The aim of the article was to analyse the benefits and risks associated with the use of Blockchain technology (blockchain) in the area of agricultural insurance. Literature analysis and case study method were used to evaluate the potential of blockchain. The analysis covered solutions and applications offered by private companies on commercial digital platforms and the insurance offer available or planned to be available on platforms created with the participation and financial involvement of the public sector. The conducted analysis allows concluding that solutions based on Blockchain, combined with additional functions of integrating and analysing data from the environment, may significantly improve insurance protection and risk management in agriculture. The reliance on the data registered and checked by all the nodes of the network increases the certainty and transparency of the transactions on the insurance market and at the same time leads to the reduction of the information asymmetry, which is the main reason for the market failure in the segment of agricultural insurance. Smart insurance contracts and solutions assuming automatic payments and indemnity payments (e.g. in stable cryptocurrencies) can further reduce transaction costs and improve contractual relations between insurers and insuring farmers. As a result, Blockchain can increase the pool of available insurance and coverage in the agricultural sector. In particular, this technology strengthens the potential to develop parametric insurance that focuses on weather and climate change risks. On the other hand, Blockchain technology is also associated with certain problems and risks (such as the risk of deliberate contamination of the blockchain with unverified data at the input or of low quality, the problem of a large carbon footprint of public P2P networks, or the still uncertain shape of regulations and legal solutions relating to smart contracts making payments in cryptocurrencies). Nevertheless, it is to be expected that the interest in digitizing agricultural insurance based on Blockchain technology will grow. This will be influenced by the increased frequency of disaster events caused by climate change and the rising costs of operating traditional insurance instruments for the risks involved in agriculture.
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