Norway's Internet-Only Skandiabanken Launches Coinbase Integration

An internet-only bank based in Norway has integrated with digital currency exchange startup Coinbase.

According to local news service E24, Skandiabanken – a digital bank owned by savings and investments provider Skandia – will let users connect their accounts with a Coinbase one, allowing them to view their cryptocurrency balances and values.

It’s a launch that closely mirrors one launched by US financial services firm USAA (which largely caters to the armed services market) in 2015 to a select group of clients. A year later, USAA rolled it out to all account holders.

In translated statements, representatives for Skandiabanken – claimed to be the largest bank of its kind in the region – said the launch represents a shifting stance toward digital currencies.

"We recognize cryptocurrency as an investment class on an equal footing with other securities," Christoffer Hernæs, the bank’s chief digital officer, told the publication.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Coinbase.