The global crypto exchange OKX, with over 5,000 employees, opens the Nordic crypto race with an official Nordic launch in Stockholm on June 17. In parallel, OKX is in the process of putting in place local growth teams in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The official launch takes place in the form of a side event during the Nordic Blockchain Conference, which this year will take place in Stockholm on June 17-18. On the events page, OKX describes itself as one of the world's leading digital asset exchanges, measured by trading volume, and with 60 million customers in over 100 countries.
Pictured: The first two local OKX recruiters in the Nordic countries: Mads Ribe (left) and Eva Liberg.
The OKX launch is not just another market entry — it marks the first offensive move in the Nordic region by a global crypto giant to exploit the huge opportunities arising from the EU's new MICA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation. With the MICA license, OKX can now “passported” its regulated services across all EU/EEA countries, providing access to a market of 450 million inhabitants, but also setting a new standard for compliance and innovation in the region. OKX was also early on to get a MICA license for the whole of Europe.
To support the Nordic initiative, OKX has been working for some time to build a Nordic organisation with local resources. Norwegian Eva Liberg, who has experience from the Norwegian crypto exchange NBX, was one of OKX's first Nordic recruiters when she was hired as a Growth Associate last year. Earlier in 2025, Mads Ribe, who has been central to EY's blockchain and AI efforts, announced her move to OKX. Ribe's position is Deputy General Counsel, EMEA, where he oversees legal and regulatory matters.
We at Kaupr are also aware that OKX has hired Growth Associates both in Denmark and Finland, but these have not started in their new jobs yet. OKX has previously also had job advertisements where they have searched for Growth Manager and Community Manager. LATEST: Christoffer Fentz confirms to Kaupr that he has been hired as Growth Manager for OKX in Denmark. Fentz has, among other things, worked as a journalist for Danish technology media and is a blogger as well as the founder of Crypfo. Since April last year, he has been Community Manager for the Nordic Blockchain Association.
OKX's Nordic launch is a warning that competition in the Nordic crypto market is going to increase, where local crypto exchanges and crypto brokers will also face global competitors “on the ground”, and not just online. A few years ago, Binance had a strong Nordic visibility, but this has become weaker in recent years. Austrian Bitpanda, which today also has a license in Norway, is another player who now Expanding in Europe. Bybit has also shown interest in the Nordic region with a partnership with Nordic Blockchain Association, but their plans are certainly somewhat influenced by the big hack this winter from North Korean market players.
Among the larger Nordic players, Firi was the first to go outside its home market when in 2022 it entered Denmark. Firi has also announced a venture in Sweden, which has been put on hold for the time being. But CEO Thuc Hoang has over the past year built up a new management team and has also recruited Danish Mads Eberhard as an analyst.
As a MICA license can be transported across borders, Firi has also applied for a MICA license in Denmark, which is in the process of implementing MiCA, while Norway only recently received a own cryptolov supporting MiCA in place.
In Norway, K33, which is listed in Sweden, has recently announced that it will reach sees itself as a “Bitcoin Treasury Company”, a strategic venture for which they have also raised SEK 60 million. With a new strategy, expanded funding and Bitcoin on the balance sheet, there is good reason to believe that investors and potential partners both in Denmark, Sweden and Finland will look with fresh eyes on K33.
NBX also thinks Nordic, but then primarily in the form of partnerships to strengthen NBX's ambitions to become a crypto bank and bridge the gap between classical finance and crypto. Now most recently NBX entered into a cooperation agreement with Latavian Globitex about creating a neo-bank in the field of digital assets. NBX can also bring The Stablecoin Agreement With Moneta, they went to Europe.
In Sweden, Greenmarc, which owns the crypto exchange Trijo, has entered Finland through an acquisition of Northcrypto, and CEO Arvid Börje Ramberg has also announced that the company's acquisition strategy will continue.
Market leader Safello announced last year that it had ambitions to expanding outside of Sweden, and has already submitted its MICA application to the Swedish Finansinspektionen. Safello also has ambitions to grow in breadth and become a crypto bank.
In a Finnish media analysis, the local Finnish crypto exchanges Kvarn X, Coinmotion and Northcrypto are ranked the best and get better scores than global exchanges like Coinbase and Kucoin. According to Crypto Adoption Survey it is also in Finland, as in Norway and Sweden, the local stock exchanges that have the largest market shares.
In Denmark, there are no large pure crypto exchanges or brokers. But challenger bank Lunar has long offered crypto trading to its Danish and Swedish clients, and opened in January this year for crypto trading from Norwegian clients.
The global crypto exchange OKX, with over 5,000 employees, opens the Nordic crypto race with an official Nordic launch in Stockholm on June 17. In parallel, OKX is in the process of putting in place local growth teams in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The official launch takes place in the form of a side event during the Nordic Blockchain Conference, which this year will take place in Stockholm on June 17-18. On the events page, OKX describes itself as one of the world's leading digital asset exchanges, measured by trading volume, and with 60 million customers in over 100 countries.
Pictured: The first two local OKX recruiters in the Nordic countries: Mads Ribe (left) and Eva Liberg.
The OKX launch is not just another market entry — it marks the first offensive move in the Nordic region by a global crypto giant to exploit the huge opportunities arising from the EU's new MICA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation. With the MICA license, OKX can now “passported” its regulated services across all EU/EEA countries, providing access to a market of 450 million inhabitants, but also setting a new standard for compliance and innovation in the region. OKX was also early on to get a MICA license for the whole of Europe.
To support the Nordic initiative, OKX has been working for some time to build a Nordic organisation with local resources. Norwegian Eva Liberg, who has experience from the Norwegian crypto exchange NBX, was one of OKX's first Nordic recruiters when she was hired as a Growth Associate last year. Earlier in 2025, Mads Ribe, who has been central to EY's blockchain and AI efforts, announced her move to OKX. Ribe's position is Deputy General Counsel, EMEA, where he oversees legal and regulatory matters.
We at Kaupr are also aware that OKX has hired Growth Associates both in Denmark and Finland, but these have not started in their new jobs yet. OKX has previously also had job advertisements where they have searched for Growth Manager and Community Manager. LATEST: Christoffer Fentz confirms to Kaupr that he has been hired as Growth Manager for OKX in Denmark. Fentz has, among other things, worked as a journalist for Danish technology media and is a blogger as well as the founder of Crypfo. Since April last year, he has been Community Manager for the Nordic Blockchain Association.
OKX's Nordic launch is a warning that competition in the Nordic crypto market is going to increase, where local crypto exchanges and crypto brokers will also face global competitors “on the ground”, and not just online. A few years ago, Binance had a strong Nordic visibility, but this has become weaker in recent years. Austrian Bitpanda, which today also has a license in Norway, is another player who now Expanding in Europe. Bybit has also shown interest in the Nordic region with a partnership with Nordic Blockchain Association, but their plans are certainly somewhat influenced by the big hack this winter from North Korean market players.
Among the larger Nordic players, Firi was the first to go outside its home market when in 2022 it entered Denmark. Firi has also announced a venture in Sweden, which has been put on hold for the time being. But CEO Thuc Hoang has over the past year built up a new management team and has also recruited Danish Mads Eberhard as an analyst.
As a MICA license can be transported across borders, Firi has also applied for a MICA license in Denmark, which is in the process of implementing MiCA, while Norway only recently received a own cryptolov supporting MiCA in place.
In Norway, K33, which is listed in Sweden, has recently announced that it will reach sees itself as a “Bitcoin Treasury Company”, a strategic venture for which they have also raised SEK 60 million. With a new strategy, expanded funding and Bitcoin on the balance sheet, there is good reason to believe that investors and potential partners both in Denmark, Sweden and Finland will look with fresh eyes on K33.
NBX also thinks Nordic, but then primarily in the form of partnerships to strengthen NBX's ambitions to become a crypto bank and bridge the gap between classical finance and crypto. Now most recently NBX entered into a cooperation agreement with Latavian Globitex about creating a neo-bank in the field of digital assets. NBX can also bring The Stablecoin Agreement With Moneta, they went to Europe.
In Sweden, Greenmarc, which owns the crypto exchange Trijo, has entered Finland through an acquisition of Northcrypto, and CEO Arvid Börje Ramberg has also announced that the company's acquisition strategy will continue.
Market leader Safello announced last year that it had ambitions to expanding outside of Sweden, and has already submitted its MICA application to the Swedish Finansinspektionen. Safello also has ambitions to grow in breadth and become a crypto bank.
In a Finnish media analysis, the local Finnish crypto exchanges Kvarn X, Coinmotion and Northcrypto are ranked the best and get better scores than global exchanges like Coinbase and Kucoin. According to Crypto Adoption Survey it is also in Finland, as in Norway and Sweden, the local stock exchanges that have the largest market shares.
In Denmark, there are no large pure crypto exchanges or brokers. But challenger bank Lunar has long offered crypto trading to its Danish and Swedish clients, and opened in January this year for crypto trading from Norwegian clients.
