On Friday, the Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) announced that it would be the first cryptocurrency platform among the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland) to list its shares on the pan-European Euronext exchange. NBX was founded in 2018 by Bjørn Kjos, who also founded Norwegian Air Shuttle and Bank Norwegian.
NBX has eight cryptocurrencies listed and around 20 trading pairs available. The exchange is approved and monitored by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority. NBX claims that it is the only platform in the Nordic countries that insures customers’ cryptocurrencies through the Ledger Vault $ 150 million insurance pool that pays out if a covered event occurs.
Last December, NBX raised $ 6.6 million through a stake and sale. It would not raise any further capital in anticipation of the Euronext listing. Last year, the company’s market cap on the OTC exchanges rose 142% to $ 56.52 million. It has over 25,000 customers and processed $ 101.18 million in the first nine months of the year.
CEO Stig Kjos-Mathisen commented on the development as follows:
‘We are currently well equipped to realize our ambitions in the development of technologies and products as well as customer acquisition in the short term. As a listed company, however, we will be relevant to a much broader investor base and will be well equipped for future capital requirements in order to take advantage of the stock market.
Related: Bitcoin Capital AG is launching two crypto ETPs on SIX Swiss Exchange
The adoption of cryptocurrencies in the Nordic countries has been slow, although regulators have softened their stance on overseeing digital assets. Norway’s financial administration sees crypto activities in the country as largely unregulated and only oversees companies for money laundering. In Finland, fewer than 10 companies operate in the digital currency area. In Sweden, the first exchange-traded product, Polkadot, was recently launched on the country’s Nordic growth market exchange. As for Denmark, the country’s largest bank is calling for caution when adopting cryptocurrencies, but does not support interventions.
Comments are closed.