On May 29, 2025, Norwegian crypto financial services company K33 announced the completion of a $6.2 million financing round. All the funds raised in this round will be used for the acquisition of Bitcoin spot and the expansion of institutional-level custody services. This round of financing was led by the Swedish venture Capital firm Northzone, with participation from Paradigm Shift Capital, a crypto fund founded by former Coinbase executives. This is K33’s first round of external financing since 2023.
Financing purpose: Focus on Bitcoin spot and institutional services
Bitcoin Strategic reserve
K33 plans to directly use 70% of its financing funds (approximately 4.34 million US dollars) to purchase Bitcoin in the spot market, with a target holding of 1,200 BTC (about 130 million US dollars at the current price). The company’s CEO, Torre Hansen, said that this move aims to “establish the most stable Bitcoin reserve among European crypto institutions” and provide customers with derivative services based on physical collateral.
Upgrade of managed infrastructure
The remaining funds will be used to deploy an offline cold storage system. It is planned to build two new physical hosting centers in Switzerland and Iceland, supporting multi-signature wallets and military-grade encryption technology. K33 currently manages over 800 million US dollars in digital assets, with clients including Nordic pension funds and family offices.
Financing background: Compliance breakthrough of European crypto institutions
Capital layout under the increasingly strict regulatory environment
With the EU’s Crypto Asset Markets Regulation (MiCA) officially coming into effect in 2024, K33 has strengthened its compliance qualifications through this round of financing – it has already obtained the Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) license issued by the Norwegian Financial Services Authority (FSA). Become one of the few European institutions that simultaneously meet the EU’s anti-money laundering (AML) and fund custody requirements.
The demand for encryption from traditional financial institutions is heating up
Johan Strom, a partner at North zone, disclosed that this round of investment originated from “the significant growth in the allocation of crypto assets by European pensions”. Data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the allocation ratio of European institutions to Bitcoin rose from 1.2% in 2024 to 3.5%, and the number of enterprise customers of K33 increased by 210% year-on-year.
Market Impact: The “Bitcoin First” strategy of European crypto capital
Regional competition intensifies.
This move is regarded as a direct challenge to the German digital asset bank N26 and the British crypto custodian Copper. K33 plans to expand its business to France and Spain by the end of 2025, using its Bitcoin reserves as a trust endorsement for institutional services.
Price linkage effect
After the financing news was announced, Bitcoin rose by 2.3% in a short time and broke through the $109,000 mark. Santiment, a crypto market analysis platform, pointed out that the net purchase volume of Bitcoin by European institutions reached 47,000 in May, hitting a new high since 2021.
The differentiated positioning of K33: from trading services to asset custody
Unlike comprehensive exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken, K33 focuses on providing “white glove” services for traditional financial institutions, including:
Customized investment portfolio: Designing hedging strategies for Bitcoin and gold for pension funds;
Compliance report generation: Automatically adapt to the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR);
Cross-jurisdiction custody: Supports asset custody within the legal frameworks of multiple countries such as Switzerland, Norway, and Luxembourg.
Hansen emphasized: “While US institutions are still dealing with regulatory uncertainties from the SEC, Europe is establishing a clear compliance path through MiCA.” K33’s Bitcoin reserves are not only an asset allocation but also a strategic investment in the European crypto financial infrastructure.
As the European Central Bank accelerates the pilot program of digital currency (CBDC), K33’s financing this time is regarded as a landmark event of the integration of traditional finance and crypto assets. Its “compliance + reserve” dual-track strategy may become the mainstream development model for European crypto institutions in the future.
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