Delaware Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Group 1001 Insurance Holdings, has announced a landmark partnership with asset management giant BlackRock to become the first U.S. insurance carrier to offer cryptocurrency exposure through a fixed index annuity (FIA). The company has added the BlackRock U.S. Equity Bitcoin Balanced Risk 12% Index to its FIA portfolio.
The new index represents a novel blend of traditional U.S. equities and Bitcoin exposure. It achieves this primarily through investments in BlackRock's iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and its spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). The index is designed to target a 12% volatility band, aiming to manage Bitcoin's historically extreme price swings and make the asset more palatable for conservative investors seeking growth with protection.
"We're proud to partner with BlackRock as the first insurance carrier to offer cryptocurrency exposure through a fixed index annuity," said Colin Lake, President and CEO of Delaware Life Marketing. "As the retirement-planning landscape evolves, we're continuously and thoughtfully innovating to meet the needs of financial professionals and their clients."
Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock's Global Head of Digital Assets, highlighted the demand driving the product: "This launch builds around the tremendous success and client demand we have seen for IBIT, enabling insurance clients to now add bitcoin exposure as part of a broader indexed annuity strategy." He emphasized that the index allows "policyholders to participate in digital assets while maintaining the downside protection they expect from annuity products."
The Bitcoin-linked index will be available across three of Delaware Life's FIA products: Momentum Growth, Momentum Growth Plus, and DualTrack Income. The launch coincides with both Bitcoin's 17th anniversary and the second anniversary of the IBIT ETF, which launched in January 2024 and now holds nearly $76 billion in assets under management. Delaware Life's parent company, Group 1001, manages combined assets of $76.4 billion.
This development is seen as a significant step in Bitcoin's integration into mainstream financial infrastructure, particularly for retirement planning. It follows strong institutional interest, with U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs posting $1.4 billion in weekly net inflows recently, the highest weekly total since early October. The move is expected to draw regulatory attention as it represents a novel fusion of insurance products and digital asset exposure.
