWatch being a bad actor — and we were able to address those gaps with insurance.”
The market is ripe for such a product, as Rubenfeld and her team have received numerous inquiries and requests since the company commenced operations last month. It’s noteworthy that Rubenfeld has carved out her niche in the Bitcoin sector by assisting individuals and institutions in securing and insuring their bitcoin holdings, especially given that her initial perception of bitcoin was as merely a speculative asset, which ultimately led to her partnership with co-founder Rob Hamilton.
**The Origins of AnchorWatch**
Rubenfeld and Hamilton first connected in group chat rooms on the social media platform Clubhouse in late 2020. “We met in Clubhouse Bitcoin rooms,” Rubenfeld recalled. “I was just trying to gain trading insights, and there were prominent figures in those rooms — individuals who ran Bitcoin companies and were core developers and cultural influencers. We all connected during the quarantine.”
“Everyone was craving human interaction, and we became friends. I quickly got ‘orange-pilled’ this way.” During this period, which Rubenfeld describes as her “masterclass in Bitcoin,” she first heard Hamilton discussing the necessity for bitcoin insurance. “Rob was brainstorming and realized he had the technical know-how to create self-custody insurance,” she explained. Influential figures like American HODL and Jason Williams encouraged Hamilton to develop the product and were among its initial investors. Rubenfeld soon joined the cap table but quickly recognized her potential to assist Hamilton in other capacities. “He was very focused on building his MVP (minimum viable product), and I thought, ‘Okay, I can help with that.’”
