Just-In: Bitcoin Critic Norwegian Billionaire Øystein Stray Spetalen Buys Bitcoin

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Just-In: Bitcoin Critic Norwegian Billionaire Øystein Stray Spetalen Buys Bitcoin

Øystein Stray Spetalen, a Norwegian Billionaire investor has reportedly bought bitcoin as well as invested in the country’s largest Bitcoin exchange just weeks after deeming Bitcoin as “nonsense currency.” Spetalen during the DNB Invest conference on 18th March has criticized Bitcoin for its excessive use of energy and even called it hostile.

However, during a recent interview with a local media house, Spetalen’s tone on Bitcoin changed drastically especially after investing in the Norwegian crypto exchange Miraiex. The billionaire investor claimed during the interview that his stance changed on Bitcoin after he met with the founders of the crypto exchange he has invested in. He added,

when I also read that Kjell Inge Røkke had gone into bitcoin, it was quite obvious. Can’t bear to see that Røkke makes money and not me, says Spetalen to Finansavisen.

Miraiex Crypto Exchange claimed that it did not need any capital at the moment for its operations and the primary reason for their association was to aggressively expand its growth.

We did not really need money. We just wanted to grow faster

Prior to Spetalen’s investment in Bitcoin exchange Miraiex, another industrialist Kjell Inge Røkke launched the crypto company Seetee, which had also bought bitcoin for NOK 500 million recently.

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Prashant Jha

An engineering graduate, Prashant focuses on UK and Indian markets. As a crypto-journalist, his interests lie in blockchain technology adoption across emerging economies.

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