Norwegian The Mint launches GMRC (Greenland Reserve Coin) as Europe's first MICA registered asset-referenced token. The GNRC is based on rubies and sapphires from Greenland's shuttered Aappaluttoq mine.
GNRC will be available for trading on the Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) from October 2025. This makes the project the first in its category under the EU's new regulatory framework, MiCA,” the Mint said in a press release. The Mint AS is a Norwegian fintech company with offices in Oslo, Narvik and Bangkok, specialized in regulated tokenization of gems and valuable assets.
“GNRC provides investors with an easy and regulated entrance to real values. The token is designed to be stable and diversifying — a safe location in a time of both financial and geopolitical turmoil,” says Dag Tore Aam, CEO of The Mint AS.
What, according to the company, makes GNRC unique is the combination of limited reserve, full traceability and documented, responsible origination -- all within the scope of MICA regulation. This gives investors peace of mind, transparency, and a distinct alternative to unregulated projects.
The GNRC gives investors exposure to a fixed restricted stock of Greenlandic rubies and sapphires, sourced from a mine that closed in 2023. This ensures genuine scarcity and lays the foundation for stability in the token's value.
The token (GNRC) is designed as an asset-referenced token (ART) in accordance with the EU MICA regulations. Internationally, such tokens are often referred to as Real World Assets (RWA) — digital tokens that are backed by actual, real assets.
Rubies and sapphires fall within the physical assets that attract increasing institutional interest, because they combine scarcity with potential for long-term value development, particularly when the mine is closed and no new gems from here come on the market.
GNRC is designed as a regulated digital asset. The token is backed by physical gems that are kept in insured and segregated vaults located in Bangkok. The inventory is confirmed annually through independent audits and valuations. In addition, the GNRC provides a safety buffer of five percent, which provides additional stability over time. Registration with both the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and ESMA provides investors with additional reassurance.
The token can be held, traded and used as a hedge against fluctuations in the stock, currency and crypto markets. Although investors have the right to redeem the token in the underlying gems, according to The Mint, its primary purpose is to act as a liquid and transparently regulated digital asset.
GNRC will be available for trading on the Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) from October 2025. NBX has been a regulated exchange registered with Finanstilstyrelsen since 2018.
“NBX is proud to launch GNRC Europe's first asset-based token under the new MiCA regulation. The Mint AS and NBX have since this spring planned and worked on the launch of GNRC under the new common European regulation for crypto assets, MiCA. Tokenization of Real World Assets gives retail investors access to new investment opportunities previously held by institutional investors,” says Stig Aleksander Kjos-Mathisen, CEO, Norwegian Block Exchange.
The tokenization of the physical assets and assets builds on Cardano as a blockchain technology, which is one of the world's global top 10 blockchains.
As part of the launch, The Mint AS is also collaborating with the Pink Polar Bear Foundation, a foundation that supports sustainable projects in the Arctic with a particular focus on climate, communities and indigenous rights.
