When most people think of Norway, they picture fjords, Vikings and a sovereign wealth fund the size of a small planet. Perhaps some salmon farming as well. What they probably don’t picture is a blockchain startup scene that is punching well above its weight by global standards. But that’s exactly what’s happening.
Oslo has become something of an unlikely hub for crypto innovation, producing everything from unicorn-valued data analytics platforms to regulated exchanges that have captured half the Nordic market.
From DeFi infrastructure builders to crypto tax tools, Norway is proving – with some conviction – that you don’t need the Silicon Valley sunshine to build world-class Web3 companies.
The Small Country With A Big Blockchain Appetite
After years of dependence on oil revenues, the country’s economic identity was rocked by the oil price slumps that happened in the mid-2010s. What followed then was a surprisingly swift move towards tech and digital innovation.
Norway already had the technical talent and a population comfortable with digital banking and cashless payments, so blockchain fit quite naturally into that story.
Today, there are around 78 blockchain startups, with 20 having secured funding and one – Dune Analytics – achieving full unicorn status, with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. Norway also happens to hold the highest crypto ownership rate among the Nordic states, with roughly 9.2% of Norwegians owning crypto. It’s safe to say that the market is certainly ripe.
The Startups Fuelling Oslo’s Web3 Powerhouse Status
Norway’s blockchain scene is diverse by design and you’ll find regulated exchanges alongside data unicorns, tax tools and cutting-edge payment networks.
So, who are some of these startups tackling a different corner of the Web3 world from their Oslo base?
1. Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX)
Founded in 2018, Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) is a regulated cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy, sell and manage digital assets. It also lets merchants accept crypto payments.
The compliance-first platform is one of the country’s most established names in the industry which helped to solidify Norway’s credibility in the crypto exchange space before the current wave of regulation made that approach mandatory for everyone else.
To date, they have raised $8.75 million, with a post-IPO round of $1.2 million closing in March 2024.
2. Firi
Originally launched as MiraiEx, the company rebranded as Firi and has become the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the Nordics. They have built their strategy around trust, UX simplicity and working with regulators rather than around them.
A Nordic Blockchain Association survey found that 44% of Nordic crypto survey respondents were Firi clients, showcasing their extraordinary market penetration in such a competitive field.
They have been MiCA-compliant since 2019 and have filed for their license in Denmark, giving them a runway into the broader European market.
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3. Dune Analytics
Dune Analytics remains one of Norway’s top blockchain success stories. The platform began as a basic tool for querying Ethereum data, founded in 2018.
After a $ million seed round in 2020 and an $8 million Series A in late 2021, the company closed a $69.4 million Series B in February of 2022 led by Coatue and participation from Multicoin Capital and Dragonfly Capital. That round valued Dune at $1 billion, making it Norway’s only blockchain unicorn.
Now, their total funding sits at $79.4 million. The company currently supports data across more than 60 blockchain networks and is used by traders, analysts, DeFi protocols and institutional investors globally.
4. Reltime
Reltime has built a private Layer-1 Proof of Authority blockchain with zero transaction fees, supporting everything from non-custodial wallets to payment solutions and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
In late 2023, they secured a substantial funding amount from the Research Council of Norway for a three year research project exploring how 5G mobile handsets can serve as node validators in its blockchain.
The company has listed its RTC token on global exchanges including BitMart and CoinTiger, and have subsidiaries in Lithuania and El Salvador.
5. Coinpanda
Coinpanda set out to solve one of crypto’s most universal headaches – taxes. The platform offers cloud-based portfolio tracking and crypto tax reporting to help users calculate obligations, reconcile transaction errors and generate compliance reports.
It supports over 800 integrations covering exchanges, wallets and blockchains, making it one of the most comprehensive tools of its kind available anywhere.
The company has been able to create a loyal user base by doing one thing extremely well at a time when tax authorities are paying much closer attention to crypto gains.
6. K33 (formerly Arcane Crypto)
K33 is a research-led digital assets brokerage which serves clients across EMEA with market intelligence, multi-exchange brokerage services and managed funds.
Its research arm, K33 Research, is a widely cited source for Nordic crypto data. In fact, it was K33 Research that tracked Norway’s sovereign wealth fund (NBIM) growing its indirect Bitcoin exposure by 192% year-on-year in 2025, reaching an estimated 7,161 BTC worth around $844 million.
The company has also filed for a MiCA license to position itself as a compliant, institutional-grade platform for the next phase of European crypto adoption.
