Compass Mining, a firm that brokers bitcoin mining machines and hosting services primarily to retail clients, said it is offering its first protection product so that customers can safeguard their bitcoin mining machines.

Insurance options for miners are severely limited, in part because traditional insurers have had a hard time coming up with plans for the nascent industry. The new "low cost" plans protect in case of fire, theft, government action and electrical damage, said Will Foxley, director of content at Compass and a CoinDesk contributor.

"Bitcoin mining is a burgeoning, young industry. Simple protection products like this should be considered a financial primitive," Jameson Nunney, the company's chief strategy officer, said in the statement.

(by Eliza Gkritsi)