In my conversation with @c_omvik, it was mentioned that @nbxcom is chain-agnostic, builds on @0xPolygon and @Cardano, and lets users stake. For institutions, custody ranges from full custody at NBX to self-hosted setups with guardrails, which opens access to DeFi and smart contracts so they can put some of their funds to work. He also mentioned that, since Norway sits in the EEA but outside the EU, it misses out on the EU’s bilateral agreements, so a Latvian license gives NBX a foot inside the EU. The banking license will also let it take fiat deposits, tokenize them and lend against Bitcoin. Additionally, NBX chose Latvia because its AML team has been there since 2018 and the specialized banking license has lower capital requirements. Another thing that captured my attention is that Christian’s pitch to ETP issuers is NBX’s full regulatory stack under one roof: a public listing in Norway, a MiCA license covering seven of ten crypto services passported across Europe, and an EMI license. He adds first-hand builder knowledge of Cardano, which he sees as an edge with Cardano-related issuers. We also touched upon the topic of gold. Christian noted that selling physical gold in Norway is slow, while tokenized gold on NBX trades 24/7 and is also composable, so once the banking license is in place, it could serve as loan collateral without selling it. Christian says that is hard to do with paper gold or an ETP.

@c_omvik (@nbxcom) says that with over 1,200 registered VASPs and only around 250 approved CASPs under MiCA at the time of the recording, many firms were left without a license. NBX offers to combine its regulatory stack and know-how with their customer base, and it has already struck a deal to bring another Norwegian exchange’s customers onto its platform. Beyond Europe, NBX is in talks with on- and off-ramp providers in Africa after seeing its USDM stablecoin flow through the MENA region to Nigeria and Ethiopia. Christian argues that institutions understand the promise of faster and cheaper transfers but still need proof of trust through regulation, audits and a banking license before they commit. NBX’s last annual report shows a bigger AML and compliance team than developer team, and he says the firm holds itself to a strict self-imposed standard on top of what regulation requires.

@c_omvik says @nbxcom did not issue its dollar stablecoin just to compete on exchanges. He explains that stablecoins were born out of trading volatility, and "serving the corridor" principle means giving the coin a path into the daily lives of the 93% of people who have no exposure to crypto. His example is a Norwegian ship crew management company with 30,000 employees on a dollar payroll, where NBX is piloting payments to a hundred or a thousand of them through the Flip app. The recipients can spend the stablecoin with a @Visa card or withdraw cash through large remittance players such as @WesternUnion and @MoneyGram. Christian says Poland’s decision not to implement MiCA left Polish exchanges in limbo, and in his view the existing złoty stablecoins focus on trading at a time when speculative activity is low, while Polish workers in Norway sending money home keep losing value to slow transfers and high fees. NBX wants to give a złoty pegged stablecoin daily use through the Flip app and card spending, since the app grew quickly in Poland a few years ago and transaction velocity is what would make the coin a significant income source.