Following a recent proposal by Norway’s central bank to potentially offer a state-issued cryptocurrency, it would seem Norway is slowly changing its stance on cryptocurrencies. In the past, local Norwegian exchanges have struggled to break through regulations in the country and some, such as Bitmynt AS, getting involved in lawsuits.
Recently, however, Norwegian Air CEO Bjorn Kjos has launched his own cryptocurrency exchange, Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX). Kjos’s son-in-law Stig Kjos-Mathisen is chairman of the exchange, which raised $250,000 in its initial bout of funding.
In an interview with mine24, Kjos-Mathisen was quoted as saying that the move is likely to see Norwegian Airlines offering cryptocurrency payment methods for its flight tickets and other services. They have recently concluded talks with the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) which he believes were positive, despite the DFSA’s careful approach to blockchain technology.
NBX has been in discussions with several other airlines and cargo companies about implementing cryptographic solutions to the airline industry. They aim to create a ‘regulatory sandbox’ for the blockchain industry at one of Norway’s major airports, where financial technology companies can test new products.
Norwegian is Scandinavia’s largest airline and 9th largest low-cost carrier in the world. It served 30 million customers last year on flights to 150 destinations around the world.
Image From Shutterstock
