(Provides quote, background)
OSLO, March 8 (Reuters) – Norway’s Aker ASA is establishing a brand new unit devoted to investing in bitcoin and blockchain know-how, the commercial holding firm mentioned on Monday.
Seetee AS would initially have a capital of 500 million Norwegian crowns ($58.6 million) and deliberate to maintain its liquid belongings in bitcoin, Aker mentioned.
Seetee would collaborate with Canada’s Blockstream, focusing initially on bitcoin mining whereas additionally looking for to fuse blockchain know-how with Aker’s industrial operations, it mentioned.
“These applied sciences have the potential to scale back frictions in our daily lives, improve the safety of our digitally pushed economies, and unlock new enterprise fashions for innovation,” Aker ASA Chief Govt Oeyvind Eriksen mentioned.
Aker, a holding firm managed by Norwegian billionaire investor Kjell Inge Roekke, derives most of its earnings from the oil and gasoline business, and has in recent times elevated its investments in renewable vitality and data know-how.
$1 = 8.5319 Norwegian crowns Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Enhancing by Tom Hogue and Edmund Blair
