Breaking Down the 2024 EY Crypto Adoption Survey, NFTs and De-Fi in the Nordic Region: With Mads Ribe of EY

Jump into the crypto fray with Mads Ribe from EY as we tear into the 2024 EY Crypto Adoption Survey. We're slicing through the icy contrasts in crypto ownership and exchange tactics between Norway and Sweden, and grappling with the game-changing impacts of regulations like MiCAR on the Nordic crypto arena.

We zoom in on Norway’s burgeoning NFT scene, spotlighting killer projects and debating what tech magic is needed to fuel their fire.

Wrapping it up, Mads dives deep into the DeFi world, assessing its pulse and potential to disrupt. We're sizing up how the Nordics really play the crypto game—be it for the long haul, daily utility, or the fast cash. This isn't just another crypto convo; it's your insider pass to what's moving markets in the Nordics.

Questions

1. Norway and Sweden show different patterns in terms of crypto ownership rates and the use of local versus international exchanges. What do you think drives these differences?
2. Based on the data, 22% of respondents believe they will buy crypto within the next ten years. What are the key factors that might affect this prediction positively or negatively?
3. Do Nordic crypto owners primarily view cryptocurrency as a long-term investment, practical utility or as a vehicle for short-term trading opportunities?
4. What opportunities do NFTs present for artists, entrepreneurs, and businesses in the region?
5. What technological advancements or infrastructure developments are necessary to foster the growth of the NFT market in the Nordic Region?
6. How significant is the growth of DeFi in Norway? 

Breaking Down the 2024 EY Crypto Adoption Survey

Norway and Sweden show different patterns in terms of crypto ownership rates and the use of local versus international exchanges. What do you think drives these differences?

The general trend is that Norwegians have a somewhat higher percentage of their adult population owning crypto than their Nordic neighbours (9% vs. approx. 7%), but due to the size of the population, Sweden actually has the most crypto owners in the Nordics (550,000 in Sweden vs 395,000 in Norway).

In Sweden, it's generally more common for younger adults to own stocks than in Norway, while in Norway our survey shows that there’s a higher percentage of young adults (below 40) who own crypto than stocks. There's also a significant percentage of Swedes who report having invested in the ETPs/ETFs (26% compared to 8% in Norway). So Swedes still seem to prefer investments in securities than crypto-currency, while for younger adults in Norway this is no longer the case.

Even though the large international exchanges are dominating the Nordic markets, Norway is the only country where a local exchange is the market leader (Firi with 37%). There might be several reasons for the differences we see in the use of exchanges. In Sweden, we hear that many companies struggle to get a bank account, which might be affected by alleged negative signals from the financial authorities against the crypto market. In Norway, there have been differences between the banks, with some keen to increase their knowledge and preferring customers using exchanges registered as VASPs with the Norwegian FSA. The fact that we still are getting requests from Swedish companies considering moving to Norway because of the Swedish bank situation proves this point.

Based on the data, 22% of respondents believe they will buy crypto within the next ten years. What are the key factors that might affect this prediction positively or negatively?

There are several factors that might affect this prediction. The main factor will, in my opinion, be regulation with the upcoming Markets-in-Crypto-Asset-Regulation (MiCAR) with future updates. This might create foreseeable frameworks that foster the acceleration of corporates and financial institutions using blockchain technology and transacting in digital assets. This might lead the technology to become mainstream with solutions where people do not necessarily understand that they use blockchain technology, smart contracts, and cryptocurrencies because it is working in the backend just like people use the internet without understanding the protocols behind.

A potential negative effect, though, would be a ban on proof-of-work mining which has been proposed in the Norwegian parliament and is being considered by the current government. If more countries in the EU and elsewhere adopt similar regulations, this might potentially be very negative for BTC. However, governments will struggle with imposing a correct definition set of what is considered lawful data processing capacity and not, with potentially significant bureaucratic efforts.

Do Nordic crypto owners primarily view cryptocurrency as a long-term investment, practical utility or as a vehicle for short-term trading opportunities?

There is definitely a combination. Among Norwegian crypto owners, 76% hold BTC, 39% hold ETH, and 15% hold Solana, indicating a mix of speculation and utility. Approximately one-third of Norwegian crypto owners have invested less than NOK 1,000 (i.e., less than EUR 90), while only 14% have invested more than NOK 50,000 (approx. EUR 4,250). This suggests that many young adults are buying crypto either to increase their knowledge about the technology and/or because of a highly speculative element, hoping for a 1000x return as seen in some rare cases.

NFTs and De-Fi in the Nordic Region

What opportunities do NFTs present for artists, entrepreneurs, and businesses in the region?

We have seen an increasing interest in NFTs from Norwegian visual artists, with The Lightbulb Man from Bjarne Melgaard as the most known NFT project by a traditional artist and painter so far. In addition, there are a few 'new' NFT artists who have made it internationally, like Kjetil Golid (former engineer at Equinor), and an NFT marketplace focusing on AI-generated NFTs. Norway also has the first Nordic physical NFT gallery in Verse Gallery, established by Sophia Adampour, which has caught great interest from the market as well as corporates, including the Norwegian bank SpareBank 1, who did a historic Svalbard-money NFT.

So, the NFT market is still a very niche market in Norway but is getting more and more interest and traction with artists as well as established corporates.

What technological advancements or infrastructure developments are necessary to foster the growth of the NFT market in the Nordic Region?

First of all, the Norwegian NFT market needs more established and reputable artists who test out and seek to increase their knowledge about this market. This would generally increase interest and could potentially catch the attention of larger galleries, museums, and collectors. Secondly, I think a Nordic NFT marketplace could offer an easy solution to store NFTs through a local trusted custodian.

How significant is the growth of DeFi in Norway? 

The numbers show a very stable and limited use of DeFi in Norway, with only 12% of the crypto-owners reporting that they also use DeFi (1.1% of the adult population). However, from our clients, we see an increasing number of scale-ups catering to and themselves using the DeFi solutions, so growth might be expected if easy solutions with good design enter the market. However, as with securities, it is not expected that a significant portion of investors will use the more complex financial products.

Sources

K33 Research and EY (2024), Nordic Crypto Adoption Survey.
https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/fi_fi/topics/law/pdf/ey-nordic-crypto-adoption-survey-04-2024.pdf