DeFi cover evaluated across claims actually paid, what is genuinely covered, capital backing, and who can buy it.
Ranked here: DeFi insurance cover for protection against smart-contract, custodian or depeg failure, compared on claims actually paid, what is covered, capital backing and who can buy it. Not ranked here: anything other than DeFi cover against smart-contract, custodian or depeg failure.
NE
#1 of 6 · published ranking
Nexus Mutual
86ChainChoice Score
4199
Why it leads
Nexus Mutual scores higher than everything else in this ranking on its claims record and its exclusions.
Show the arithmetic
Best in this ranking on claims record and exclusions
Cost
Not priced· No comparable price is published
ReviewedNext review by Published Methodology v2026.11.1
How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means every product ranked on this page was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
No provider can pay for a position in this table. The code that computes this order cannot read which links carry a referral code, and every build proves it. Every score below rebuilds from the published criteria.Ranking v2026.11.1 · 4 criteria · 6 products · same inputs, same order
How we review · 6 ranked of 7 assessed · 4 criteria · 0 sponsor weight
How we review
6ranked
7assessed
4criteria
0sponsor weight
Recommendation first, comparison only if needed.
Reviewed and rechecked on the current cycle.
Commercial relationships disclosed before clickout.
Personal comparison
DeFi Insurance ranked comparison
No comparable price is published; ranking still uses verified product evidence.
RankProviderBest fitScore
1
NENexus MutualThe only crypto cover provider with a r...Top ranked
Claims record — 10/10Trade-off: It is discretionary cover, not insurance, and Nexus says so: 'Cover is discretionary:...
86score
Check availability for your country
Nexus Mutual · api.nexusmutual.io. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
2
OpenCoverThe broker front-end for onchain cover...
Access — 9/10Trade-off: Two distinct risks. First, OpenCover carries no risk itself — it is a broker with no...
69score
Check availability for your country
OpenCover · opencover.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Backing — 7/10Trade-off: Two things. First, the total absence of a claims record means the regulatory wrapper...
54score
Check availability for your country
Chainproof · chainproof.co. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
4
EvertasLloyd's coverholder with the biggest he...
Backing — 8/10Trade-off: The headline limit is misdirection and a buyer must not price off it.
46score
Check availability for your country
Evertas · evertas.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Backing — 7/10Trade-off: Scope mismatch for this category. Relm's crypto book is company-side risk — cyber and...
43score
Check availability for your country
Relm Insurance · relminsurance.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
6
CoincoverUniversally described as crypto insuran...
Backing — 3/10Trade-off: The decisive finding, in Coincover's own words: 'CoinCover itself does not provide in...
41score
Check availability for your country
Coincover · coincover.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Ranked on 4 published criteria weighted 32/28/22/18, which set goal alignment — 30 of the 86 points. The rest: regional access 20 (constant here), evidence depth 18 (constant here), ease of use 10, institutional trust 8. Profile match is shown in breakdowns but carries no weight.
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
Insolvency failure: the firm or issuer that owes you cannot pay.
Scored by What is actually covered · 28% (Nexus Mutual 9/10, OpenCover 7/10, Chainproof 5/10)
Scored by Capital adequacy & backing · 22% (Nexus Mutual 4/10, OpenCover 2/10, Chainproof 7/10)
Regulatory failure: no licence where you are, or a forced market exit.
Scored by Who can buy it · 18% (Nexus Mutual 7/10, OpenCover 9/10, Chainproof 2/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Contract failure, Control failure, Execution failure, Exit failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Audit
Infrastructure
Methodology
2026.11.1
published 10 November 2026
Providers tracked
860+
across 121 categories
Last verified
3 November 2026
newest dated pricing or sentiment read
Named on the roster
2 people
managing directors · 6 automated processes
Decision guide
What matters most before choosing in this category
The right cover depends on which risk you actually need covered, because the exclusions are the product. Two policies with the same headline limit can differ entirely on whether they pay for a custody failure, a governance attack or a depeg. The decisive input is whether the provider has an auditable claims record — paid and denied, with counts and amounts — since that is the only real test of a promise to pay.
Which specific risk are you trying to cover — protocol failure, custody, depeg, or something else?
Can you actually buy this cover as your entity type and in your jurisdiction?
Have you read what the policy excludes, rather than what the headline limit says?
Default starting point
The #1 overall and the scoring weights
NE
Nexus MutualData checked Nov 2026
The only crypto cover provider with a real, auditable claims record — and it denied 52% of every claim ever…
The only crypto cover provider with a real, auditable claims record — and it denied 52% of every claim ever…. Strongest on claims actually paid (10/10): Nexus Mutual publishes every claim with its verdict and amount: 216 claims, 103 approved totalling about $18.6M and 113 denied totalling about $5.9M, with the full history downloadable as CSV. Weakest on capital adequacy & backing (4/10): Nexus Mutual is a discretionary mutual, not an insurer. Its capital pool holds about 39,800 ETH (roughly $96M) on 4 November 2026, down from about 47,100 ETH (roughly $179M) a year earlier, read from its Pool contract on-chain. Published price: Rates read live from api.nexusmutual.io/v2/capacity on 3 November 2026, not from marketing copy. The API publishes each listing's "minAnnualPrice" and "maxAnnualPrice" as a fraction of the cover amount per year.
Best forClaims record — 10/10
Main tradeoffIt is discretionary cover, not insurance, and Nexus says so: 'Cover is discretionary: if you suffer a loss, the Claims Committee assesses your claim…
Verify before signupRates read live from api.nexusmutual.io/v2/capacity on 3 November 2026, not from marketing copy. The API publishes each listing's "minAnnualPrice" and "maxAnnualPrice" as a fraction of the cover amount per year. Of 480 listings, 231 have purchasable capacity, and the MEDIAN minimum annual price across those 231 is "0.019" (InfiniFi and OpenCover Base USDC SuperVault both list "minAnnualPrice":"0.019"), which is 1.9% of the cover amount a year (worked conversion: 0.019 x 100). Minimum prices run from "0.0015" (Lido) to "0.29" (Mellow Finance Bug Bounty Cover). Examples, min to max as published ("minAnnualPrice" / "maxAnnualPrice"): Aave v3 "0.0088" / "0.040431112369060394"; Uniswap v3 "0.002" / "0.008093711751979721"; Curve All Pools (incl staking) "0.0025" / "0.04"; Ether.fi Slashing "0.0075"; Sky USDS Depeg "0.005" / "0.005474120194433097"; BingX Custody "0.0427"; HTX "0.0396"; Hyperliquid Core "0.035" / "0.037474015087877164". 91 of the 231 listings use fixed pricing per api.nexusmutual.io/v2/products; the rest are priced dynamically, so the minimum is a floor, not a quote. Cover is denominated in ETH, USDC or cbBTC, and Nexus's docs say the cover fee can be paid in ETH, USDC, cbBTC or NXM. Joining the mutual costs a one-time 0.0020 ETH membership fee.
Weighted criteria
Claims actually paid32%
What is actually covered28%
Capital adequacy & backing22%
Who can buy it18%
Methodology
How this category is reviewed
Reviewed on claims actually paid versus denied, what the policy genuinely covers, capital adequacy, and who can buy it. Advertised limits are never scored on their own.
The order on this page is the published ranking for this category. Every criterion, weight and source behind it is on the methodology page.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask before choosing DeFi insurance
Is DeFi cover the same as insurance?
Often not. Some providers here are regulated carriers, some are discretionary mutuals where payout is a member vote, and at least one states plainly that it does not provide insurance coverage for assets. The distinction decides whether you have a contractual claim or a request.
Why does a provider with denied claims rank above one with none?
Because a published record of 96 paid and 113 denied is evidence, and no record at all is not the same as a clean one. Absence of disclosure is scored as risk rather than treated as neutral.
What matters most when picking cover?
Claims actually paid and what is genuinely covered — 60% of the weight between them. Capital backing and whether you can buy it at all follow.
Reviewed3 November 2026Method4 criteriaCategorydefi_insurance
Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research
