Innovation intelligence brief
Innovation intelligence brief
Virtual Product Insurance for the loss of virtual equipment, virtual currency or losses due to account hacking, operator confiscation or banning of the gaming account.
What became of it
Blocked · Low confidence · Last verified 2026-10-17
Research is blocked: there was not enough public evidence to establish what became of this innovation. Nothing below should be read as a verified 2026 status.
As catalogued
Cover for online gamers buying virtual items on the 5173.com trading platform against loss of virtual equipment, game currency or accounts through seller misconduct, theft, operator recovery or official account bans; co-designed by PICC P&C and the platform.
2026 reality
No evidence was found on whether PICC still offers the 5173.com virtual property cover. Comparable online-game account and virtual property covers are offered in 2026 by other Chinese insurers, e.g. ZhongAn (2026 policy wording tied to designated trading platforms) and CPIC P&C.
PICC P&C and 5173 began cooperating in September 2012 and PICC issued the first online-game virtual property policy on 8 May 2013; more than 100,000 player-transactions were reportedly covered in the first month. Later developments were not found.
an early example of embedded insurance for digital assets in partnership with a trading platform; the concept has since been replicated by other Chinese insurers.
REVIEW · Verified the September 2012 cooperation, 8 May 2013 first policy and 100,000+ first-month figure in the 17173.com report. Removed the Xinhua/cnfin source, which covers Ping An and Tencent, not PICC. Remains BLOCKED.
Documented evidence
Press article
Research interpretation
Classification paths, as catalogued, connect this example to the original insurance digitalization research models.