German insurer Allianz expects the technology underpinning virtual currency bitcoin to encourage trading in catastrophe bonds, which transfer the risk of natural disasters such as hurricanes to investors. “Cat bond” payments between insurers and investors can take weeks or even months after a storm hits, but the use of “smart contracts”—agreements that are automatically executed via the blockchain when a set of predetermined conditions are met—could cut this down to hours or a few days, Allianz said.