Norway’s crypto and gambling investments to be scrutinised 

The government is concerned about the ethics of the sovereign wealth fund’s investments in the sectors.

Norway.- It’s been reported that Norway’s Council on Ethics will probe the country’s sovereign wealth fund’s investments in cryptocurrency and gambling for potential risks of money laundering. Reuters has reported that the body, which is the ethical watchdog of the Government Pension Fund, will undertake the review next year.

“The Council on Ethics in 2025 will take a closer look at companies involved in cryptocurrencies and gambling/casino, where there is a significant risk of money laundering,” a document states, according to Reuters.

So what companies are involved? The fund has investments in the crypto exchange Coinbase, the world’s third largest after Bybit and Binance. It also has positions in Flutter Entertainment, the world’s biggest online betting operator and owner of brands such as FanDuel and Paddy Power. It also has shares in the US casino operator MGM Resorts.

The Council of Ethics’ concern is that the gambling sector tends to be associated with a higher risk of money laundering due to the large flows of money involved through both land-based casinos and online operators. The cryptocurrency sector has similar associations due to the potential anonymity of operations using decentralised digital currencies 

The increased scrutiny comes despite Norway being considered one of the most crypto-friendly countries, according to Coincub’s ranking. That said, the Norwegian government intervened back in 2019 to order the country’s biggest mutual pension provider Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP) to halt investments in the gambling and fossil fuel sectors. Norway itself has no major private gambling operators because the sector remains a monopoly under the state-controlled operators Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.

Last month, the Norwegian gambling regulator Lotteritilsynet announced that it would investigate the state-controlled gambling operator Norsk Tipping for a possible breach of regulations related to player self-exclusion. Players are said to have reported not being able to block themselves from accessing the operator’s mobile gaming app.

Meanwhile, the government recently announced new rules for electronic bingo in Norway. A phased process will see the introduction of mandatory registration for game suppliers and loss limit controls for players. The supplier registration process will come into effect from January 1 2025. All suppliers that provide electronic games to bingo halls will need to register