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The news that the Norwegian airline and Scandinavias biggest was moving into the crypto space was a welcomed addition for the entire space, especially during recent times when we’ve seen Bitcoin struggle.

The news came as a bit of a surprise that Norwegian Air in the near future would not only adding cryptocurrencies as a payment method but also that they were planning to open up their own cryptocurrency exchange.

The exchange goes by the name of The Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) and it is yet to open, but with talks of it going live in August.

The owners of Norwegian Air are betting on Bitcoin and crypto

At first instance it might come as a bit of a surprise, but when you look closer you find that the family who owns Norwegian Air – the Kjos are not only welcoming the technology of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, but they are also betting that Bitcoin will have a price positive future.

Lars Ola Kjos the son of Bjorn Kjos, founder and chairman of the airline has placed his money like many others in Bitcoin recently. By the end of 2017 it became known that Lars Ola had bought Bitcoin to the value of NOK 3.5 million, about $350,000.

Buying tickets and earning crypto cash points

With the upcoming addition of cryptocurrencies the customers of Norwegian Air would not only be able to buy airline tickets and other items with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but they would also be able to earn cash points

“NBX’s customers are given the opportunity to earn” cash points “on trades on the stock exchange, as well as on payments made through the payment solution NBX stock for the airline” Alexander Kjos-Mathisen DN.NO

NBX – a secure way for Norwegian Air to enter the crypto space

It has become known for those close to the family and media that the Kjos family and owners of the Norwegian airline have firm beliefs that cryptocurrencies and blockchain are here to stay.

With the soon to open crypto exchange they had a way of entering the cryptocurrency market on what they called better and more secure terms. Scandinavians are expected to follow this crypto exchange release with interest, early days to see if it can provide any competition the big ones like Binance and Coinbase.

“We see that there is a need for a serious marketplace where one can, among other things, buy and sell crypto currency, says general manager of Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX)” Alexander Kjos-Mathisen E24

A lot of current talks on a government and national level in Norway and many other countries are still focused on the associated risks with cryptocurrencies and the lack of industry standard KYC and AML features.

So much of the initiatives have been difficult to get past initial frictions when it comes to building crypto services. But with the creation of their own crypto exchange they can create one that complies fully with regulation and also attract a younger generation who’s got a genuine interest in cryptocurrencies today.

The future is blockchain and crypto for Norwegian

It’s great to see that further investments are being made from serious companies in this space, and it is clear that Norwegian Air’s interest in cryptocurrencies and the technology behind it, the blockchain is a longterm bet.

“We look at things that are easy to scale.Among other things, having crypto currency as payment in the airline and connecting air cargo to blockchains” Alexander Kjos-Mathisen DN.NO