WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF
Today insurers bundle risks together, but in the future selecting insurance could look more like betting on an outcome …
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Wintermute Ventures says crypto is becoming what they call “the clearing layer for the internet economy” with prediction markets set to replace traditional insurance business models by helping price specific risks that were previously untradeable. Prediction markets are moving beyond consumer products into financial tools that replace legacy insurance, according to Wintermute’s 2026 outlook.
Instead of buying broad hurricane insurance for an entire region, users can now hedge – which is very similar to a form of spread betting – against specific wind speeds in exact locations during defined timeframes. These markets price individual risks directly rather than bundling them into expensive “one size fits all” policies.
Wintermute expects new markets to trade measures of perception, sentiment, and collective opinion—assets that were never priced before.
In their outlook they say Stablecoins enable programmable payments, but the industry lacks proper settlement infrastructure, and that too many different stablecoins across chains create friction.
The fix for this is apparently coordination infrastructure that handles conversion between stablecoins without forcing users to manage currency risk. Think of it as banking infrastructure rebuilt for crypto, with settlement in seconds instead of days.
They also believe that companies launching tokens without sustainable revenue are losing credibility, predicting fewer token launches at inception as teams focus on proving business models first.
When tokens do launch tough they’ll come after product-market fit is clear with proven revenues. Tokens without clear value capture struggle to maintain demand beyond speculation.
Meanwhile, privacy shifted from regulatory liability to enabler. Participants can prove compliance without exposing raw data through new cryptographic methods, and regulatory clarity transitioned from hurdle to distribution channel.
The GENIUS Act in the US, MiCA in Europe, and Hong Kong’s stablecoin regime provide frameworks for legacy institutions to replace traditional systems with faster settlement rails.
The outlook also says infrastructure companies replacing legacy clearing, settlement, and custody functions capture value as crypto becomes foundational to the financial system.
Wintermute Ventures backs teams building core market infrastructure, data verification layers, and tools that make prediction markets work in real-world applications.
Regions with clear rules and fast approvals will attract capital and experimentation while slower jurisdictions fall behind.
