The fifth session of the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Seminar Series, hosted by UK CBT and backed by Exponential Science, featured Sree Sanakkayala, Founder of Mintara Labs, who explored on-chain insurance and risk transfer mechanisms in decentralised finance (DeFi). Mintara Labs aims to create insurance protocols native to blockchain systems.
Sree opened by highlighting smart contract vulnerabilities in DeFi, noting billions lost to hacks and exploits over the past year. With traditional insurers reluctant to cover blockchain risks,
Central to his talk was a two-token framework: senior tokens carry lower risk and payout priority, while junior tokens assume higher risk for greater potential returns. This enables on-chain risk transfer without intermediaries, with pricing set by token supply and demand on decentralised exchanges (DEX). The system could support a dynamic market for risk, with prediction markets and on-chain oracles enhancing transparency and automation.
Sree acknowledged challenges, including pricing complexity, liquidity management, and user experience, emphasizing the need to strike a balance between simple smart contract design and thorough security auditing.
The DLT Seminar Series connects industry experts and researchers to share technical insights on distributed ledger technologies and their practical applications.
