Country overview

#65

Norway

Country stats

Rating Points

165

This indicator describes the overall rating of a given jurisdiction on several parameters according to cryptocurrency operations - market volume, crypto regulation, business climate, taxation framework.

Crypto Penetration

1.1%

Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Legal Entities

Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.

Regulation Points

100

An overall assessment of the granularity of crypto regulation in a given country. A high score is also given to countries where cryptocurrency transactions are highly regulated.

Amount of crypto users

55 000

Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Taxation points

This figure, according to our analysts' calculations, indicates the overall level of tax burden for cryptocurrency transactions in a given country. The higher the indicator, the lower the burden.

Market volume points

105.6

A rough estimate of this jurisdiction's retail crypto market relative to the rest of the world. The higher the indicator, the higher the market potential.

Status of crypto

Legally allowed

General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.

Crypto payments

Legally allowed

The legal status of cryptocurrency payments for goods and services in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Security Level

Safe place

The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.

Crypto Salaries

No info

The legal status of cryptocurrency salaries to employers in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Business Climate

Medium

Overall assessment of the friendliness of this country for crypto-business. This indicator takes into account the cost of obtaining a license and the attitude towards crypto entities in the country.

Stablecoin Regulation

Low

This indicator is evaluating the regulation of stablecoins in a given country. Complex regulation means that it is possible to issue steiblcoins and obtain a license for this activity. Basic regulation means that the issuance of stablecoins is possible, but not all legal aspects are defined in the law. Standard regulation means that there is a legal practice of steylcoin circulation in a given country.

Bad Factors

This section describes the unfavorable economic factors for crypto-business in a given country. These are countries that are under sanctions or on the FATF grey list and other factors.

Types of licenses

Crypto-to-crypto

This license type allows VASP to provide legal exchange from one cryptocurrency to another.

Crypto-to-fiat

This type of license regulates the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat.

Wallet/Custody

This country has a legal licensing procedure for companies that store cryptocurrency - - crypto wallet providers and custodians.

Good

Medium

Bad

intro

Norway is a wealthy country with a high level of GDP per individual. That’s why it’s a significant and vital crypto market. Also, it has its own unique approach to crypto regulation. The number of crypto users in the country is estimated by Arcane Research & EY (1) to be 420,00 in 2022. The total population of the country is 5,4 mln.

Security level

Norway has a safe place security level according to our rating. Jurisdiction has 67.5 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (2). The homicide level (3) is 0.5 per 100,000 inhabitants a year. Number of firearm-related death (4) 1.48 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

Some businesses accept virtual currency as payment for purchasing goods or services. The Ministry of Finance’s decree on this purpose can be found here (5) (in Norwegian only).

Crypto Salaries

De facto possible.

Legal

First AML regulation for crypto in Norway were issued in the form AML directive from the Finance Ministry. According to Global Blockchain Insights (6), the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (FSAN) is the primary crypto regulator in Norway, and it provides registration of crypto companies as “virtual asset service providers,” there are a total of nine FSAN entities there. You may find more information about all existing cases in the VASP guide (7) on the FSAN website.

Simonsen Fogtwig (8) has provided an overview of crypto regulation in Norway. According to it, several types of entities, which provide the following activities need to register:

offer customers to trade or exchange the virtual currency for an official currency, such as the Norwegian kroner, or vice versa;

offer customers to switch between different types of virtual currencies, for example, between Bitcoin and Ethereum;

facilitating trade and exchange by linking buyers and sellers, for example, through a trading platform;

holding private cryptographic keys on behalf of others to transfer, hold, or trade virtual currency.

The registration obligation also applies (9) to service providers which, "are currently operating without registration in the business register,

conduct business through a private account, work through platforms or whose activities are aimed at the Norwegian market".

According to Gofaizen (10) Norwegian regulators still haven't implement new crypto regulation and have concerns on MiCA. It looks like the country will implement MiCA in 2025 as a member of EEA (but not EU).

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	22
PIT tax Max	22
Corporate tax (CIT)	22
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	22
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	23.1
Wealth tax Min	0.3
Wealth tax Max	1.1

Tax Guide from Local Tax Service (10). It also has special guides for DeFi (11) and NFT (12) taxation.

CGT

As in other Scandinavian countries, crypto assets in Norway are subject to the general capital gains tax. Any gains or income from cryptocurrency transactions are subject to a 22% capital income tax. Additionally, Your net wealth, including cryptocurrency holdings, is subject to a wealth tax. You are taxed on your wealth exceeding 1,700,000 kroner - 1,1%.

PIT

22%. PWC(13)

1,0% (1.1 on wealth exceeding NOK 20m). PWC (14)

CIT

22% (25% for certain companies within the financial sector). PWC(15)

Links

1) Norwegian Crypto Adoption Survay 2022. PDF-file

2)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

3)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

4)List of countries by firearm-related death rate

5)Bitcoin er unntatt fra merverdiavgift. Bitcoin is exempt from VAT. Article

6) Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Laws and Regulations 2023 | Norway

7)Hvem må søke om å bli registrert hos Finanstilsynet? Who must apply to be registered with Finanstilsynet? Article

8)The legal landscape for crypto assets in Norway – A brief overview as of March 2023. Article

9)Manimama. Norway – Regulation of Crypto and Virtual Assets. Article

10)Gofaizen Crypto License in Norway

10)Tax Guide from Local Tax Service

11)DeFi. DeFi is short for decentralized finance and covers several services and products in connection with virtual assets, such as cryptocurrency and other tokens used together with decentralized technology. Article

12)NFT. A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital code stored on a blockchain. This code is linked to an asset, and its purpose is to be proof of ownership of the asset.

13)PWC. Norway. Individual - Taxes on personal income

14)PWC.Norway. Individual - Other taxes

15)PWC. Norway. Corporate - Taxes on corporate income

Last update: December 2024

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intro

Security level

Crypto Payments

Some businesses accept virtual currency as payment for purchasing goods or services. The Ministry of Finance’s decree on this purpose can be found here (5) (in Norwegian only).

Crypto Salaries

De facto possible.

Legal

Simonsen Fogtwig (8) has provided an overview of crypto regulation in Norway. According to it, several types of entities, which provide the following activities need to register:

offer customers to trade or exchange the virtual currency for an official currency, such as the Norwegian kroner, or vice versa;

offer customers to switch between different types of virtual currencies, for example, between Bitcoin and Ethereum;

facilitating trade and exchange by linking buyers and sellers, for example, through a trading platform;

holding private cryptographic keys on behalf of others to transfer, hold, or trade virtual currency.

The registration obligation also applies (9) to service providers which, "are currently operating without registration in the business register,

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	22
PIT tax Max	22
Corporate tax (CIT)	22
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	22
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	23.1
Wealth tax Min	0.3
Wealth tax Max	1.1

Tax Guide from Local Tax Service (10). It also has special guides for DeFi (11) and NFT (12) taxation.

CGT

PIT

22%. PWC(13)

1,0% (1.1 on wealth exceeding NOK 20m). PWC (14)

CIT

22% (25% for certain companies within the financial sector). PWC(15)

Links

1) Norwegian Crypto Adoption Survay 2022. PDF-file

2)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

3)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

4)List of countries by firearm-related death rate

5)Bitcoin er unntatt fra merverdiavgift. Bitcoin is exempt from VAT. Article

6) Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Laws and Regulations 2023 | Norway

7)Hvem må søke om å bli registrert hos Finanstilsynet? Who must apply to be registered with Finanstilsynet? Article

8)The legal landscape for crypto assets in Norway – A brief overview as of March 2023. Article

9)Manimama. Norway – Regulation of Crypto and Virtual Assets. Article

10)Gofaizen Crypto License in Norway

10)Tax Guide from Local Tax Service

12)NFT. A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital code stored on a blockchain. This code is linked to an asset, and its purpose is to be proof of ownership of the asset.

13)PWC. Norway. Individual - Taxes on personal income

14)PWC.Norway. Individual - Other taxes

15)PWC. Norway. Corporate - Taxes on corporate income

Last update: December 2024