The Digital Executive – Ep 1152

“Decentralizing Trust: Mike Miglio on Reinventing Insurance for the DeFi Era”

Date: November 24, 2025
Guest: Mike Miglio (CEO & Founder, DN)
Host: Brian, Coruzant Technologies

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights the intersection of decentralized finance (DeFi) and insurance, as Brian interviews Mike Miglio, CEO and founder of DN, a decentralized marketplace for risk and insurance. The discussion explores how DN is pioneering new trust mechanisms for DeFi, the challenges of underwriting in this emerging landscape, and what the future holds as decentralized insurance aims to expand beyond crypto-native markets.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Redefining Trust in Insurance Through DeFi

• Traditional Trust Model vs. Decentralized Trust
  • In traditional markets, insurance relies on historical data and institutional reputation.
  • In DeFi, trust has been based on the reputation of associated VCs, exchanges, or influencers, leading to hype-driven traction irrespective of underlying merit.
• How DN is Different:
  • DN transforms DeFi insurance into a transparent, on-chain market where participants “put their money where their mouth is.” Trust is expressed financially—those underwriting risk allocate capital accordingly.
  • Quote:
    “What we are doing is transforming… the DeFi [trust layer] into a transparent on-chain market so people are able to put their money where their mouth is.”
    — Mike Miglio [01:47]

2. Marketplace Model: Underwriting Discipline & Capital Stability

• Difficulties in Pricing DeFi Risk:
  • There’s no actuarial data spanning centuries, only about a decade’s worth, and it’s unorganized and fragmented.
• DN’s Solution:
  • Opens insurance to a free market—any protocol/user can add risk pools; all pools are siloed, with claims 100% collateralized.
  • Pricing uses a bonding curve model (developed via Bridge Mutual, Miglio’s previous protocol):
    • As utilization nears 90%, prices rise steeply, increasing underwriter rewards and attracting more liquidity.
    • Prices adjust in real time based on pool activity.
  • Quote:
    “We make it a free market… all the different protocols within DeFi… have siloed pools, so the capital is all distinct and doesn’t overlap and all the claims are 100% collateralized.”
    — Mike Miglio [03:28]
• Notable Moment:
  • The system’s transparency and modularity offer stakeholders flexibility and up-to-date, accurate pricing.

3. Scaling Across Chains: Strategic & UX Challenges

• Ecosystem Expansion:
  • DN is launching across ~150 chains and intends to keep scaling.
  • Main Strategic Challenge:
    • It’s not backend coding (“that part is quick and easy and scalable”—[06:13]), but rather optimizing the front end so users aren’t overwhelmed by information.
    • Protocol scans wallet activity and customizes the dashboard, surfacing most relevant options.
  • Quote:
    “Anyone can add any chain, add any protocol from any chain… we’ll have the newest and hottest products and a risk marketplace open for it within minutes of it launching.”
    — Mike Miglio [06:02]

4. Bridging DeFi & Traditional Finance: Milestones for Adoption

• Core Principle:
  • The ethos is to eliminate regulatory friction and middlemen. There’s no centralized arbiter except for claim adjudicators.
• Next Steps:
  • Launching a true DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization):
    • Control shifts to token holders, who enact changes by voting—no single controlling authority remains.
    • This structure makes the protocol functionally unstoppable and resistant to regulatory shutdown, since actions are community-driven and fully coded.
  • Quote:
    “The whole point of doing a decentralized protocol in my opinion is to avoid all of the regulatory friction… make it direct from underwriter to policy buyer.”
    — Mike Miglio [07:26]
    • And:
      “You can’t turn it off, you can’t shut it down, or at least I can’t. The token holders would have to all collectively vote to make a change…”
      — Mike Miglio [08:55]
• Path to Traditional Insurance:
  • Envisions starting with life insurance and real property insurance (easier to verify than car insurance, due to available data and tangible evidence).

5. Vision & Roadmap: What Success Looks Like

• Decentralization First:
  • Full transition to community governance, with various third-party front-ends accessing DN’s smart contract network.
• Expanding Product Scope:
  • Move from DeFi-only coverage to real estate, health, life, energy, weather insurance, etc.
• “Trust Backbone” of Finance:
  • Envisions DN’s free-market-generated risk scores as the de facto measure for protocols and assets—more accurate than audits or media opinions.
  • Quote:
    “Success would mean DN becoming the trust backbone of… risks at large… Every protocol, every asset, chains carrying verifiable risk scores powered by DN markets and metrics created by our free markets.”
    — Mike Miglio [11:09]
• Insurance as Prediction Market:
  • “Insurance being essentially a prediction market where you have to prove a loss and you get made whole… what’s cool is like you can see what the world really thinks via… the polls because people put their money where their mouth is and typically they tend to be right.”
    — Mike Miglio [11:52]
• Social Impact and Earning Opportunity:
  • Envisions a global system where adjudicators (token holders) participate in claims processing as their job, earning rewards that could be life-changing in developing economies.
  • Quote:
    “There’s no employer, there’s no again no middleman. It’s just… part of the system and that’s a great opportunity… for people in second and third world countries where the reward amount is actually a significant sum for them.”
    — Mike Miglio [12:37]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Decentralized trust means people truly put their money where their mouth is.” — Mike Miglio [01:47]
• “We make it a free market… claims are 100% collateralized.” — Mike Miglio [03:28]
• “The big difficulty… is optimizing the front end so that users don’t feel inundated with information.” — Mike Miglio [06:27]
• “You can’t turn it off, you can’t shut it down, or at least I can’t. The token holders would have to all collectively vote…” — Mike Miglio [08:55]
• “Insurance is essentially a prediction market—put your money where your mouth is, and usually, the markets are right.” — Mike Miglio [11:52]
• “My dream would be thousands of claims happening on DN every single day… people who are token holders… this becomes like their job.” — Mike Miglio [12:20]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:44] — Redefining trust in DeFi and moving away from hype and reputation.
• [02:59] — DN’s marketplace model and how pricing/underwriting works in a transparent, real-time market.
• [05:27] — Scaling across 150+ chains; challenges in UX and information overload.
• [07:23] — The regulatory advantage and DAO governance structure.
• [10:15] — Roadmap to community governance; expanding to traditional insurance areas.
• [11:09] — Vision for DN as the financial trust backbone and its societal impact.

Final Thoughts

Mike Miglio presents a compelling case for why DN could transform both decentralized and traditional insurance markets—offering transparency, modularity, and a truly global, community-driven network. The protocol’s future lies in radical decentralization, real-time risk analytics, and empowering individuals everywhere to participate directly in the insurance value chain.

For more on upcoming launches and developments:

• Website: dein.fi
• Social handles: @dnfi on X (Twitter) and Telegram
• Expected launch: Q1 2026