Work
I'm Zac Townsend (Zachary Townsend), co-founder and CEO of Meanwhile, a Bermuda-licensed life insurer built around Bitcoin.
Before Meanwhile, I worked in McKinsey & Company's financial services practice, served as California's first Chief Data Officer and a technology adviser to Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and co-founded Standard Treasury, a banking API company acquired by Silicon Valley Bank.
I write about insurance, finance, technology, and public policy. My blog, published articles, interviews, and press coverage are linked below.
Recent
- Insurtech's next phase runs through Bermuda — Bermuda Re, August 10, 2026.
- Crypto for Advisors: Bitcoin: planning for inheritance — CoinDesk, June 25, 2026.
- 2025: Letter from the CEO — Meanwhile, published April 2026.
- Building for the Meanwhile: Zac Townsend — Basic Capital, December 8, 2025.
- Now and Meanwhile: Two Worlds of Finance — October 29, 2025.
Press
Articles, profiles, and interviews that mention me by name.
Profiles and interviews
- Insurer touts how it sought rigour of Bermuda regulators
The Royal Gazette, March 18, 2026. - Building for the Meanwhile: Zac Townsend
Basic Capital, December 8, 2025. - FinTech CEO Interview: Zac Townsend
FT Partners, June 1, 2025. (PDF.) - Meanwhile Bets on Bitcoin to Reinvent Life Insurance
Insurance Innovation Reporter, April 25, 2025.
October 2025: $82 million raise
- Bitcoin Life Insurer Meanwhile Raises $82 Million
Bloomberg News, October 7, 2025. - Bitcoin life insurer Meanwhile raises $82 million in new funding to expand operations
The Block, October 7, 2025. - Bitcoin insurer Meanwhile secures $82M to expand BTC products
Cointelegraph, October 7, 2025. - Bitcoin Life Insurer Meanwhile Raises $82M to Scale Savings, Retirement in BTC
CoinDesk, October 7, 2025. - Meanwhile raises $82 million to expand Bitcoin life insurance
Blockworks, October 7, 2025. - Meanwhile Raises $82 Million for Bitcoin Life Insurance Expansion
Insurance Innovation Reporter, October 7, 2025. - Bitcoin Life Insurer Meanwhile Raises $82 Million
Bitcoin Magazine, October 7, 2025. - Meanwhile Secures $82 Million to Expand Bitcoin-Denominated Life Insurance
Bitcoin.com, October 7, 2025. - Meanwhile raises $82 million
Coverager, October 7, 2025. - Bermuda-Regulated Bitcoin Life Insurance Company Meanwhile Raises $82M
Bankless, October 7, 2025. - Meanwhile Raises $82M to Scale Regulated Bitcoin Life Insurer
Cryptonews, October 7, 2025. - Meanwhile Secures $82M to Advance Bitcoin Life Insurance Model
The Crypto Times, October 7, 2025. - Meanwhile, Bitcoin Life Insurer Raises $82M to Expand Savings
Ventureburn, October 7, 2025. - First Regulated Bitcoin Insurer Secures $82M in New Funding
TechNews180, October 7, 2025. - Bitcoin Life Insurance Company Meanwhile Lands $82M as Crypto Savings Demand Soars
CoinCentral, October 8, 2025. - AI Insurance Is Expensive
Bloomberg Opinion / Money Stuff, October 8, 2025. (Discusses the raise.) - Meanwhile's latest capital raise of $82m lifts 2025 total to $122m
Bermuda Re, October 9, 2025. - Meanwhile secures $82m to meet growing demand of bitcoin-denominated life insurance
Reinsurance News, October 10, 2025. - Bitcoin life insurer Meanwhile secures $82m to expand BTC savings and annuities
Beinsure, October 10, 2025. - Entrepreneur calls Bermuda market 'innovative for hundreds of years'
The Royal Gazette, October 13, 2025. - Bain Capital, Apollo pile in as crypto companies raise $2.5bn in October
DL News, October 2025. (Funding roundup.) - Meanwhile: la primera aseguradora de vida denominada en Bitcoin
100% Seguro, October 28, 2025. (Spanish-language interview.)
June 2025: first audited Bitcoin financials
- Bitcoin Life Insurance Firm Meanwhile Shares First Audit
CoinDesk, June 5, 2025. - Bitcoin Life Insurer, Meanwhile, Becomes First Company to Publish Audited Financials Denominated in Bitcoin
Bitcoin Magazine, June 5, 2025.
April 2025: $40 million Series A
- Meanwhile's $40M raise was Framework Ventures' 'largest equity investment'
Blockworks, April 14, 2025. - Bitcoin can help captives hedge inflation, says Meanwhile's CEO
Captive Insurance Times, April 11, 2025. - Bitcoin Life Insurance Firm Meanwhile Raises $40M to Expand Globally
CoinDesk, April 10, 2025. - Exclusive: Crypto startup Meanwhile raises $40 million
Fortune, April 10, 2025. - Bitcoin-denominated Meanwhile Raises $40M for BTC Life Insurance
Insurance Innovation Reporter, April 10, 2025. - Framework Ventures, Fulgur Ventures co-lead $40 million Series A for Meanwhile
The Block, April 10, 2025.
2024: Bermuda insurance license
- Bermuda grants licence to bitcoin-only life insurer Meanwhile
Captive Insurance Times, August 2024. - Pioneering Meanwhile first to receive BMA's IILT licence
The Royal Gazette, August 2024. - BMA licenses Meanwhile as a digital life insurer
Bermuda Re, August 2024.
2023: launch and early interviews
- Bitcoin life insurance company sees beauty in boring
Axios, November 8, 2023. - Life insurer with premiums paid in cryptocurrency
The Royal Gazette, June 6, 2023. - Bitcoin Life Insurance Startup Raises $19M in Seed Rounds
Bitcoin.com, June 6, 2023. - Sam Altman joins investors in $19 million round for crypto life insurance startup
The Block, June 6, 2023. - Meanwhile secures $19m in funding across two seed rounds
Reinsurance News, June 6, 2023. - Bitcoin-Denominated Life Insurance Provider Sets Up Shop With $19M Funding
CoinDesk, June 6, 2023. - Meanwhile Digital Asset-Denominated Life Launches with $19M Funding
Insurance Innovation Reporter, June 6, 2023. - The First-Ever Bitcoin-Denominated Life Insurer Embraces AI
Tokenist, June 6, 2023. - Meanwhile, a Bitcoin life insurer, raises $19 million at $100 million valuation
Fortune, June 6, 2023. - What the anti-mining bill means for the crypto industry in Texas
Cointelegraph, May 30, 2023.
Public service coverage
- Report: What States Are the Best for Data Innovation?
Government Technology, July 31, 2017. - CalData Project Seeks to Improve Data Use Across State Agencies
Government Technology, March 27, 2017. - California to clean up messy open data with metadata
StateScoop, 2017. - California's Open Data Portal Goes Open Source for the Apps
Route Fifty, September 1, 2016. - This Week in Civic Tech: California Launches First True Open Data Portal
Government Technology, September 1, 2016. - California governor appoints permanent CIO, chief data officer
StateScoop, July 1, 2016. - Inaugural Chief Data Officer Appointed in California
Government Technology, July 1, 2016.
Standard Treasury and earlier career
- Standard Treasury (YC S13) Joins Silicon Valley Bank
Y Combinator, August 6, 2015. - Silicon Valley Bank Eyes API-Based Banking
PYMNTS, August 7, 2015. - Silicon Valley Bank acqui-hires Y Combinator startup Standard Treasury
Silicon Valley Business Journal, August 6, 2015. - 30 Under 30: Enterprise Technology
Forbes, 2015. - 2014 Innovators to Watch: The Alphabetical List
Bank Automation News, July 1, 2014. - Top 8 Memes and Themes from Bank Innovation 2014
Finovate, March 6, 2014. - YC Startup Standard Treasury Plans To Make Millions
Business Insider via Yahoo Finance, July 18, 2013. - YC-Backed Standard Treasury Aims To Make Software That Eats Commercial Banking
TechCrunch, July 9, 2013.
Writing
Published articles and CEO letters
My writing has appeared in the Financial Times, Slate, the American Banker, San Francisco Chronicle, The Mercury News, San Francisco Examiner, TechCrunch, BankInnovation,Blockworks, CoinDesk and more:
- Insurtech's next phase runs through Bermuda
Bermuda Re, August 10, 2026. - Crypto for Advisors: Bitcoin: planning for inheritance
CoinDesk, June 25, 2026. - 2025: Letter from the CEO
Meanwhile, published April 2026. (2025 reporting year.) - Bitcoin Treasuries Aren't Arbitrage. They're the Next Endowments
Institutional Investor, September 2, 2025. - 2024: Letter from the CEO
Meanwhile, 2024 reporting year. - Crypto for Advisors: Bitcoin Inheritance Strategies
CoinDesk, April 10, 2025. - California doesn't need DOGE, but there's plenty of wasteful spending and bureaucracy to cut
CalMatters, March 12, 2025. - Why a U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Is Critical to Fending Off China
Coindesk, December 31, 2024. - Kamala Harris's Unrealized Capital Gains Tax Would Hurt All Crypto Investors
Coindesk, October 2, 2024. - Crypto investors must embrace new tax rules or risk falling behind
Blockworks, July 24, 2024. - Bitcoin's Future as Currency
CoinDesk, April 1, 2024. - How Clear and Effective Crypto Regulations are Born
CoinDesk, October 16, 2023. - Signals: The Silicon Valley Bank that never was
This Week in Fintech, March 22, 2023. - Bitcoin Beyond the Currency -- the Disruption of Industries
Nasdaq, August 1, 2023. - With so little data collected, SF can't be accountable on Prop. C spending ' or any other
San Francisco Chronicle, November 8, 2018. - Build a public bank in S.F.
San Francisco Examiner, May 17, 2018. -
Vote your values with your dollars: Support an SF public bank
San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 2018. - Fintech in the US is stymied by old-fashioned regulators
Financial Times, April 16, 2018. (Read on my blog.) - Analog Regulators Can't Keep Up With the Digital Age: To regulate new technologies like self-driving cars, we need new policymaking tools
Slate, March 28, 2018. - Regulators need to step up their game to stop tech-based discrimination
American Banker, March 7, 2018. - Financial technology matures as government steps in
TechCrunch, June 19, 2016. - Tech industry, regulators' relationship needs a reboot
San Jose Mercury News, March 7, 2016. - California should take its business to community banks
San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday Insight section, February 14, 2016.
(No paywall here on my blog). - Why I'm Mentoring for America
Code for America's Blogging for America, November 1, 2013. - Ultimately, banks are "big data" and technology companies (letter to the editor)
Financial Times, October 4, 2013 . - Introducing the idea of an open-source suite for municipal governments
Originally published by the Harvard Ash Center, December 5, 2012; archived on my blog. - Fairness in Civic Technology and City Services
Living Cities Blog, December 03, 2012. - Dreaming Bigger in the Civic Technology Movement
Living Cities Blog, August 06, 2012. - The Other Open Source for the Civic Sector
Google's Policy by the Numbers Blog, May 29, 2012. - A Job Vital to the State's Poor Goes Unfilled
Albany Times-Union, November 12, 2011. - Townsend, Z., Buckley, S. P, Harada, M., Scott, M. A. "The Choice Between Fixed and Random Effects", in The SAGE Handbook of Multilevel Modeling, Scott, M.A., Simonoff, J. and Marx, B.D. (eds.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Blog essays
Selected essays from my blog:
- Now and Meanwhile: Two Worlds of Finance, October 29, 2025.
- Why Agentic AI Needs a Credit Infrastructure, Not Just a Payments Layer, July 5, 2025.
- Process vs data: who wins in the vertical AI race, May 7, 2025.
- Know Your Enemy: How Three Years at McKinsey Shaped My Second Startup, May 4, 2025.
- Idiot to insider: the basics of building a life insurer, December 11, 2024.
- The 100-Year Startup: Life insurance and abundance, December 4, 2024.
- Winning the AI application layer will require vertical business models, October 25, 2024.
- Empathy on entrance price: Bridge.xyz and Astranis, October 21, 2024.
- Digital Only: The Challengers Taking on Big Banking in the UK, April 18, 2018.
- Fintech in the US is stymied by old-fashioned regulators, April 2018. (Financial Times op-ed, republished on my blog.)
- Let's Get Organized and Fix Housing Affordability in San Francisco, April 11, 2016.
- Building a Fair and Functioning San Francisco Together, April 5, 2016.
- Broken Promises: The Housing Market in San Francisco (And Ten Ideas to Fix It), March 30, 2016.
- Does the California Fair Pay Act Go Far Enough?, March 15, 2016.
- California Should Take Its Business to Community Banks, February 2016. (San Francisco Chronicle op-ed, republished on my blog.)
- Analyzing Some (Miscited) Entrepreneurship Research, September 8, 2015.
- Standard Treasury Joins Silicon Valley Bank, August 6, 2015.
- What Business Is Square In Exactly?, July 29, 2015.
- Standard Treasury's Series A Pitch Deck, July 28, 2015.
- My Brief Time Fighting Human Trafficking, March 31, 2015.
- Standard Treasury as a Startup Bank, January 13, 2015.
- My Mental Health Story: Depression, Plagiarism, and Analysis, October 29, 2014.
- Losing 58.3 Lbs For Science, October 10, 2014.
- Building the Next Generation of Financial Infrastructure, August 28, 2014.
- Mental Health, Trauma, and Startup Founders, August 22, 2014.
- Founders and Mental Health, June 16, 2014.
- APIs, App Stores, and the Era of Mass Customization in Banking, April 21, 2014.
- Startup Banking's Looming Leviathan, April 16, 2014.
- Going Through Y Combinator (S13): Nine Lessons Learned, Mar 4, 2014.
(Translated into Japanese) - Five Lessons from Building A Great Core Team at Standard Treasury, Feb 25, 2014.
- Building A Founding Team at Standard Treasury, Feb 24, 2014.
- The Path Not Taken by Simple (Bank) to Remake Finance, Feb 20, 2014.
(Republished at Bank Innovation) - Giving Credit Card Processing Away, Nov 18, 2013.
- A (Successful) YC S13 Application, Oct 18, 2013.
- Advice on the YC Application, Oct 17, 2013.
- Getting in to YC, Oct 15, 2013.
- Why I Invest in Online-to-Offline Businesses, Oct 8, 2013.
- Ultimately, Banks are "Big Data" and Technology Companies, Oct 4, 2013.
(Republished from the Financial Times) - Credit Card Processing as a Commodity Business, Sep 27, 2013.
- Credit Card Processing is a Hard Business, Sep 26, 2013.
McKinsey research
I have written for McKinsey & Company:
- Financial data unbound: The value of open data for individuals and institutions
McKinsey Global Institute Article, June 24, 2021. - Disrupting the disruptors: Business building for banks
Financial Services Article, April 15, 2021. - What the embedded-finance and banking-as-a-service trends mean for financial services
Banking and Securities matters, March 1, 2021. - COVID-19: Making the case for robust digital financial infrastructure
McKinsey Global Institute Article, January 26, 2021. - How US customers’ attitudes to fintech are shifting during the pandemic
Financial Services Article, December 17, 2020. - Ecosystem 2.0: Climbing to the next level
McKinsey Quarterly, September 11, 2020. - Seven ways for financial institutions to react to financial-technology companies
Banking and Securities matters, July 27, 2020. - The emerging era of PaaS: payments as a service
Global Payments Report, September 2019. - Scanning the fintech landscape: 10 disruptive models
Banking and Securities matters, May 8, 2019.
Podcasts and video
- The Bitcoin Strategy Rich Families Are Quietly Using
The Mark Moss Show, June 13, 2026. - Building Bitcoin Wealth Through Trusts, Insurance & Inheritance
Bitcoin 2026 conference panel, April 29, 2026. - Zac Townsend, CEO at Meanwhile — PIR Ep. 767
Profiles in Risk, November 18, 2025. - Reimagining Long-Term Financial Planning with Bitcoin & Life Insurance
InsureTech Connect Vegas keynote, October 15, 2025. (Program listing.) - Bitcoin Meets Life Insurance: Zac Townsend on Generational Wealth & BTC Legacy
The Modern Insurance Agent, September 11, 2025. - Zac Townsend: Insurance for the Crypto Era
Making Markets, August 1, 2025. - Why Bitcoin Life Insurance Might Be the Next Big Thing
The Crypto Mavericks, July 31, 2025. (Apple, Spotify, Ivoox) - Meanwhile - Bitcoin Life Insurance
Brave New Coin, July 31, 2025. - Zac Townsend (Meanwhile) on Bitcoin Life Insurance
On The Brink with Castle Island, July 21, 2025. (Podbean, Listen Notes, Player FM) - Zac Townsend & Carsten Ragborg: Bitcoin Life Insurance | TRP #145
The Reinsurance Podcast, July 21, 2025. (Apple, Spotify, Poddtoppen) - Meanwhile CEO: Bitcoin Drives Innovation, New Opportunities in Life Insurance Market
AM Best, July 15, 2025. (Apple, Spotify) - The Bitcoin Insurance Revolution: Insights from Meanwhile's Co-Founder Zac Townsend
Build With Bitcoin, July 9, 2025. (Apple, Spotify) - Zac Townsend, CEO of Meanwhile, on Bitcoin Life Insurance and The Future of Bitcoin Finance
Cryptonews Spotlight, June 10, 2025. (Apple, Website) - How Bitcoin is Disrupting Traditional Financial Products with Zac Townsend | SLP662
Stephan Livera, May 19, 2025. (Apple, Podbay) - How Smart Bitcoin Investors Pay Less Tax & Never Sell w/ Zac Townsend
Milk Road, May 13, 2025. (Podchaser) - Life insurance and your money, with Zac Townsend
Complex Systems Podcast, May 8th, 2025. (Apple, Spotify) - Bitcoin Life Insurance? How Zac Townsend and Meanwhile Are Rebuilding a $1T Industry
Entrepreneur Perspectives, May 8, 2025. (Apple, Spotify, Website) - Why Most People Will Lose Their Bitcoin When They Die | Zac Townsend
The Mark Moss Show, March 19, 2025. (Apple, Spotify, Omny) - Meanwhile's CEO Zac Townsend on the world's first Bitcoin life insurance company
Smart Humans, Vincent Private Markets, January 19, 2025. (Apple, Spotify, Website, Transcript). - Here's how Meanwhile is trying to unleash the multitrillion dollar insurance industry onto bitcoin
The Scoop, The Block, December 19, 2024. (Article) - Transforming Insurance with Bitcoin: A Conversation with Zac Townsend, CEO of Meanwhile
The Leadership in Insurance Podcast - Insurtech & Innovation, October 28, 2024. - Life Insurance On A Bitcoin Standard with Zac Townsend
What is Money?, August 13, 2024. (Also a podcast) - Bitcoin Life Insurance Is Coming Fast!
Pomp Podcast, April 22, 2024. (Also a podcast) - Life Insurance for the Bitcoin Economy with Meanwhile's Zac Townsend
Infinite Frontiers, February 29, 2024. - Bitcoin backed insurance? Zac Townsend CEO of Meanwhile is making it happen
The Insurance Podcast, Feb 20, 2024. -
Bitcoin Life Insurance with Zac Townsend
Stephan Livera Podcast, January 31, 2024. -
Zac Townsend Interview - Building a Bitcoin Life Insurance Product
Thinking Crypto, December 19, 2023. -
Life Bitcoin Insurance and AI Mapping with Zac Townsend and Ali Husain
The Charlie Shrem Show, December 12, 2023. -
Life Insurance, Now In Bitcoin with Zac Townsend (Meanwhile) -
WAGMI Ventures Podcast, December 7, 2023. - Bitcoin pops above $30,000 as WisdomTree and Invesco join the bitcoin ETF rush:
CNBC Crypto World, June 21, 2023. - Meanwhile CEO on Future of Bitcoin Life Insurance
Coindesk TV, June 9, 2023.