Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Europe's MiCA deadline is two weeks out, and today's edition is built around it — K33 just secured its licence in Norway, Bitmynt shut down rather than chase one, and Binance's own EU/EEA access hangs in the balance over a disputed Greek regulatory decision. Meanwhile USDT loses its last EU foothold just as Kraken brings perpetual futures onshore in the US — two sides of the same regulatory moment, pulling in opposite directions.

Some of the stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ K33 secures its MiCA licence and plans to use it to expand across Europe.
♦️ Bitmynt, Norway's first bitcoin exchange, shuts down rather than chasing MiCA
♦️ Binance may lose its EU/EEA access after Greece's regulator leans toward rejection. ♦️ USDT loses its last EU foothold as the MiCA deadline hits July 1.
♦️ Kraken launches US perpetual futures as crypto derivatives move onshore.

Have a great read!

Morten

📖 Did you catch — My Kaupr is live? Kaupr's new account platform launched Friday: one free account, your choice of Kaupr Today (daily) or Kaupr Digest (weekly), plus Kaupr Member for unlimited reading on kaupr.io. Read it here: My Kaupr is live — here's what it means for you

One licence in, one exchange out

K33 to use MiCA licence to expand across Europe

K33 Markets AS has received MiCA authorisation from Norway's FSA, covering custody, execution and transfer services. CEO Torbjørn Bull Jenssen says the licence will be a platform for growth beyond K33's own clients, including partnerships and acquisitions across the EEA.

Why it matters: One of only a handful of Norwegian crypto firms with full MiCA approval so far, while several peers are still waiting.

Source: K33 to use MiCA licence to expand across Europe — Kaupr

Bitmynt, Norway's first bitcoin exchange, shuts down ahead of MiCA

Founder Sturle Sunde is closing Bitmynt, Norway's oldest crypto exchange (since 2010), after deciding not to apply for a MiCA licence — arguing the rules treat a pure exchange the same as a custodian handling other people's money. Customers are referred to Bare Bitcoin; no data is shared without consent.

Why it matters: A direct counterpoint to K33 — proof MiCA's bar is pushing some firms to exit rather than comply.

Source: Bitmynt, Norway's first bitcoin exchange, shuts down ahead of MiCA — Kaupr

Two weeks left, and the numbers don't add up

Binance May Lose License and EU/EEA Access

Greece's regulator HCMC is expected to reject Binance's MiCA application, Reuters reports, citing two sources. Binance disputes this, saying on X that HCMC has indicated compliance and a board decision is expected before June 30.

Why it matters: A litmus test of how strictly the EU enforces MiCA against its largest player — with two directly conflicting accounts of where the case stands.

Source: Binance May Lose License and EU/EEA Access — Kaupr

83% of Europe's crypto firms have not secured MiCA licences, and the July 1 deadline is days away

Of the 1,200+ firms that held national crypto registrations across the EEA, only around 210 have converted to full MiCA authorisation — roughly 17%. ESMA says there is no intermediate status after July 1: a firm is either authorised or in breach of EU law.

Why it matters: The number that frames the whole MiCA story this week — the gap between licensed and pending is enormous.

Source: 83% of Europe Crypto Firms Have Not Secured MiCA Licenses, And the July 1 Deadline Is Days Away — Yahoo Finance (Cryptonews)

Tether's out. Now what?

USDT loses its last EU foothold as the MiCA deadline hits July 1

With MiCA's transition period ending July 1, unlicensed exchanges still carrying USDT must exit the EU market entirely, finishing a squeeze that began with the 2024-2025 spot delistings. France's regulator now warns firms still serving EU customers without a licence face criminal charges of up to two years in prison.

Why it matters: Enforcement has moved from market access to personal legal risk for executives at unlicensed firms.

Source: USDT Loses Its Last EU Foothold As MiCA Deadline Hits July 1 — Yellow.com

ECB President Lagarde rallies digital euro support against USD stablecoins

Christine Lagarde is pushing the digital euro, not private euro-stablecoins, as Europe's answer to dollar-stablecoin dominance, calling the case for euro stablecoins "far weaker than it appears." Her stance puts her at odds with the European Commission, France, and the bank-led Qivalis consortium pursuing a private euro stablecoin.

Why it matters: A real policy split at the heart of Europe's monetary establishment, with years between the ECB's 2029 timeline and what banks want to launch now.

Source: ECB President Lagarde rallies digital euro support against USD stablecoins payment lead — Cryptopolitan

Perpetuals go mainstream

Perpetual futures gain in popularity

A poll at the FIA International Derivatives Expo in London found perpetual futures were the preferred instrument for 21% of attendees, up from zero two years ago. Kraken's John Palmer said nearly $70 trillion in crypto perpetuals traded globally last year, mostly outside the US.

Why it matters: Perps went from a non-category to a fifth of professional preference in two years, right as US regulation opens up.

Source: Perpetual Futures Gain in Popularity — Markets Media

Kraken launches US perpetual futures as crypto derivatives move onshore

Kraken began offering CFTC-regulated perpetual futures to US customers via Kraken Pro, listed on its newly acquired Bitnomial exchange. The launch follows May's CFTC approval of Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual and a June 12 no-action letter allowing perp-style futures to convert into true perpetuals.

Why it matters: Brings one of crypto's largest, most liquid product categories onshore after years concentrated on offshore venues like Hyperliquid.

Source: Kraken launches US perpetual futures as crypto derivatives move onshore — CoinDesk

Going deeper: How perpetual futures took off (and where they're going) — a16z crypto

Explore Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Wednesday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Cross-border payments are having a moment, and today we're going deeper into the topic than Kaupr ever has before — from Nuvei's $2.75 billion bet on owning the full payments stack to China's push to settle trade outside SWIFT, with stablecoins and tokenized deposits running through nearly every story. Sweden sits right in the middle of it, while Europe's tech-sovereignty debate and a ticking MiCA clock round out the picture.

Some of the stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Nuvei buys Payoneer for $2.75 billion to own the full cross-border payments stack. ♦️ Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Coinbase are quietly backing a stablecoin alliance — and it could matter more than any single token.
♦️ China upgrades the digital yuan and builds settlement rails designed to bypass SWIFT entirely.
♦️ Sweden is a payments crossroads: Centiglobe expands into Latin America, AllUnity launches its krona stablecoin in Stockholm.
♦️ Goobit's MiCA licence — now comes down to two weeks.

Have a great read!

Morten

📖 Did you catch — My Kaupr is live? Kaupr's new account platform launched Friday: one free account, your choice of Kaupr Today (daily) or Kaupr Digest (weekly), plus Kaupr Member for unlimited reading on kaupr.io. Read it here: My Kaupr is live — here's what it means for you

Everyone wants the cross-border money

Nuvei buys Payoneer to capture growth in cross-border payments

Nuvei is acquiring Payoneer for $2.75 billion, combining payment acceptance with Payoneer's cross-border payouts, multi-currency accounts and banking connections across more than 150 markets. The combined company expects to generate roughly $3 billion in annual revenue and serve platforms including Amazon, Airbnb, Shopify and Etsy. Nuvei says the deal also strengthens its stablecoin and agentic-commerce capabilities.

Why it matters: A $2.75 billion bet that owning the full cross-border stack — acceptance plus payout plus regulatory licences — beats specializing in one piece of it, at a moment when stablecoins are being positioned as critical infrastructure for the same market.

Source: Nuvei buys Payoneer to capture growth in cross-border payments — Kaupr

Asia's cross-border payments are set to nearly double — the rails aren't ready

Asia-Pacific cross-border payment flows are projected to roughly double by 2032, while the correspondent-banking infrastructure carrying them was built for a smaller, slower era and is already straining under today's volume. A typical cross-border payment can still take several days and cost far more than a domestic one, since it threads through multiple intermediary banks with limited hours and trapped liquidity.

Why it matters: Asia is set to handle a growing share of the world's cross-border flows just as the same friction points — failed payments, idle pre-funded capital, repeated compliance checks — scale with the volume. It's the structural backdrop both Nuvei and the Centiglobe/Bamboo deal below are betting against.

Source: Asia's Cross-Border Payments Will Near $24 Trillion By 2032. The Rails Are Not Ready — Forbes

Why banks should pay attention to a Visa-Mastercard-Stripe-Coinbase stablecoin alliance

Stripe, Visa and Mastercard are backing a soon-to-launch stablecoin platform, with Coinbase weighing involvement — a potential common framework for routing digital currency that could challenge Circle and Tether's grip on stablecoin infrastructure. The analysis argues this shifts the competitive question from "which token" to "who controls the rails," making a stablecoin strategy a deliberate choice for banks rather than something to defer.

Why it matters: This is the infrastructure layer underpinning everything else in this block — owning routing, settlement and compliance may matter more than owning the token itself.

Source: Why Banks Should Pay Attention to a Visa-Mastercard-Stripe-Coinbase Stablecoin Alliance — Finovate

China builds a payments rail designed to bypass the dollar

China's central bank is upgrading the e-CNY into an interest-bearing instrument and expanding cross-border settlement through Project mBridge — explicitly designed to route around SWIFT. The push follows the 2022 freeze of roughly $300 billion in Russian reserves, which pushed several countries to hedge against dollar-system dependence. The renminbi still faces real constraints: capital controls and shallow bond markets limit how far this can go.

Why it matters: The one player here not trying to fix the existing rails, but build an alternative to them entirely — a useful counterpoint to the private-sector plays elsewhere in this block.

Source: China develops digital payments system to challenge US dollar dominance — Crypto Briefing

The MiCA deadline gets real payments

Swedish Centiglobe expands into Latin America with Bamboo

Swedish payment network Centiglobe, built on tokenized bank deposits, is partnering with Latin American infrastructure provider Bamboo, giving its network members access to Bamboo's banking and payment connections across the region — more than 200 payment methods and 600+ banks — without needing local entities. A survey from FinanceX Magazine and Centiglobe found 77% of payments executives are open to tokenized deposits, but 65% cite regulatory uncertainty as the biggest barrier.

Why it matters: A concrete example of Nordic payments infrastructure expanding outward rather than just receiving foreign players — and a real-money signal that institutions want regulated tokenized rails, not just faster card networks.

Source: Swedish Centiglobe expands into Latin America with Bamboo — Kaupr

"Sweden the perfect starting point for a Nordic stablecoin"

AllUnity CEO Alexander Höptner told Kaupr that Sweden's deep European integration and tech-savvy corporate base made it the natural first Nordic market for SEKAU, the company's krona-pegged stablecoin — with five to six more currencies, including the dollar, planned after summer. AllUnity launched in Sweden with an event in Stockholm Monday afternoon.

Why it matters: Höptner draws a sharp line between stablecoins and crypto assets — positioning SEKAU as payment infrastructure for European corporates, not a speculative instrument — a framing increasingly relevant as more Nordic currencies enter the stablecoin race.

Source: "Sweden the perfect starting point for a Nordic stablecoin" — Kaupr

Nordic crypto players report

Goobit awaits MiCA approval as losses widen

Swedish-listed Goobit Group reports net revenue down to SEK 24.3 million (from SEK 63.9 million a year earlier) and an operating loss of SEK 13.1 million, while its MiCA licence application remains under review with Sweden's FSA. The revenue drop partly reflects a change in accounting for OTC trades; two impairments (SEK 4.5M and SEK 4.6M) also weighed on the result. CEO Christian Ander is pursuing a parallel M&A strategy to consolidate the Nordic crypto market ahead of MiCA.

Why it matters: Goobit's licence and its consolidation bet are both racing the same 30 June MiCA deadline — a concrete test case for how Nordic crypto firms cope with the new regime while several competitors have already secured approval.

Source: Goobit awaits MiCA approval as losses widen — Kaupr

Europe's breakup with Big Tech, complicated

Europe is starting to break up with US Big Tech. But it's still abiding by the Silicon Valley rulebook

In a Guardian opinion piece, Max von Thun argues that while Brussels is moving to reduce dependence on US tech giants — including a new package covering chips, cloud and AI — true digital sovereignty requires more than owning or controlling infrastructure. He argues Europe also needs an independent vision for how technology itself gets designed and deployed, rather than simply building local alternatives within the same Silicon Valley logic.

Why it matters: As the EU pushes ahead with its own chips, cloud and AI sovereignty package, the piece raises a sharper question for onchain finance too — whether building European alternatives to US-dominated crypto and stablecoin infrastructure actually changes anything if the underlying assumptions and incentives stay American.

Source: Europe is starting to break up with US big tech. But it's still abiding by the Silicon Valley rulebook — The Guardian (Max von Thun)

All the ways Europe is ditching American technology

A Wired analysis tracked dozens of documented cases of European governments, companies and institutions moving away from US Big Tech — from the International Criminal Court abandoning Microsoft after US sanctions against its officials, to agencies and a Belgian domain registry shifting away from AWS. The piece traces the acceleration to fallout from the Trump administration's actions and broader concerns over the US CLOUD Act, FISA access, and vendor lock-in.

Why it matters: Each instance is small, but cumulatively this is the concrete, on-the-ground version of the sovereignty debate von Thun writes about above — and the same logic increasingly applies to European banks and payment firms weighing dollar-stablecoin dependence versus building their own rails.

Source: All the Ways Europe Is Ditching American Technology — Wired

Explore Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Tuesday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Monday 15 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Bitcoin clawed back some ground today as the US-Iran deal eased oil markets and pulled the geopolitical premium out of risk assets. But the underlying story runs deeper: Wall Street's tokenization build-out keeps accelerating, while the bitcoin-treasury model so many companies have copied is starting to show real cracks.

Some of the stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Brickken's CEO says Wall Street will be fully onchain by 2030 — and that Europe's rules are pushing it out.
♦️ Etherealize: institutional money has moved from Ethereum pilots to production — but ETH hasn't noticed yet.
♦️ Swiss banks build tokenized cash networks on public blockchains — bypassing the digital euro debate entirely.
♦️ The SpaceX IPO just proved tokenization's real bottleneck: getting the actual shares.

Have a great read!

Morten

📖 Did you catch — My Kaupr is live? Kaupr's new account platform launched Friday: one free account, your choice of Kaupr Today (daily) or Kaupr Digest (weekly), plus Kaupr Member for unlimited reading on kaupr.io. Read it here: My Kaupr is live — here's what it means for you

Bitcoin rebounds as the Iran deal pulls oil's risk premium out of the market

Bitcoin rose about 2% to roughly $65,800 — a two-week high — after the US and Iran agreed to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, sending Brent crude down 4% and lifting risk assets broadly. The move puts BTC about 9% above last week's sub-$60,000 low.

Why it matters: This addresses only the macro side of bitcoin's weakness. ETF outflows and Strategy's recent bitcoin sale remain unresolved — they'll decide whether this is a real recovery or a one-day bounce.

Source: Bitcoin hits a two-week high above $65,500 as the US-Iran deal sends oil sliding — CoinDesk

Everyone's tokenizing. Who has the assets?

Wall Street will run entirely on the blockchain by 2030, says Brickken CEO

Brickken CEO Edwin Mata predicts Wall Street will be fully onchain by 2030, with AI agents replacing financial dashboards. He says the EU's MiCA framework protects incumbents through slow, costly licensing that can be fatal for startups.

Why it matters: Mata's company benefits from looser rules, so treat the 2030 timeline as advocacy — but the MiCA critique echoes a wider pattern relevant to Nordic and Baltic licensing.

Source: Wall Street will run entirely on the blockchain by 2030, says Brickken CEO — CoinDesk

Wall Street is moving past crypto pilots and deeper into Ethereum, says Etherealize founder

Etherealize founder Vivek Raman says institutional Ethereum adoption has moved from pilot to production, with banks now exploring tokenized stocks, bonds and real estate. ETH's price hasn't caught up yet — he blames long institutional sales cycles.

Why it matters: Another advocacy voice for Ethereum's institutional thesis — but the admitted price/infrastructure gap is a useful caveat against equating tokenization volume with token value.

Source: Wall Street is moving past crypto pilots and deeper into Ethereum, says Etherealize founder — CoinDesk

Banks ditch private blockchains for public, permissioned tokenized cash networks

Swiss bank Sygnum, with UBS, PostFinance and others, is piloting a "public-yet-permissioned" model where stablecoins, tokenized deposits and money-market funds run interchangeably on public blockchains — challenging ECB chief Christine Lagarde's case for a digital euro.

Why it matters: The most consequential story here for Nordic and Baltic readers — commercial banks building multi-instrument infrastructure outside MiCA and the EU's digital-euro track.

Source: Banking rails are moving past the 'stablecoin winner' narrative: Sygnum — CoinDesk

SpaceX IPO chaos exposes the real bottleneck for tokenized stocks: getting the shares

Binance, Bybit and Bitget canceled tokenized SpaceX pre-IPO offerings after xStocks failed to secure shares amid retail demand exceeding $100 billion. xStocks' tokenized SPCXx (~$24 million) launched anyway post-listing.

Why it matters: A reality check against this roundup's bullish 2030 visions — tokenization wraps whatever access an issuer can actually get, and for SpaceX that access wasn't there.

Source: SpaceX IPO scramble reveals difference between tokenizing a stock and getting one — CoinDesk

Digital asset treasuries face their first real stress test

Saylor and Mallers clash over how to value Strategy

Michael Saylor and Jack Mallers (Strike/Twenty One Capital) clashed at BTC Prague over Strategy's capital structure — whether $6.7 billion in out-of-the-money convertible debt should count in mNAV, and whether issuing equity for cash is dilutive. Saylor says it isn't, since it adds a tangible asset.

Why it matters: Mallers runs a rival treasury vehicle, so this is a credible insider challenge to the framework Strategy uses to justify its valuation — with implications for how the whole sector gets priced.

Source: Michael Saylor and Jack Mallers Clash Over How to Value Strategy — Crypto Economy

Saylor says Bitcoin sales are necessary for Strategy's "digital credit" business

At BTC Prague, Saylor defended Strategy's first BTC sale since 2022 (32 BTC) as necessary to back "digital credit" products like STRC preferred stock, which he says can yield up to 8%. On June 4, Apyx's bitcoin-backed stablecoin apxUSD depegged to $0.90 after STRC fell below par.

Why it matters: The apxUSD depeg is a live example of the risk Saylor is defending against — and "never sell bitcoin" becoming "sometimes we sell to support credit products" is a real shift in framing.

Source: Bitcoin sales are necessary for Strategy's digital credit business, Saylor says — Cointelegraph (via TradingView)

Metaplanet buys a Japanese securities firm to launch Bitcoin yield products

Japan's Metaplanet (40,177 BTC, ~$2.6 billion) is acquiring Siiibo Securities for $13 million, rebranding it Metaplanet Securities to build bitcoin-linked yield products for Japanese retail investors — tapping $7.4 trillion in household savings as Japan shifts toward inflation.

Why it matters: The digital-asset-treasury model evolving from balance-sheet accumulation to a financial-products business — the same "digital credit" logic Saylor described days earlier, now aimed at Japanese savers.

Source: Metaplanet Acquires Japanese Securities Firm for $13M to Launch Bitcoin Yield Products — Decrypt

Explore Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Monday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Friday 12 June 2026

Yesterday we said we were building something. Today it's live.

My Kaupr is Kaupr's new account platform — one free account where you choose the services you want. No algorithms. No content pushed at you. Your choices.

You already have an account.

You now have a Kaupr Account — and you can log in right now to see your services, including your subscription for Kaupr Today.

→ kaupr.io/my-kaupr — log in, enter your email, receive a 6-digit code, and you are in.

A little background.

Since we launched Kaupr Today in January, we have worked hard to make it as useful as possible — short, high-signal, built for busy people. Quick overview when you need it, going deep when it matters. We cross-reference content from Kaupr TV when relevant, and earlier this year we added Kaupr Weekly — a 10-minute solo podcast where Morten Myrstad reflects on one theme. News-driven, no filler. Available on the Kaupr Today landing page, Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.

The past few weeks, building My Kaupr has taken most of our time. But this weekend, Kaupr Weekly is back.

The numbers tell us something is working. Open rates on Kaupr Today are approaching 50% — exceptionally high for a daily newsletter. We are grateful for that.

Today or Digest?

We also understand that a daily rhythm is not for everyone — even when we filter out the noise. That is why we are now giving subscribers a choice.

Kaupr Today — six days a week, including weekends. Five daily editions plus a weekend Digest with Kaupr Weekly podcast.

Kaupr Digest — one weekly edition. The week's main stories plus Kaupr Weekly. For those who prefer one weekly catch-up rather than a daily briefing.

The more, the merrier — but the point is: one account, your choice.

Kaupr Member gives you unlimited access to news and articles on kaupr.io. Without Kaupr Member, you can only read up to 3 articles per month.

In addition:

A dedicated members channel — with updates, network activity, and what's happening across the Kaupr ecosystem. Priority alerts for live broadcasts and events — before they are announced publicly. Access to All Hands — regular open meetings where we share what we are building and invite dialogue.

It is free. It takes less than a minute. No password needed.

Join Kaupr Member at My Kaupr

Read the full launch story

See you onchain,

Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

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Kaupr Today - Tuesday 9 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

No edition yesterday — we were building something. More on that soon.

Today we have something worth the wait. SpaceX prices tonight. It lists tomorrow. And the most anticipated IPO in history is also the most revealing stress test yet of the new financial infrastructure we cover every day — tokenized equity, prediction markets, ETFs, crypto exchanges. Five different ways to bet on the same company. Each with a different answer to the question: what do you actually own?

Stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Four venues, two models — the SpaceX pre-IPO trade is already live.
♦️ Crypto users have an inside lane — the IPO is twice oversubscribed through traditional channels.
♦️ BlackRock launches a space ETF with fast IPO entry for European retail.
♦️ Morningstar says SpaceX is worth half what Musk is asking.
♦️ Tokenized SpaceX shares are not real shares — but that may not matter.
♦️ Nordic pension funds face an unwanted SpaceX position — one has already said no.

Have a great read!

Morten

📖 No edition yesterday — we were building something. 
Today, let's get into it.

Easier access, harder question: SpaceX worth it?

Four venues, two models — the SpaceX pre-IPO trade is already live

Before SpaceX lists on Nasdaq today, four crypto venues are offering exposure through two fundamentally different structures. Bybit and Kraken offer xStocks tokens backed 1:1 by real SpaceX equity in regulated custody. Coinbase International and BitMEX offer cash-settled synthetic perpetuals with no share custody. SpaceX perpetual open interest across venues has reached $280 million. All four venues exclude US persons.

Why it matters: The same IPO is now accessible through tokenized equity, synthetic perps, ETFs, and prediction markets — each with different risk profiles and investor rights. SpaceX is the first test case for how markets price assets across multiple parallel infrastructures simultaneously.

Source: Bybit and Kraken add xStocks SpaceX tokenized equity as pre-IPO derivatives race reaches four venues — The Defiant / Converge

Crypto users have an inside lane on the biggest IPO in history

SpaceX's IPO is twice oversubscribed through traditional channels — most retail investors ordering through Robinhood, Fidelity, or Schwab will receive little or nothing. For crypto-native investors, the subscription process requires only USDC and a Bybit or Kraken account.

Why it matters: Crypto infrastructure is giving retail investors a genuine competitive advantage on the most anticipated IPO in history. That goes directly to the heart of what tokenization is actually for.

Source: How to buy the SpaceX IPO stock? Crypto users have an inside lane — Yahoo Finance

Kraken gives 110 countries access to SpaceX at IPO price

Kraken has launched xStocks IPO Access, letting investors in more than 110 countries — including the EEA — subscribe to SpaceX at the official offering price. Investors who receive allocations are issued SPCXx, a tokenized share backed 1:1 by actual SpaceX equity, tradeable 24/7. The service is unavailable to US, Canadian, UK, and Australian investors.

Why it matters: Kraken is building infrastructure for a new category of financial product. Every future IPO that runs through xStocks expands a distribution network that bypasses traditional brokerage entirely.

Source: Kraken launches SpaceX IPO access service through tokenized shares — Bloomingbit / Cointelegraph

BlackRock launches a space ETF — and it adds new IPOs within days

BlackRock is launching the iShares Space Technologies UCITS ETF (STAR) for European investors, with a built-in IPO fast-entry mechanism that can add newly listed companies within 10 to 30 days of debut — far faster than standard index rebalancing. Space ETFs have pulled in $8 billion this year, overtaking defence ETFs for net inflows.

Why it matters: BlackRock is building a vehicle that lets European retail investors access major space-sector IPOs almost immediately after listing — through a regulated, familiar wrapper.

Source: BlackRock launches space ETF as sector pulls in $8 billion — Yahoo Finance / GuruFocus

The SpaceX trade — what you're actually buying

Prediction markets are pricing SpaceX in real time — and the crowd is bullish

Polymarket has launched prediction markets around the SpaceX IPO, with millions of dollars traded across contracts covering first-day valuation and whether the stock closes above its IPO price. Traders assign a 75% probability that SpaceX closes its first trading day above the offering price.

Why it matters: Prediction markets aggregate real capital and real conviction in real time. On the world's most anticipated IPO, the crowd is voting up.

Source: SpaceX IPO Closing Market Cap — Kaupr analysis based on Polymarket data

Morningstar says SpaceX is worth half what Musk is asking — and smart investors should wait

Morningstar initiated coverage with a fair-value estimate of $780 billion — roughly half the $1.75 trillion IPO target. Lead analyst Nicolas Owens: "We think the company has been significantly overvalued and investors will have opportunities to buy the stock at more attractive levels after the IPO." Only Starlink is currently profitable. The xAI business burned an operating loss of $6.36 billion last year. Musk retains 85% voting control through a dual-class structure.

Why it matters: Retail investors buying through tokenized platforms, ETFs, or traditional brokers all face the same underlying valuation risk. Morningstar's analysis is not a prediction — it is a benchmark.

Source: SpaceX is worth less than half of its $1.75 trillion IPO target, Morningstar says — CNBC

Tokenized SpaceX shares are not real shares — but that may not matter

xStocks — the product behind Bybit and Kraken's SpaceX offerings — are structured notes that provide synthetic price exposure, not direct ownership or shareholder rights. They work like ETFs: backed 1:1 by listed stocks, with tokens minted and burned as demand shifts. Counterparty risk exists. But the broader conclusion is nuanced: SpaceX going public is more likely to boost tokenized stocks than hurt them — xStocks was never selling scarcity, it was selling access and 24/7 trading.

Why it matters: A token backed by a listed stock is not the same as owning the stock. For most retail use cases that distinction may not matter. For institutional ones, it does.

Source: SpaceX listing should boost tokenized stocks, not bury them — Ledger Insights

The Nordic angle

Nordic pension funds face an unwanted SpaceX position — and one has already said no

Danish AkademikerPension has blacklisted the SpaceX IPO over governance concerns, citing Musk's near-absolute voting control and the related-party xAI merger. Swedish AP-funds face a different problem: as passive index trackers, they will be mechanically forced to buy SpaceX when it enters global benchmarks — unless individual savers actively opt out. SpaceX's dual-class structure contradicts foundational Nordic corporate governance norms.

Why it matters: Nordic pension savers may become involuntary SpaceX shareholders not because their fund managers chose to invest, but because an algorithm did. That is a structural question about passive investing that goes well beyond SpaceX.

Source: The SpaceX IPO: a trillion-dollar conundrum for Nordic capital and global markets — Nordic Business Journal

Explore Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Thursday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Tuesday 9 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Bitcoin had its worst week in years. Treasury firms shed billions. The Strategy model is under scrutiny. And yet — two of the smartest money managers in digital assets bought aggressively into the dip.

That tension is today's edition. The crash, the contrarians, and the bigger structural story that neither Bitcoin bulls nor bears are talking about enough: the infrastructure that will carry the next phase of digital finance.

Stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Bitcoin treasury firms shed $62 billion — is the Strategy model broken?
♦️ Standard Chartered: this is the buying zone.
♦️ Saylor sold the symbolism — then bought $101 million in Bitcoin.
♦️ Tom Lee bought 127,000 ETH at the year low and called the selloff "superficial."
♦️ Brookfield: the real stablecoin prize is the infrastructure, not the coin.
♦️ Mastercard will now settle in stablecoins — 24/7, including weekends.

Have a great read!

Morten

📖 Missed yesterday's edition? Monday's Kaupr Today covered the token and agentic economy — Goldman Sachs tokenizes real estate, Morgan Stanley opens its wealth platform to AI agents, and Lovable becomes Europe's most valuable AI startup. Read it here: Token economy, agentic economy — Mon 8 Jun

Bitcoin's brutal week — and what comes next

Bitcoin treasury firms shed $62 billion — and the Strategy model is under scrutiny

The combined market value of publicly traded Bitcoin treasury companies has fallen from nearly $134 billion at the October peak to around $72 billion. Shares of most treasury firms have fallen further than Bitcoin itself. Smaller firms that copied the Strategy model without its scale are now scrambling for capital. "By the time a growing number of companies were attempting to replicate the MSTR playbook, much of the scarcity value had arguably already been captured."

Why it matters: This is a stress test of a financial model. The question is whether a leveraged, mark-to-market-sensitive corporate Bitcoin treasury is structurally sound — or structurally broken by design.

Source: Bitcoin treasury firms shed $62 billion in deepening crypto rout — Bloomberg / Moneyweb

Standard Chartered holds its $100,000 year-end target — and calls this the buying zone

Standard Chartered's Geoffrey Kendrick called last week "painful" but held his year-end Bitcoin target of $100,000. He expects Strategy to resume aggressive buying as selling pressure eases. "When we look back at the end of 2026 with Bitcoin at $100K, we will say this was the buying zone we all wanted."

Why it matters: Holding the $100,000 target through a 15% crash — and naming this the buying zone — is a meaningful contrarian signal from one of the most consistently bullish institutional voices on Bitcoin.

Source: 172-year-old bank makes 2026 Bitcoin prediction amid market crash — TheStreet / Yahoo Finance

Bitcoin bounced to $63,700 — and crushed $504 million in short positions

Bitcoin's recovery from last week's lows triggered the largest single-day short liquidation since late April — $504 million in 24 hours across more than 104,000 traders. The bounce has since eased as renewed Iran-Israel strikes sent oil up and Asian stocks lower. Volatility stays elevated ahead of US inflation data and the SpaceX IPO on June 12.

Why it matters: The short squeeze confirms significant bearish positioning has now been flushed. Whether this marks a floor depends largely on macro developments this week.

Source: Bitcoin pump to $63,700 triggers the most short liquidations since late April — CoinDesk

The bottom fishers

Saylor triggered the crash — then bought $101 million in Bitcoin

Strategy bought 1,550 Bitcoin for $101 million between June 1 and June 7 at an average of $65,332 — well below the $77,135 it received on the 32 BTC sale that triggered the rout. The purchase was financed through an at-the-market equity programme. Total holdings now stand at 845,256 BTC with a $1 billion cash reserve.

Why it matters: The small sale was a treasury action. This purchase is the signal. Saylor sold the symbolism — and then bought the dip.

Source: Strategy buys Bitcoin worth $101 million after earlier sale sparked sell-off — Forbes

Tom Lee calls the ETH selloff "superficial" — and buys 127,000 ETH at the year low

Bitmine bought 126,971 ETH for approximately $214 million as ETH hit its lowest price in more than a year — its largest single-week purchase of 2026. Chairman Tom Lee attributed the crash to an AI system discovering a Zcash vulnerability, not Ethereum fundamentals. "The broad selloff in crypto, in our view, is a superficial take." Bitmine now holds 4.59% of total ETH supply, with 85% staked generating $230 million in projected annualised staking revenue.

Why it matters: While most treasury firms paused, Bitmine accelerated. Lee is not just buying the dip — he is calling it publicly and backing it with the firm's largest purchase of the year.

Source: BitMine adds 126K ETH at year low in biggest 2026 buy — CoinMarketCap Academy

The plumbing is the prize

The real stablecoin prize is not the coin — it is the infrastructure

Brookfield Private Equity CEO Anuj Ranjan argues in Reuters that the biggest returns from the stablecoin boom will come from owning the infrastructure — not the coins. Issuance platforms, wallets, custody, and KYC/AML tools are systematically underbuilt. Stablecoins are projected to grow up to 15-fold by 2030. The parallel: railroads did not drive 19th-century wealth creation — the steel, coal, and logistics networks did.

Why it matters: When the CEO of one of the world's largest private equity firms makes the strategic case for stablecoin infrastructure investment, the thesis has crossed from crypto into mainstream capital allocation.

Source: The real stablecoin play is in the plumbing — Reuters

Mastercard will now settle transactions in stablecoins — around the clock, including weekends

Mastercard is expanding settlement to support regulated stablecoins alongside existing fiat processes — intraday, on weekends, on holidays, and onchain. USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD and others will be available across Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, and XRPL. Cross River, Lead Bank, and Nuvei are among the first participants.

Why it matters: Card transactions have always been authorized instantly but settled in batches. Mastercard moving to always-on stablecoin settlement is not a crypto product — it is a structural change to how global payments actually work.

Source: Mastercard expands on-chain settlement in bet on stablecoins and always-on finance — CoinDesk

Kaupr picks

Eight ways to own crypto — which one are you? From the sovereign Bitcoin maximalist to the convenience-driven ETP investor — Kaupr has mapped the full spectrum of crypto ownership. Eight archetypes, one question.

Who shapes the future of digital finance? Sellers, buyers, observers, investor relations — the digital asset ecosystem is mirroring traditional finance. Kaupr maps the players most people haven't noticed yet.

🚀 Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join at kaupr.io/en/onchain

Explore Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Tuesday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Monday 8 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

The token and agent economy is no longer theoretical. This week, Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase are fighting over who owns the payment rails for AI agents. Morgan Stanley is redesigning its wealth funnel around them. And Goldman Sachs just tokenized real estate on its own blockchain.

Meanwhile, markets got a reality check. A marginal guidance miss from one US chip company triggered circuit breakers in Seoul — a reminder of how concentrated the AI trade has become.

Stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Goldman Sachs tokenizes real estate. Bybit opens SpaceX IPO to retail.
♦️ The infrastructure battle for AI agent payments — Visa vs Coinbase.
♦️ Morgan Stanley opens its $7 trillion wealth platform to AI agents.
♦️ Lovable is Europe's hottest AI startup — and it's Swedish.
♦️ Markets hit a triple headwind: AI, oil, and rates at once.

Have a great read!

Morten

📖 Missed last week? Thursday's edition mapped crypto's new map — AI tokens, privacy coins, and web3 neobanks moving on their own fundamentals, independent of Bitcoin. Read it here: Crypto's new map — Thu 4 Jun

Tokenization moves fast

Goldman Sachs tokenizes real estate — using its own blockchain

Goldman Sachs has launched a blockchain-native real estate fund with Apex Group, Archax, Ownera, and LRC Group, with shares tokenized on GS DAP — Goldman's own blockchain platform. The structure combines blockchain-native issuance with established fund governance and is designed to enable future transferability while maintaining regulatory oversight.

Why it matters: Real estate has been the elusive asset class in tokenization — high value, low liquidity, complex ownership. Goldman using its own blockchain to issue a real estate fund is a meaningful step toward making the asset class scalable onchain.

Source: Goldman Sachs teams with Apex, Archax for tokenized real estate fund — CoinDesk

Bybit opens SpaceX IPO to retail — no brokerage account required

Bybit has launched IPO Express, one of the first centralised crypto exchanges to offer tokenized IPO access at the offering price. Each tokenized SpaceX share is backed 1:1 by real equity in regulated custody, powered by Payward Services' xStocks technology. Subscription runs June 7–11, trading begins June 12. Kraken has also opened SpaceX access to clients in over 110 countries through the same infrastructure.

Why it matters: IPO access has historically been reserved for institutional investors. Tokenization is dissolving that barrier — and SpaceX is the first test case at scale.

Source: Bybit open SpaceX tokenized IPO access — Reuters

The agent economy takes shape

Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase are fighting over how AI agents pay

Three competing standards are emerging for AI agent payments. Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol layers identity and fraud controls on existing card infrastructure. Mastercard completed Europe's first live AI-agent bank payment inside Santander in March. Coinbase revived the dormant HTTP "402 Payment Required" code as x402 — a stablecoin-native protocol that has processed over 75 million transactions, with Google, Stripe, and Visa itself among its members. The split: consumer agents ride card rails, machine-to-machine traffic rides stablecoins.

Why it matters: Every time an AI agent buys compute, data, or a service, someone collects the fee. The battle between card rails and stablecoin rails is the most consequential infrastructure fight in fintech right now.

Source: Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase are fighting over how AI agents pay — Forbes

Morgan Stanley is opening its $7 trillion wealth platform to AI agents

Morgan Stanley will give AI agents from thousands of corporate clients direct access to its equity platforms ShareWorks and Equity Edge — bypassing interfaces built for human users. The bank's workplace strategy has funnelled $1.2 trillion in assets by administering stock plans for nearly half the S&P 500. Early agentic access has already been granted to a handful of clients; full rollout to all 3,400 clients is planned for next year.

Why it matters: Morgan Stanley is not adding AI as a feature — it is redesigning its wealth funnel around agentic access. When the world's largest wealth manager stops building for human interfaces, the direction of travel in financial services is clear.

Source: Morgan Stanley will soon open its trillion-dollar wealth management funnel to AI agents — CNBC

Blockchain leaves the pilot phase

RLUSD hits $22 billion in quarterly volume — institutions are no longer just experimenting

Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD processed $22 billion in transaction volume last quarter, per Evernorth CEO Asheesh Birla at the XRP Las Vegas conference. Tokenized assets on blockchain networks now total roughly $23 billion. Birla: "You're not hearing about pilots anymore. You're hearing about BlackRock adopting. You're even hearing Jamie Dimon adopting." XRP now appears as a ticker on CNBC and Bloomberg.

Why it matters: The language of institutional crypto has changed — from "we're exploring" to "we're integrating." When a billion-dollar XRP treasury CEO says "this is no longer an experiment," that is a signal worth taking seriously.

Source: RLUSD hits $22 billion in quarterly volume as institutional XRP demand accelerates — Coinpedia / TradingView

Europe's hottest AI startup is Swedish

Lovable is in talks to raise at a $12 billion valuation — up from $6.6 billion six months ago

Stockholm-based Lovable, which lets users build apps through plain-language prompts, is in talks to raise at a $12 billion valuation — nearly double its December 2025 figure. The company has raised $653 million across four rounds, reached $200 million in ARR faster than any software company in history, and counts 8 million users with 85% day-30 retention. Alphabet's CapitalG and Nvidia's venture arm are among its backers.

Why it matters: Lovable is Europe's most valuable AI coding startup — and it is Swedish. The vibe coding market is moving at a pace traditional SaaS has never seen, and Lovable is at the centre of it.

Source: AI coding startup Lovable in talks to raise funding at a $12 billion valuation — Forbes

Markets hit a triple headwind

A single earnings miss wiped trillions — and triggered circuit breakers in Seoul

Broadcom's quarterly results came in strong — but its AI chip guidance fell marginally short of expectations. That was enough to trigger a global selloff that cascaded through Asia. SoftBank, Samsung, and SK Hynix all fell sharply. South Korea's KOSPI triggered its circuit breaker. The structural reason: Samsung and SK Hynix together so dominate the KOSPI that a single US earnings report can shut down trading in Seoul.

Why it matters: The AI trade has become so concentrated that marginal guidance misses now have systemic consequences. That is not a sign of strength — it is a sign of how crowded the trade has become.

Source: Asia tech stocks extend sell-off with SoftBank down over 7% — CNBC

Markets face a triple headwind — AI, oil, and rates hit simultaneously

Global markets came under pressure Monday as three forces collided: a pullback in AI-linked stocks, a sharp rise in oil prices after Israel struck military targets in Iran, and renewed bets on a Fed rate hike after strong US jobs data. Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 on Friday before recovering. Goldman Sachs called it "a technical correction in a longer-term bull market." The Fed meets June 16–17 under new chairman Kevin Warsh.

Why it matters: This is not a single-theme selloff. When AI enthusiasm, geopolitical risk, and monetary policy tighten simultaneously, the market is pricing in a more difficult environment — not just a rotation.

Source: Stock losses build as AI rally cools, oil jumps: Markets Wrap — Bloomberg / Swissinfo

Explore Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Monday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Friday 5 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

The payments landscape is being rebuilt in real time. Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are forming a stablecoin consortium. America's biggest banks are building shared blockchain infrastructure. Tether is turning gold into a spendable asset. Three fronts, one battle — and we cover all of them today.

In the background, a quieter story: gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the world's largest reserve asset, the euro is gaining ground as an international funding currency, and the US is inching toward a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — at deliberately slow speed.

And for your Friday read: Kaupr has mapped eight ways people actually own crypto. Which one are you?

Stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase form a stablecoin consortium — Circle falls
♦️ JPMorgan and the big banks build their own blockchain network — targeting 2027. ♦️ Tether turns gold into a spendable, yieldable asset.
♦️ Gold overtook US Treasuries. The euro hit a record. Bitcoin waits in the wings.
♦️ Bitcoin is cheaper than 95.6% of its history. Bitwise says fair value is $224,000.
♦️ Eight ways to own crypto — which one are you?

Have a great read — and a great weekend

📖 Missed yesterday's edition? Thursday's Kaupr Today mapped a shift most people haven't noticed yet — crypto's new map, where AI tokens, privacy coins, and web3 neobanks are moving on their own fundamentals, independent of Bitcoin. Read it here: Crypto's new map — Thu 4 Jun

The stablecoin network wars begin

Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase form consortium to challenge Tether and Circle

Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase are forming a consortium to launch a new stablecoin platform — a direct challenge to the Tether/Circle duopoly controlling roughly 80% of the $325 billion stablecoin market. No name, token details, or reserve structure has been disclosed. Stripe acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion in 2024; Mastercard acquired BVNK in 2026. Coinbase's participation is complicated by its existing USDC revenue-sharing arrangement with Circle.

Why it matters: The last time payments giants tried this, it was Facebook's Libra — which collapsed under regulatory pressure. The difference now: a friendlier regulatory environment, mature infrastructure, and companies that have already spent billions before announcing.

Source: Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase form consortium to launch stablecoin — Crypto Briefing

Circle's CEO pushes back: "Stablecoins can't succeed by just printing new money"

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told investors on June 4 not to take the consortium reports at face value, pointing to existing deep partnerships with Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase — all built around USDC. Stablecoin transactions on Stripe and a substantial portion of Visa's settlement activity already run on USDC. Allaire also unveiled Arc, a new Layer 1 blockchain described as "an operating system for the internet economy."

Why it matters: Allaire's response is a bet that network effects matter more than brand names. The question is whether the consortium's distribution power — Visa and Mastercard in 200+ countries — can overcome a two-year head start in onchain activity.

Source: Circle CEO says reports on Visa, Mastercard stablecoin alliance shouldn't be taken at face value — Bloomingbit

Tokenized deposits getting real

JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America and Wells Fargo build their own blockchain network — targeting 2027

America's four largest banks are building a shared tokenized deposit network through The Clearing House, targeting launch in the first half of 2027. Deposits will move instantly across a blockchain around the clock — while staying inside the regulated banking system. The Clearing House CEO David Watson called it "a big move for the banks." JPMorgan already operates JPM Coin for institutional clients on Base. A blockchain vendor has not yet been chosen.

Why it matters: This is not an experiment — it is shared infrastructure built to defend banks' core role in payments against stablecoin encroachment. When JPMorgan, Citi, BofA, and Wells Fargo move together, the plumbing of global finance is being rebuilt.

Source: JPMorgan, Citi and big banks plan new tokenized deposit system to answer crypto — The Wall Street Journal

Going deeper: Why is Norway's largest bank sitting out the Qivalis stablecoin consortium — and building tokenized deposit infrastructure instead? Why DNB opted out of Qivalis — kaupr.io

Tether keeps moving

Tether launches a tokenized gold Visa card — spend your XAUT anywhere, earn cashback in gold

Tether has launched a Visa card with Fasset that lets users spend Tether Gold (XAUT) anywhere Visa is accepted. At point-of-sale, XAUT converts instantly to USDT and then to fiat. Cardholders earn up to 6% cashback in XAUT in real-time, with a round-up feature that automatically reinvests spare change into tokenized gold. XAUT has a market cap of approximately $2.7 billion.

Why it matters: Tether is no longer just a dollar stablecoin issuer — it is systematically turning every major store of value into a spendable, yieldable digital asset. CEO Ardoino: "Historically, gold has been a store of value, not a medium of exchange. This initiative changes that narrative."

Source: Tether debuts tokenized gold stablecoin Visa card that pays out crypto rewards — Decrypt

The reserve asset race

Gold overtook US Treasuries as the world's largest reserve asset — ECB confirms

Gold now represents 27% of global central bank reserves, overtaking US Treasuries at 22%, per the ECB's annual report. Central banks hold approximately $4 trillion in gold versus $3.9 trillion in US government bonds. The shift was driven by gold's near-70% price appreciation last year and sustained buying by China, Poland, Turkey, and India — accelerating after Washington froze Russia's reserves in 2022.

Why it matters: For the first time since the Bretton Woods era, gold — not US government debt — is the world's most held reserve asset. That is a structural signal about confidence in sovereign debt.

Source: How gold overtook US Treasuries as number-one reserve asset — MarketWatch / Morningstar

Euro debt issuance hits record €1 trillion — the dollar's dominance is being tested

International debt issuance in euros rose 30% in 2025 to nearly €1 trillion — the highest since the euro's inception, per the ECB. Foreign investors added a net €850 billion to euro-area assets. Bond issuance by US firms in euros surged almost 50% as corporates capitalised on tight spreads and favourable costs relative to the dollar.

Why it matters: The euro is not replacing the dollar — but it is gaining ground as a genuine alternative for international financing. For Nordic and Baltic firms, a deeper euro capital market changes the cost and availability of funding.

Source: Euro debt issuance hits record high as EU strives to supplant US dollar — Euractiv

Bessent pushes summer deadline for Clarity Act — Bitcoin reserve at "deliberate speed"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday that the Clarity Act must pass before the summer recess. On the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — currently holding approximately 207,000 BTC from criminal forfeitures — he said the process is moving with "deliberate speed." The "big announcement" teased in April has not yet materialised.

Why it matters: The US is positioning Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset alongside gold and Treasuries — while the same administration pumps the brakes on active accumulation. Deliberate speed is not fast speed.

Source: Bessent backs summer push for Clarity Act, says bitcoin reserve moving at 'deliberate speed' — The Block

The case for Bitcoin — when nobody is looking

Bitcoin is trading cheaper than 95.6% of its entire history — and that has meant something before

Bitcoin's decline below $66,000 has pushed it to the lower boundary of the Power Law corridor. The Power Law Oscillator stands at 4.4% — meaning bitcoin is priced cheaper than 95.6% of all historical readings relative to its long-term trend. Previous visits to this level coincided with the March 2020 crash and the FTX collapse — both of which preceded significant recoveries.

Why it matters: The model offers no guarantee, but at this reading, long-term investors are looking at one of the deepest historical discounts to trend ever recorded.

Source: Bitcoin hits Power Law level low that historically precedes a rebound — CoinDesk

Bitwise puts bitcoin's theoretical fair value at $224,000 — as a hedge against sovereign default

Bitwise Europe applies the Greg Foss framework — treating bitcoin as a credit default swap on G20 sovereign bonds — and arrives at a theoretical fair value of $224,000. The firm is explicit: an illustrative model, not a price target. The case rests on record Japanese bond yields, 10-year swap spreads at their highest since the 2011–12 European debt crisis, and IMF warnings that governments will borrow $29 trillion this year.

Why it matters: Bitcoin's market-value-to-realized-value ratio sits in the lower half of its historical range, while the Nasdaq 100's price-to-book is at an all-time high. That divergence is, by Bitwise's count, one of the most extreme on record.

Source: Bitwise model puts bitcoin fair value at $224,000 as sovereign-default hedge — CoinDesk

From Kaupr

Eight ways to own crypto — which one are you?

Kaupr has mapped eight investor archetypes covering the full spectrum of crypto ownership — from the sovereign Bitcoin maximalist with cold storage and zero counterparty tolerance, to the convenience-driven ETP saver who just wants a ticker on a familiar screen. In between: the memecoin speculator, the protocol investor staking on Ethereum, the high-net-worth brokerage client, the wealth advisory client, the equity-driven pure play investor, and the financially curious everyday saver.

Why it matters: The crypto market is not one thing — and neither are its investors. Understanding which archetype you are — or which your clients are — is increasingly a strategic question, not just a personal one.

Source: Eight ways to own crypto — which one are you? — Kaupr

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — four episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Friday and a wonderful weekend — see you Monday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Thursday 4 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Bitcoin is down. Search interest is at record lows. By every traditional measure, this looks like a bear market. But the crypto narrative is changing — and most people haven't noticed yet.

The narratives that defined crypto for a decade are being replaced. Not by crisis, but by maturity. Capital is no longer moving in lockstep with Bitcoin. AI tokens are building infrastructure for a machine-speed economy. Privacy coins are attracting institutional capital for the first time. Neobanks are embedding web3 rails directly into their financial stacks.

This is not a bear market story. It's a coming-of-age story.

Stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Crypto search interest below bear market lows — the old framework is broken.
♦️ "Crypto stopped needing Bitcoin" — and that might be the most bullish thing
♦️ Three experts name the same three winners: perps, AI, and privacy.
♦️ Hyperliquid becomes Wall Street's after-hours trading venue.
♦️ NEAR builds a blockchain that scales itself. Bittensor catches Huang's attention.
♦️ DCG's Silbert: 5-10% of Bitcoin capital will rotate to privacy coins.
♦️ Fintech hits $500 billion — neobanks and digital assets are the new growth engines. ♦️ Kaupr breaking: Danish Penning acquires Lithuanian Veli

Have a great read!

Morten

🚀 Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join at kaupr.io/en/onchain

The Bitcoin read is broken

Crypto search interest has fallen below bear market lows — while prices stay elevated

Google Trends shows global crypto search interest at 26-32 out of 100 — down 70 points from the August 2025 peak and below levels seen when Bitcoin traded at $16,000. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index hit 5 in February, matching the all-time low from the Terra-LUNA collapse. The explanation is structural: institutional flows have replaced retail attention as the dominant price driver, and retail has rotated toward AI stocks. The historical correlation between search interest and Bitcoin price — reliable from 2017 to 2021 — has broken.

Why it matters: Retail attention is no longer the engine. Institutional flows, ETF data, and corporate treasury decisions are. Analysts still using the old framework are reading the wrong signals.

Source: Why crypto search interest hit a one-year low in 2026 — crypto.news

"Crypto stopped needing Bitcoin" — and that might be the most bullish thing in years

In a widely shared essay on X, analyst Nik Shep argues Bitcoin's drop is being misread. AI took its role as the market's asymmetric risk bet — infrastructure spending heads toward $700–830 billion this year. Stablecoins took its reserve role — annual volume crossed $30 trillion, and the on-ramp is now fiat → USDC → anything. What remains is a maturing dollar-denominated economy with real businesses: Hyperliquid did $2.6 trillion in volume last year, more than Coinbase. Polymarket runs a $365 million fee run-rate at a $20 billion valuation.

Why it matters: If Bitcoin's reserve and risk roles have genuinely moved on, the instruments you watch to read crypto's health have changed too.

Source: "The Year Crypto Stopped Needing Bitcoin" — @nikshepsvn on X

Bear market for crypto, bull market for perps, AI, and privacy — three experts agree

As Bitcoin fell below $66,000 this week, Bankless co-founder David Hoffman, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, and Anchorage head of research David Lawant independently reached the same conclusion: this is not a generalised crypto bear market. Privacy coins rose 8% as a category. Hyperliquid flipped Dogecoin into the top 10. NEAR surged 12% while the broader AI token category fell 3.8%. Lawant: "Mature asset classes price idiosyncratically most of the time. Crypto is finally trading like it."

Why it matters: Three credible institutional voices naming the same three sectors simultaneously is a signal. When capital rotates on fundamentals rather than Bitcoin sentiment, the map of winners is being redrawn.

Source: 'Bear market for crypto, bull market for perps, AI, and privacy' — Stocktwits / TradingView

Where the smart money is going

Hyperliquid is Wall Street's after-hours trading venue — and it's getting serious

Traditional finance traders are using Hyperliquid to trade perpetual futures on Bitcoin, the S&P 500, crude oil, and pre-IPO companies including SpaceX — during hours when regulated markets are closed. When Trump announced airstrikes on Iran on a Saturday in February, hedge fund trader Vala Zeinali closed oil positions on Hyperliquid for a gain of up to 243%. Cumulative SpaceX-linked perpetual volume has reached $280 million. The platform generated approximately $8 billion in revenue last year. Hyperliquid currently blocks US users, but the CFTC's new perps framework may change that.

Why it matters: Hyperliquid is becoming the venue where global markets get priced when regulated exchanges are dark. That is a structural challenge to incumbent exchanges, not just a crypto story.

Source: Hyperliquid becomes the default venue for Wall Street's weekend derivatives trading — Blockhead

NEAR is building a blockchain that scales itself — without human intervention

NEAR Protocol will introduce dynamic resharding in June, allowing the network to automatically add shards as demand grows — no validator coordination required. The upgrade is designed for an AI-driven onchain economy where bots transact at machine speed. NEAR is also adding post-quantum-safe signing. The Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP pulled in $7 million in a single week ahead of the announcement.

Why it matters: Most blockchains scale through human-coordinated upgrades. NEAR is building infrastructure that scales itself — a meaningful technical edge for any network serving AI agents at high frequency.

Source: Near Protocol to automate its own growth and its token is skyrocketing — CoinDesk

Bittensor is the AI crypto Jensen Huang is watching — and ETFs may be next

Bittensor (TAO) is up 15% year to date with a $2.8 billion market cap — the leading decentralised AI cryptocurrency. Its specialised subnets for AI tasks including LLM training caught the attention of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Supply is capped at 21 million, identical to Bitcoin. Two catalysts could push it mainstream: flipping Shiba Inu to enter the top 25, and the potential launch of spot Bittensor ETFs following Hyperliquid ETFs that pulled in $70 million in their first sessions.

Why it matters: Decentralised AI infrastructure is attracting serious institutional attention. Bittensor represents the clearest bet on an open, token-incentivised alternative to Big Tech's closed AI systems.

Source: Is Bittensor (TAO) the Next Crypto to Go Mainstream? — Motley Fool

Privacy goes institutional

DCG's Silbert: 5-10% of Bitcoin capital will rotate to privacy coins

Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert predicted at Bitcoin Investor Week in New York that 5-10% of Bitcoin holdings will migrate to privacy coins over the coming years, singling out Zcash as capable of 500x returns. He acknowledged that Bitcoin's original anonymous cash narrative has been undermined by blockchain analytics firms, and expressed doubt Bitcoin will ever add privacy features. Grayscale operates the Grayscale Zcash Trust and is seeking to convert it into a spot ETF.

Why it matters: When the founder of Grayscale publicly shifts focus to privacy coins and calls financial confidentiality his "current passion," it signals a meaningful reallocation of institutional attention — and potentially capital.

Source: DCG's Silbert predicts 5-10% of Bitcoin capital rotates to privacy coins — CoinMarketCap Academy

Fintech goes web3

Fintech hit $500 billion in revenue last year — neobanks and digital assets led the way

Global fintech revenues exceeded $500 billion in 2025, growing 22% — more than four times faster than traditional banks — per the BCG and FT Partners Global Fintech Report 2026. Average EBITDA margins hit 20%, with 74% of major public fintech firms profitable. Neobanks are expanding beyond payments into lending, wealth management, and cross-border payments. Digital assets drove M&A activity, with fintech firms completing 659 acquisitions in 2025 — outpacing banks for the first time outside of 2023.

Why it matters: Fintech is no longer a challenger story — it is a profitability story. The shift toward digital assets and full-stack financial platforms is structural, and accelerating.

Source: Neobanks and digital assets emerge as fintech's next growth engines: report — crypto.news

Revolut's US bank will include stablecoins — and it won't be alone

Revolut has confirmed its planned US bank will offer stablecoin access alongside FDIC-insured accounts and multi-currency deposits in over 30 currencies. Revolut filed for a national bank charter with the OCC in March — one of 14 de novo applications in 2025, nearly matching the total from the previous four years combined. The US bank is expected to begin operations in 2027 from Stamford, Connecticut.

Why it matters: Neobanks pursuing bank charters are no longer doing it for compliance alone — they are building the full financial stack, stablecoins included. Revolut is the largest European neobank. The template it sets will be followed.

Source: Revolut wants to issue its own stablecoin — so will every other neobank — Forbes

Nordic-Baltic crypto grows up

Danish Penning acquires Lithuanian wealth manager — and launches Penning Wealth

Penning, one of Denmark's first MiCA-licensed crypto firms, has acquired the wealth management business of Lithuanian Veli, launching Penning Wealth as a structured investment arm for long-term crypto investors. The deal includes Veli's client base and a perpetual licence to its platform technology. Penning Wealth adds conservative bitcoin-anchored portfolios and balanced indices of the ten largest cryptocurrencies, including a platform for financial advisers. The transfer completes by end of June — just before Veli's Bulgarian VASP registration expires on 1 July — making Penning's MiCA authorisation the regulatory home for the combined client base across the EU and EEA.

Why it matters: This is a Nordic-Baltic consolidation story driven directly by MiCA's regulatory deadline. A Danish MiCA licence absorbing a Lithuanian and Bulgarian client base — with EU passport access — is exactly the kind of cross-border restructuring MiCA was designed to enable.

Source: Danish Penning acquires Lithuanian wealth manager — Kaupr

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — four episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Thursday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Tuesday 2 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

The stablecoin economy is being built in real time — MoneyGram, Franklin Templeton, and the UK House of Lords all moved on the same day. Meanwhile, capital is quietly rotating away from the US, Bitcoin is caught in the crossfire, and Wall Street is rewriting its own rules to accommodate the largest IPO in history.

Stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ The stablecoin economy takes shape — three moves in one day.
♦️ Family offices are leaving the US — and Bitcoin is collateral damage.
♦️ Citi: tokenized securities will hit $5.5 trillion by 2030.
♦️ SpaceX IPO: Morningstar says it's worth half of what Musk is asking.
♦️ ChatGPT hits 1 billion monthly users — faster than any app ever.

Have a great read!

Morten

🚀 Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join at kaupr.io/en/onchain

The stablecoin economy takes shape

MoneyGram launches its own stablecoin — built on Stellar, issued by Stripe's Bridge

MoneyGram has launched MGUSD, a US dollar-backed stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain, embedded directly in its app. Customers can hold a dollar balance in a self-custodial wallet and transfer funds across MoneyGram's network of 60 million customers and 500,000 retail locations. The token is issued by Stripe-owned Bridge; smart contracts by M0, wallet infrastructure by Fireblocks.

Why it matters: MoneyGram is one of the world's largest remittance networks. Embedding a stablecoin into its core infrastructure signals that digital dollar rails are becoming the default plumbing for cross-border payments.

Source: MoneyGram launches stablecoin on Stellar, joining rush toward digital dollar payments — CoinDesk

Franklin Templeton lets institutions swap stablecoins for yield — around the clock

Franklin Templeton has integrated its Benji Technology Platform with MoonPay Trade, letting eligible institutions move between stablecoins and its tokenized money market fund entirely onchain, 24/7. Unlike traditional money market funds, the tokenized version distributes yield based on the precise period an investor holds the asset.

Why it matters: This moves tokenized money market funds from concept to live infrastructure. Institutional demand for round-the-clock yield on cash-like assets is real — and now it has a product.

Source: Franklin Templeton teams up with MoonPay to let big investors swap stablecoins for yields 24/7 — CoinDesk

UK House of Lords pushes back on Bank of England stablecoin restrictions

The UK Parliament's Financial Services Regulation Committee has called on the Bank of England to reconsider proposed holding limits of £20,000 per individual and £10 million per business, and a requirement that issuers hold 40% of backing assets in unremunerated central bank deposits. The Bank of England's own deputy governor admitted last month the proposals were "overly conservative."

Why it matters: The UK risks falling behind the EU and US on stablecoin competitiveness. The Lords committee is giving the central bank political cover to loosen its stance.

Source: UK House of Lords committee calls on Bank of England to reconsider proposed stablecoin restrictions — CoinDesk

Follow the money

The world's wealthiest families are quietly leaving the US

A UBS Global Family Office Report found 60% of family offices plan strategic allocation changes in the next 12 months — roughly double the five-year average. North America is the only region where they plan to cut exposure. The drivers: a concentrated stock market, AI bubble fears, a weaker dollar, unpredictable policy, and rising debt. Advisors call it geographic diversification, not a wholesale "sell America" trade.

Why it matters: When the world's most sophisticated capital allocators move, markets follow. A sustained rotation away from US assets reshapes global liquidity — and opens space for alternative stores of value.

Source: The wealthiest investors are pulling money out of the U.S. in the 'de-dollarization' trade — CNBC

Bitcoin is losing the capital rotation battle — for now

Binance Research says Bitcoin's drop below $67,000 — its lowest since April — is not a crypto story. It is a capital rotation story. The CBOE Dispersion Index hit 42, its third-highest reading ever, as money concentrates into AI, defence, and energy. Binance calls it a "capital black hole." Historically, Bitcoin has recovered from similar episodes in 0–20 weeks when there is no crypto-native crisis — which Binance says is not the case now.

Why it matters: Bitcoin's weakness is collateral damage from an equity rotation, not a fundamental breakdown. That distinction matters for how quickly a recovery could come.

Source: Bitcoin crash explained: Binance Research blames outflows toward US equities — NewsBTC / TradingView

France lands €93 billion in AI investment — half of it a SoftBank data centre

Companies pledged €93 billion in investments in France at a Paris summit hosted by President Macron, as the country positions itself as Europe's AI hub using its nuclear energy capacity. Roughly €46 billion is tied to a single SoftBank-backed data centre project.

Why it matters: Capital is flowing into AI infrastructure at a scale that dwarfs most other categories. Europe is emerging as a serious destination — with direct implications for where digital infrastructure and data-driven finance are built next.

Source: Companies pledge €93 billion to invest in France, with half for SoftBank data centre — The Edge Malaysia

Wall Street goes onchain

Citi: the tokenized securities market will reach $5.5 trillion by 2030

Citi's report Tokenization 2030: Wall Street On-Chain puts the current tokenized asset market at $17 billion and projects $5.5 trillion by 2030 — with a bull case of $8.2 trillion. Three drivers: DTCC, Nasdaq, and the NYSE's owner are embedding tokenization into core trading infrastructure; stablecoins are providing settlement rails; and the Clarity Act is advancing. Stablecoin growth alone could create $1 trillion in demand for US Treasuries and $2.6 trillion for tokenized stocks.

Why it matters: When DTCC and the NYSE embed tokenization into capital markets, this stops being a crypto story and becomes a market structure story. The $5.5 trillion figure is a base case, not a ceiling.

Source: Citi predicts the tokenized securities market will grow to $5.5 trillion by 2030 — CoinDesk

The IPO that rewrites the rules

Morningstar values SpaceX at $780 billion — half of what Musk is asking

Morningstar initiated coverage of SpaceX with a fair-value estimate of $780 billion — less than half the $1.75 trillion IPO target. The roadshow launches June 4; Nasdaq debut on June 12. Core launch and Starlink businesses are valued at $611 billion, with $170 billion in probability-weighted AI scenarios. On xAI: "We don't see Grok as one of the leading AI labs today." Governance concerns flagged: Musk holds 85% voting control through a dual-class structure.

Why it matters: A $1 trillion gap between IPO price and independent analysis is not noise — it is a signal. Retail investors may end up holding SpaceX through index funds without having chosen to buy at $1.75 trillion.

Source: Morningstar values SpaceX at $780 billion, half its IPO target — Reuters

Index rules are being rewritten to fast-track SpaceX — and you may own it anyway

Nasdaq and FTSE Russell have changed their rules to allow large IPOs to join major indexes far sooner than before — 15 trading days under Nasdaq's new rule, five under FTSE Russell's. Tesla took roughly 10 years to join the S&P 500. If SpaceX joins major indexes quickly, funds tracking those indexes — including millions of pension and retirement portfolios — will be forced to buy its shares.

Why it matters: The rules of market access are being rewritten for one company in real time. When index funds are forced to buy a stock, it restructures where passive capital flows — and who bears the risk.

Source: Wall Street is already bending its rules to suck more people into SpaceX's IPO — Gizmodo

AI goes mainstream

ChatGPT hits 1 billion monthly users — faster than any app in history

ChatGPT crossed 1 billion global monthly active users in May, roughly three years after launch — faster than Google Maps, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, which each took five to eight years. The app grows at 62% year-on-year. Anthropic's Claude has 56 million monthly active users, growing at 640% — and users who installed Claude spent 5% less time on ChatGPT the following month. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are now preparing IPO filings.

Why it matters: A billion users in three years signals that AI has crossed into mass consumer adoption. The race between OpenAI and Anthropic is now a race for everyday habits, not just enterprise contracts.

Source: ChatGPT app hits 1 billion monthly active users in record time, data shows — Reuters

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — four episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Wednesday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Tuesday 2 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Two signals from the digital asset treasury world this morning — Strategy sold Bitcoin for the first time since 2022, and markets reacted hard. Meanwhile, Bitmine kept buying Ethereum without anyone noticing.

Beyond the treasuries: the CFTC just opened the door to regulated perpetual futures in the US, Telegram is bringing back Gram, and the Clarity Act is racing a packed Senate calendar.

Stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Strategy sells 32 BTC — and markets price in something bigger.
♦️ Bitmine quietly reaches 4.49% of all Ethereum.
♦️ CFTC greenlights crypto perps — Kraken, Coinbase and Kalshi move fast.
♦️ Telegram revives Gram — the token the SEC killed in 2020.
♦️ The Clarity Act has four weeks and a crowded Senate calendar.
♦️ India: Revolut launches, RBI plans cross-border CBDC pilots.
♦️ ECB's Schnabel draws the battle line on dollar stablecoins.

Have a great read!

Morten

🚀 Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join at kaupr.io/en/onchain

The treasury trade cracks?

Strategy breaks its own rule — sells Bitcoin for the first time since 2022

Strategy sold 32 Bitcoin for $2.5 million between May 26 and May 31 — proceeds earmarked for preferred stock dividends across five series totalling roughly $1.5 billion annually. It is the first sale since a tax-motivated disposal in December 2022, and the first ever tied directly to meeting financial obligations. Strategy still holds 843,706 BTC at an average cost of $75,699.

Why it matters: Strategy built its identity around accumulation. Selling to fund preferred dividends signals the equity stack now creates real, recurring pressure on the treasury.

Source: Strategy Sells 32 Bitcoin for $2.5M to Fund Preferred Dividends, First Sale Since 2022 — The Defiant

A $2.5 million sale sent MSTR down 6% — and Bitcoin to a two-month low

Strategy shares fell 5.85% and Bitcoin dropped below $72,000 — its lowest since April 13. Over $93 million in futures positions were liquidated in a single hour, 95% of them longs. Bitcoin ETFs have now posted ten consecutive days of net outflows, the longest streak on record.

Why it matters: The reaction was not about the size of the sale — it was about what it signals. Markets are repricing the assumption that Strategy will never sell.

Source: Strategy shares fall after selling $2.5 million in bitcoin, its first sale since 2022 — CNBC

Bitmine keeps buying — now controls 4.49% of all Ethereum

Bitmine added 26,497 ETH for approximately $53 million last week, bringing total holdings to 5,416,901 ETH — 4.49% of circulating supply. The firm has staked 4.72 million ETH, generating annualised staking revenue of $258 million, and expects to reach its 5% target in 2026.

Why it matters: While Strategy's sale dominated headlines, Bitmine quietly kept accumulating. The two firms now represent the largest institutional concentrations of Bitcoin and Ethereum respectively.

Source: Bitmine acquires 26,497 ETH as it targets a slower approach to 5% of Ethereum's total supply — The Block

India: the market everyone wants

Revolut enters India — 450,000 on the waitlist, 20 million users the target

Revolut has begun a controlled beta rollout in India, giving thousands of waitlisted users access to UPI payments, multi-currency cards, and e-money wallets. The company targets 20 million users by 2030 and $7 billion in transactions. India's UPI network processed a record 23.2 billion transactions worth $313 billion in May alone.

Why it matters: India is the world's most active real-time payments market. Revolut's entry puts it directly in competition with established local fintechs and global players already moving fast in the same space.

Source: Revolut rolls out services to thousands of users in India ahead of broader launch — TechCrunch

India's central bank moves toward cross-border CBDC pilots — Singapore and UAE first

The Reserve Bank of India outlined plans in its 2025–26 annual report to launch bilateral cross-border CBDC pilots with Singapore and the UAE. The bank is expanding programmable digital rupee pilots across welfare schemes — though retail e-rupee circulation fell from ₹1,016 crore to ₹772 crore over the past year.

Why it matters: India is simultaneously the world's largest remittance recipient and a leading CBDC experimenter. Cross-border digital rupee pilots would place it at the centre of a new payments corridor that bypasses traditional correspondent banking.

Source: RBI plans cross-border CBDC pilots amid digital currency experiments — Business Standard

Europe draws the stablecoin battle line

ECB's Schnabel: the digital euro is Europe's answer to dollar-dominated stablecoins

ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel warned Monday that the stablecoin market — approaching $300 billion, with USDT and USDC holding 90% — poses risks to financial stability and European monetary sovereignty. The digital euro is in a technical preparation phase, with a pilot scheduled for mid-2027 and issuance readiness targeted for 2029, contingent on legislation this year.

Why it matters: The ECB is not just warning about stablecoins — it is accelerating its own alternative. For European fintech and crypto firms, the digital euro timeline is becoming a concrete planning horizon.

Source: Digital euro is key to counter stablecoin risks, says ECB's Schnabel — The Block

Perps go onshore

CFTC greenlights crypto perps — Kraken, Coinbase and Kalshi move fast

The CFTC gave US crypto platforms a green light Friday to offer perpetual futures under American regulatory oversight. KalshiEX was first to receive approval for a BTC perp; Coinbase immediately extended access to global options and perps via Deribit; Kraken expects to follow within 30 days via Bitnomial Exchange.

Why it matters: Crypto perps have been the dominant global trading product for years — almost entirely offshore. Bringing them onshore under CFTC supervision reshapes the competitive landscape for every regulated US exchange.

Source: Kraken plans regulated perp contracts as rivals are quick off the blocks — Cointelegraph

CFTC: 24/7 trading fits crypto — but not everyone else

In an advisory issued the same day, the CFTC drew a clear line between crypto and traditional derivatives on 24/7 trading. Blockchain infrastructure and stablecoins make round-the-clock markets a natural fit for crypto — but agricultural and other traditional markets face liquidity and manipulation risks if they extend trading hours.

Why it matters: The CFTC is formally embedding a two-track regulatory framework — one for crypto-native markets, one for everyone else. That divide is now official US policy.

Source: U.S. regulator says 24/7 trading is great for crypto, may not be fit for other sectors — CoinDesk

Four weeks to pass a landmark bill

Momentum is real — but the Senate has four weeks and a packed agenda

The Senate returned from recess Monday with roughly four weeks before the July 4 break — and the Clarity Act competes for floor time against a reconciliation bill, Pentagon funding, and a June 12 FISA deadline. Winning 60 votes means flipping Agriculture Committee Democrats who voted against the bill on party lines in January, with ethics guardrails for government officials the key sticking point.

Why it matters: The Clarity Act has Treasury support and political momentum — but the calendar is a constraint lobbying cannot fix. The next four weeks will determine whether this bill moves in 2026.

Source: Clarity faces a crowded Senate calendar — Crypto in America

Full circle: Gram is back

The token the SEC killed in 2020 is coming back

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced Monday that TON's native cryptocurrency will be renamed Gram — the original name from the project's first white paper. The transition takes three weeks, requires no token swap, and leaves balances and staking unchanged. TON surged more than 13% on the news. In 2020, the SEC forced Telegram to return $1.22 billion to investors after blocking the original Gram launch — the community rebuilt the network independently as TON.

Why it matters: Telegram now controls the network it was forced to abandon in 2020, backed by 950 million users and a far more permissive US regulatory climate. Durov is reclaiming the full original vision.

Source: TON revives Gram token brand as Telegram CEO Durov says network is 'returning to roots' — The Block

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — four episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Tuesday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Monday 1 June 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

The macro picture is complicated right now. US debt and Treasury yields are flashing warning signals not seen since 2007 — but stock markets are hitting all-time highs in Japan, Korea, and the US, driven by AI earnings growth that Bitcoin simply cannot match. Two different stories. Two different engines.

Against that backdrop, regulation is moving fast. The Clarity Act is gaining momentum in Washington — but Jamie Dimon just drew a line in the sand. And in Europe and India, two of the world's most consequential markets are actively building the infrastructure for what comes next.

Stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ America must refinance $10 trillion in debt — the margin for error is gone.
♦️ Stocks hit all-time highs while Bitcoin falls 32% year-on-year — here is why.
♦️ Dimon: "The banks will not accept it" — Clarity Act faces its hardest test.
♦️ Europe's six largest economies push for unified crypto supervision.
♦️ Coinbase goes fully local in India — the world's largest crypto adoption market.

Have a great read!

Morten

🚀 Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join at kaupr.io/en/onchain

The debt machine — and what it means for Bitcoin

Wall Street expects 14.7% returns — but the warning signals are real

S&P 500 earnings are forecast to grow 25% in 2026, driven by AI spending and tax cuts. The median Wall Street price target implies 14.7% upside from current levels — well above the historical 9.3% average. The warning: the last time the 30-year Treasury yielded 5.18%, the S&P 500 fell 20% over the following year.

Why it matters: Optimism and vulnerability are sitting side by side. The same macro backdrop that is lifting stocks also contains the warning signals that have preceded major selloffs.

Source: Wall Street Says the Stock Market's Return Will Crush the Long-Term Average in the Next Year — Motley Fool

America must refinance $10 trillion in debt — and the margin for error is gone

The 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.2% in May — its highest in nearly two decades. The US must refinance almost $10 trillion over the next 12 months: $7.5 trillion in maturing bonds plus $2 trillion in new deficit spending. Interest payments already top $1 trillion annually. If yields stay elevated, that figure reaches $2.5 trillion by 2036 — absorbing 30% of all federal revenues.

Why it matters: The US borrowed cheaply for years. Now it is rolling that debt over at far higher rates. There is no longer any margin for error.

Source: Surging Treasury yields expose a brutal truth: America has no margin for error on its $39 trillion debt — Fortune

The Treasury market may be too big to function without support — and Bitcoin is caught in it

US Treasury debt has more than doubled since 2018. Foreign central banks have pulled back. The Fed is shrinking its balance sheet. Hedge funds, asset managers, and stablecoin issuers are absorbing what sovereign buyers once handled. Tether alone holds $141 billion in US Treasuries. Bitcoin's price ceiling has repeatedly been set by yield movements this year.

Why it matters: Bitcoin is embedded in the same sovereign debt dynamics straining the world's most important financial market. When Treasuries break down, crypto feels it.

Source: The US debt machine is getting harder to stabilize — So where does Bitcoin fit in? — CryptoSlate

Stocks hit all-time highs. Bitcoin is down 32% year-on-year. Here is why.

The Nikkei crossed 66,500 for the first time ever. Korea's KOSPI also hit a new all-time high. Bitcoin trades 42% below its lifetime high. Market researchers at XWIN Japan say the reason is structural: stocks run on earnings, Bitcoin runs on liquidity. Right now that liquidity is not arriving — spot Bitcoin ETFs have lost over $3.5 billion since May 15 without a single green day.

Why it matters: "Stocks rise because companies generate profits. Bitcoin rises when new liquidity and new participants return." Until ETF flows recover and on-chain activity picks up, the divergence from equities is likely to continue.

Source: Why Bitcoin Is Falling Behind Record-Breaking Stocks — CryptoPotato

The Clarity Act — momentum meets resistance

Dimon draws a line: "The banks will not accept it"

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon escalated his battle against the Clarity Act's stablecoin provisions on Friday, warning the bill would let stablecoin issuers pay de facto interest without bank-style protections — and predicted it would "eventually blow up." The bill needs 60 Senate votes after being merged between the Banking and Agriculture committees.

Why it matters: If banks mobilise against the stablecoin rewards clause, the 60-vote margin gets a lot harder to reach.

Source: 'The banks will not accept it': Dimon escalates battle over stablecoin rewards in CLARITY Act debate — CoinDesk

Treasury Secretary Bessent pushes Congress — Clarity Act odds rise to 57%

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is pressing both chambers to advance the Clarity Act. "All the nonsense that happens — that's because it's the wild, wild west offshore," he said. Senator Lummis warned that without the bill, crypto exchange customers have no guaranteed right to their assets in bankruptcy. Polymarket puts the odds at 57%.

Why it matters: With the Treasury secretary and key senators aligned, the Clarity Act has real momentum — but Dimon's opposition remains the single biggest obstacle to 60 Senate floor votes.

Source: CLARITY Act Odds Rise As Treasury Secretary Presses Senate, House On Crypto Bill — CoinGape

Europe and India — two markets moving fast

Europe's six largest economies push for unified capital market — crypto included

Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland met in Berlin to break a decade-old deadlock over Europe's Capital Markets Union. The proposal includes phased transfer of clearing house oversight to ESMA — and explicitly proposes ESMA supervision of significant crypto asset service providers, with the power to block new licences. Ireland and Luxembourg are resisting, fearing capital will migrate to Paris.

Why it matters: Europe's largest economies are linking crypto supervision directly to the Capital Markets Union. For Nordic crypto firms, a stronger ESMA with licensing veto powers would fundamentally change the competitive landscape.

Source: EU's six big economies seek move on capital market union despite Irish worries — The Irish Times

Coinbase goes fully local in India — the world's number one crypto adoption market

Coinbase is launching direct INR rails via India's IMPS payment system from June 1 — the first major global exchange to offer seamless bank-to-crypto transfers for Indian retail users. The move bypasses P2P workarounds and registers Coinbase with India's Financial Intelligence Unit. India ranked first in Chainalysis's 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index. The market is $3 billion today, projected to reach $14.2 billion by 2034.

Why it matters: India is not an emerging market for crypto — it is already the world's largest adoption market. Coinbase's local currency integration turns that user base from addressable to accessible.

Source: Coinbase makes a major play for India's booming $3 billion crypto market with local currency launch — CoinDesk

The payments and stablecoin race

Airwallex challenges Stripe in yet another vertical — billing is next

Airwallex, the $8 billion Australian-founded fintech, is launching a billing product for invoices, usage tracking, and subscriptions — at no extra cost for existing customers. Payments now account for only 30% of its revenue as it expands toward a full enterprise finance platform. Headquarters split between Singapore and San Francisco, with Europe and North America the next expansion targets.

Why it matters: The global payments race is no longer about who moves money fastest — it is about who owns the full enterprise finance stack. Nordic fintechs should be watching.

Source: Exclusive: Airwallex launches billing product as $8 billion fintech continues to compete with rival Stripe — Fortune

Tether's US stablecoin grew 540% in a month — but still trails far behind

Tether's US-focused stablecoin USAT grew from $22 million to $140.8 million in April — a 540% jump, per a Deloitte-attested reserve report. Despite the surge, USAT remains a minnow: Circle's USDC at $76 billion, PayPal's PYUSD at $5.5 billion, Ripple's RLUSD at $1.7 billion.

Why it matters: Tether dominates global stablecoins with $189 billion in USDT — but its US-regulated product is a distant fourth. The race to own the US institutional stablecoin market is only beginning.

Source: Tether's U.S.-focused stablecoin grows over 500% in a month, but still lags Circle, Ripple, PayPal — CoinDesk

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — four episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Monday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Thursday 28 May 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

We are back in Oslo after two days at the Nordic Blockchain Conference in Stockholm. If you missed our live coverage, you will find key highlights from talks and panel discussions on our LinkedIn page.

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today — back in Oslo after two days at the Nordic Blockchain Conference in Stockholm!

Bitcoin is under serious pressure this week — and it is not just macro. The narrative itself is cracking. Meanwhile the biggest IPO wave in a decade is building, smart money is rotating, and from the conference floor in Stockholm comes a bold argument: the old monetary system simply won't survive the AI age.

A lot happened this week. Here is what you need to know.

♦️ Bitcoin under pressure — macro, Strategy, and the IPO drain. ♦️ Anthropic overtakes OpenAI — and SpaceX files for a $2 trillion debut. ♦️ Capital is rotating out of Bitcoin and Ether — into something else. ♦️ From NBC Stockholm: the monetary system and the AI age. ♦️ Firi delivers profit for the second year running — and heads for Sweden.

Have a great read — and a great weekend!

Morten

🚀 Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join at kaupr.io/en/onchain

Bitcoin under pressure — and the narrative is cracking

Bitcoin pinned below $73,000 — and the peace deal isn't helping

Bitcoin slid back below $73,000 despite a draft US-Iran ceasefire agreement — stocks rallied, crypto didn't. PCE inflation rose to 3.8% year-over-year in April, its highest in nearly three years. Bitcoin ETFs saw $733 million in outflows Wednesday, on track to beat last week's $1.26 billion.

Why it matters: When stocks rally on peace news and crypto doesn't follow, it raises a direct question about what Bitcoin's role in portfolios actually is right now.

Source: Bitcoin pinned below $73,000 despite potential U.S.-Iran deal news — CoinDesk

Strategy's cash runway has collapsed to six months — and selling may be coming

Analyst Markus Thielen of 10xResearch warns Strategy's cash runway to cover its $1.7 billion in annual dividends has collapsed to 6.1 months — down from 16. Saylor has acknowledged the company will "probably sell some bitcoin soon." Thielen: Strategy's six-year BTC accumulation provided "narrative cover for billions more in institutional inflows." When that anchor starts selling, "it materially weakens the bitcoin bull case."

Why it matters: Strategy is a symbol that inspired dozens of corporate treasury copycats. When the symbol starts selling, the story changes.

Source: Bitcoin hits 6-week low as Strategy's cash runway has collapsed to 6 months — Sherwood News

SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs are draining liquidity from crypto

Spot BTC ETFs posted seven consecutive days of outflows totalling over $1.88 billion. Analyst Ted Pillows: "AI will continue to drain liquidity from crypto. Especially with the upcoming IPOs." SpaceX targets an $80 billion raise, OpenAI lists in September, Anthropic is close behind — the most watched potential listings in a decade.

Why it matters: Bitcoin is not just losing to macro headwinds — it is losing to narrative. The IPO calendar is now a headwind.

Source: Bitcoin Falls Below $75K – SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs Are 'Draining' Liquidity From Crypto — Yahoo Finance / Stocktwits

The $5 trillion IPO wave — and what it means for crypto

Anthropic overtakes OpenAI — $965 billion, $65 billion raised

Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation — eclipsing OpenAI's $852 billion for the first time. Led by Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia. Revenue run rate: $47 billion, up from $30 billion earlier this year. OpenAI files its IPO prospectus imminently, targeting September. Anthropic's IPO is advancing.

Why it matters: Two companies approaching a combined $2 trillion in valuation are heading for public markets simultaneously. The capital to absorb these listings will come from somewhere.

Source: Anthropic tops OpenAI as most valuable AI startup, nears $1 trillion valuation — CNBC

SpaceX files for a $2 trillion IPO — with 18,712 Bitcoin on the balance sheet

SpaceX filed its S-1 targeting a $1.75–$2 trillion valuation. Roadshow expected June 8, IPO mid-June. Buried in the filing: 18,712 BTC worth $1.45 billion — one of the largest corporate Bitcoin treasuries in the world.

Why it matters: Anyone buying SPCX on day one gets passive Bitcoin exposure. SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic together could absorb trillions in capital that might otherwise flow into crypto.

Source: SpaceX IPO filing sends space and satellite stocks soaring, reveals massive Bitcoin treasury — Crypto Briefing

Beyond Bitcoin — where the smart money is rotating

Standard Chartered: Ethereum is Amazon in 2001 — and it will catch up

Ethereum is down nearly 60% from its August 2025 peak — but transaction counts, TVL, and stablecoin activity are near all-time highs. Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick: "While the stock price was going the wrong way, everything inside the company was going the right way." Target: $4,000 by year-end, $40,000 by 2030. Ethereum holds 54% of all stablecoins and 60% of gross TVL.

Why it matters: Holding a $4,000 target through a 60% drawdown is conviction, not noise. The Amazon comparison is hard to dismiss.

Source: Standard Chartered compares Ethereum to Amazon during 2001 dot-com bubble burst — The Block

Investors are dumping Bitcoin and Ether ETFs — and piling into HYPE

BTC ETFs lost over $1 billion last week, ETH funds shed $215 million. HYPE spot products from Bitwise and 21Shares attracted $72 million in their first week. HYPE is up 59% this month. XRP and SOL ETFs added $22 million and $15.6 million. "Capital has not left crypto uniformly. It is rotating toward newer narratives," said BRN's Timothy Misir.

Why it matters: For institutional allocators, the question is no longer just "how much crypto" — it is "which crypto."

Source: HYPE funds attract millions as investors dump bitcoin and ether ETFs — CoinDesk

Nordic — from the conference floor and the balance sheet

Bybit Nordic head at NBC Stockholm: the old monetary system won't survive the AI age

Gustav Buder, Bybit's regional head for the Nordics, argued at NBC Stockholm that the existing monetary system is structurally incompatible with an AI-driven economy. A debt-creates-money system breaks down when AI sharply accelerates productivity growth. Bitcoin's fixed supply and open access means it does not need to be believed in — it needs only to prove itself against a system under structural pressure.

Why it matters: This is a macroeconomic argument, not a crypto-native one. Whether the existing monetary architecture can absorb AI-driven productivity growth is one of the most consequential open questions in finance.

Source: The Old Monetary System Won't Survive the AI Age — Kaupr

Firi posts NOK 28M profit for 2025 — and heads for Sweden

Firi delivered NOK 28 million in net profit for 2025 on NOK 228 million in revenue and NOK 9.2 billion in trading volume. 400,000 customers, growing outside the traditional crypto demographic. A Sweden country manager is already in place. CEO Thuc Hoang: "For the first time, more Norwegians under 40 own crypto than stocks."

Why it matters: Profitable two years running, MiCA-cleared, and expanding into Sweden — Firi is better positioned than most as the 30 June hard stop approaches. [TAG @Firi]

Source: Crypto exchange Firi posts NOK 28m profit and targets Sweden — Kaup

B🎙 Kaupr Weekly — on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — three episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Episode 4: Stablecoins on a Nordic Agenda — Who Owns the Future of Payments?

In this episode of Kaupr Weekly, host Morten Myrstad dives into a week when stablecoins moved firmly onto the Nordic agenda. Sweden got its first private digital krona. A 37-bank European consortium for a regulated euro stablecoin became a reality — wi...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Thursday — and welcome back on Friday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Thursday 28 May 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

This is our first edition since Monday — the entire Kaupr team has been in Stockholm covering the Nordic Blockchain Conference. Rather than apologise for the gap, we would rather point you to what we have been doing: two days of live coverage from some of the most important talks and panel discussions of the week, posted directly on our LinkedIn page.

If you missed it — or want to go deeper — follow our coverage at Kaupr on LinkedIn.

Now, back to the news.

♦️ Norway's largest crypto exchange and a fast-growing received MiCA licences
♦️ Jack Dorsey caves — Cash App rolls out USDC to 60 million users.
♦️ BIS Project Agorá proves tokenised cross-border payments work.
♦️ European businesses know AI is useful — they just can't figure out how to use it.
♦️ Workers are faster with AI, but the economy hasn't noticed yet.

Have a great read!

Morten

🚀 Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join at kaupr.io/en/onchain

MiCA deadline in five weeks — the Nordic and Baltic race

The full picture: who has a crypto licence across the Nordics and Baltics

The MiCA transition deadline hits 30 June 2026. Kaupr has mapped every approved and pending operator across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Finland leads with five approvals. Estonia has zero despite historically hosting the most VASP operators in Europe. Norway is moving fast — two approvals in one week.

Why it matters: Operators without a licence by 30 June lose the right to serve the entire EU/EEA market. The race will reshape the competitive landscape within weeks.

Source: MiCA in the Nordics and Baltics: Who Has a Crypto Licence? — Kaupr

TÝR Markets — Norway's first MiCA-approved crypto broker

TÝR Markets received its full CASP licence from Norway's FSA on 18 May — the first pure crypto broker in Norway to do so. CEO Filip Berg-Nielsen: "From 1 July, 500,000 Norwegian crypto investors will only be able to trade with MiCA-authorised operators." The company claims second place in the Norwegian market with 9% market share after just nine months.

Why it matters: TÝR's approval signals Norway's licensing round is moving — but Firi, K33, NBX and Bare Bitcoin are still pending. Five weeks to the hard stop.

Source: TÝR Markets becomes the first Norwegian crypto broker with MiCA approval — Kaupr

Firi gets MiCA licence — and targets Sweden next

Firi, the Nordics' largest crypto exchange with over 400,000 users, received MiCA approval on 26 May and is now authorised across all EU/EEA countries. Sweden is next. CEO Thuc Tuan Hoang: "Our ambition is for Nordic crypto investors to choose a regulated, Nordic platform they can trust." Fewer than 150 companies globally have equivalent approval.

Why it matters: Firi's approval — combined with TÝR Markets' licence — means Norway's largest crypto exchange and one of its fastest-growing newcomers are both MiCA-cleared ahead of the 1 July hard stop. The race is separating operators that will survive from those that will not.

Source: Firi cleared for European expansion with MiCA licence from Norway — Kaupr

The dollar is winning the payments race — for now

Jack Dorsey caves — Cash App rolls out USDC to 60 million users

Block's Cash App has begun rolling out USDC to 25% of its nearly 60 million users, with full access by end of week. Stablecoin market value has hit a record $322 billion — surpassing the FX reserves of 95 countries. Dorsey: "I don't like that we're going to support stablecoins but our customers want to use them."

Why it matters: When the most prominent Bitcoin maximalist in consumer fintech adds stablecoin payments, the ideological debate is over. 60 million users are about to find out what programmable dollars feel like.

Source: Block kicks off Cash App's phased stablecoin roll out to its nearly 60 million users — CoinDesk

BIS Project Agorá proves tokenised cross-border payments work

The BIS published its final prototype report for Project Agorá — a two-year collaboration involving eight central banks and over 40 financial institutions. The prototype demonstrated atomic multi-currency settlement of cross-border payments on a near 24/7 basis, with smart contracts embedding compliance and AML requirements directly into transactions. Moving to real-value testing now.

Why it matters: The world's central bank for central banks has validated tokenised cross-border payments. For Nordic banks and fintechs, this is the direction the global system is heading.

Source: Project Agorá: exploring tokenisation of wholesale cross-border payments — BIS

Traders are fleeing Bitcoin for dollars — again

Bitcoin's dominance rate is declining as USDT and USDC market share rises — the same pattern that preceded the steep crypto selloff earlier this year. Bitcoin trades around $75,800.

Why it matters: When traders park capital in stablecoins rather than Bitcoin, it is a leading indicator of risk-off sentiment — not a lagging one. The timing matters: it is happening as Treasury yields remain elevated and macro uncertainty persists.

Source: Traders once again prefer dollars over bitcoin. USDT, USDC dominance rises. — CoinDesk

The AI productivity paradox

European businesses know AI is useful — they just can't figure out how to use it

Eurostat 2025 data: lack of technical expertise blocks 10.5% of mid-sized European companies from adopting AI. Data privacy concerns and legal uncertainty follow. Only 2.09% say AI tools are not useful — the barrier is implementation, not intent. Denmark and Finland lead self-critical rankings on expertise gaps despite topping overall AI adoption charts.

Why it matters: Europe is not failing on AI awareness — it is failing on execution. Skills gaps and regulatory uncertainty create a structural lag as the US and Asia accelerate deployment.

Source: Why European businesses are not using AI tools — Euronews

Workers are faster with AI — but the economy hasn't noticed yet

Workers using AI save the equivalent of one workday per week, per LSE research. But total factor productivity has barely moved. The San Francisco Fed draws a direct parallel to the early internet: massive investment preceded productivity gains by years. Robert Solow's 1987 quip — "you can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics" — is being recycled for the AI era.

Why it matters: The productivity lag is not a sign that AI is failing — it is a sign that the economy has not yet reorganised around it. The payoff comes later, and bigger. For European businesses struggling with adoption, this is both a warning and a reason for patience.

Source: Employees using AI are working faster, but the economy isn't more efficient — Fortune

B🎙 Kaupr Weekly — on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — three episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Episode 4: Stablecoins on a Nordic Agenda — Who Owns the Future of Payments?

In this episode of Kaupr Weekly, host Morten Myrstad dives into a week when stablecoins moved firmly onto the Nordic agenda. Sweden got its first private digital krona. A 37-bank European consortium for a regulated euro stablecoin became a reality — wi...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Thursday — and welcome back on Friday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Weekly - a Kaupr Today special edition

Good morning and welcome to a special weekend edition of Kaupr Today!

This weekend we published Episode 4 of Kaupr Weekly — our deepest Nordic dive yet: Sweden's first private digital krona, a 37-bank European consortium, and Norway's biggest bank making a strategic bet that may be smarter than it looks. Today the Nordic Blockchain Conference kicks off in Stockholm — we will be there all week, covering it live. And if you have not yet joined Kaupr Onchain, our free membership platform, now is a great time.

♦️ Episode 4 of Kaupr Weekly: Stablecoins on a Nordic agenda — listen below.
♦️ Kaupr Onchain is live and growing — one account, the entire Kaupr universe.
♦️ NBC Stockholm starts today — we will be there all week.
♦️ Explore our Payments & Infrastructure hub — 8 stories and growing.

Have a great day and happy listening!
Morten

This week: Stablecoins on a Nordic Agenda - Who Owns the Future of Digital Payments?

Episode 4: Stablecoins on a Nordic Agenda — Who Owns the Future of Payments?

In this episode of Kaupr Weekly, host Morten Myrstad dives into a week when stablecoins moved firmly onto the Nordic agenda. Sweden got its first private digital krona. A 37-bank European consortium for a regulated euro stablecoin became a reality — wi...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today/

The stories behind this week's podcast episode

Step inside our Payments & Infrastructure hub on Kaupr — where news and analysis keep piling up. Here are some of the major stories you will find right now:

♦️ Why DNB Opted Out of Qivalis

♦️ Qivalis grows to 37 banks: All of the Nordics are in — except Norway and DNB

♦️ "Sweden the perfect starting point for a Nordic stablecoin"

♦️ Stablecoin neobanks are building a new kind of consumer bank

♦️ Circle makes micropayments possible for AI agents

♦️ The payments stack is being rebuilt with stablecoins

♦️ Lightspark and Marcus launch global payments platform

More on the hub - and more to come!

🔗 Explore the full Payments & Infrastructure hub

Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe

Kaupr Onchain is live and getting better every day. One passwordless account gives you access to everything Kaupr publishes. Free and takes one minute. Enter your email, receive a six-digit code, done. No password needed.

♦️ Unlimited access to news and articles on the Kaupr news site — free readers get up to 5 articles per month without registering
♦️ Access to the Kaupr Community Hub
♦️ Members-only newsletter and podcast channel
♦️ Priority access to live events and Kaupr TV

Join the journey at kaupr.io/en/onchain

Explore Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today - and listening to Kaupr Weekly. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great week — and follow us live from NBC Stockholm on Linkedin, X and Instagram.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Friday 22 May 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today — and happy Bitcoin Pizza Day! 🍕

In today's edition, we track how the agentic economy is being built in real time alongside major shifts in prediction markets and DeFi infrastructure.

Here is what we are covering today:

♦️ The Agentic Economy: SAP deploys 200+ agents via Claude, Cloudflare and Stripe enable autonomous AI deployment, and Nvidia targets a new $200B CPU market.
♦️ Prediction Markets Under the Microscope: Senate hearings focus on national security and user demographics as regulations loom.
♦️ HYPE Goes Institutional: Spot Hyperliquid ETFs pull a record $25.5M in a single day as Wall Street buys into DeFi infrastructure.
♦️ Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day: Celebrating the historic 10,000 BTC transaction that would have been worth $1.26 billion at peak.

Have a great read — and a great weekend!

Morten

🚀 Just launched: Kaupr Onchain One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join the journey: In Norwegian · In Swedish · In Danish · In English

You can also read the launch story here:
Kaupr launches Kaupr Onchain — a content and engagement solution for onchain finance — Kaupr

The agentic economy is being built in real time

SAP declares itself an AI company — and puts Anthropic's Claude at the centre

At SAP Sapphire 2026, CEO Christian Klein asked out loud: will SAP still be a software company in the future? The answer was no. SAP launched its Autonomous Suite — 51 AI assistants and 224 specialised agents across finance, HR, procurement, and supply chain. The headline partnership: Anthropic's Claude powers agents inside SAP Joule, executing tasks across enterprise systems. SAP's stock is down roughly 30% on fears the "SaaSpocalypse" will destroy traditional SaaS business models.

Why it matters: SAP runs the business processes of the world's largest companies. When it embeds Claude directly into its ERP stack, enterprise AI is no longer a pilot — it is going into production at global scale. For Nordic corporations running SAP, the autonomous enterprise is on the roadmap now.

Source: SAP Says It Is An AI Company — Forbes / Yahoo Finance

Cloudflare and Stripe let AI agents create accounts, buy domains, and deploy to production

Cloudflare and Stripe launched a protocol that lets AI agents autonomously provision cloud accounts, register domains, start paid subscriptions, and deploy to production — without a human touching a dashboard. Stripe handles identity and payment via tokenisation, with a default $100/month spending cap. The only human gates: Stripe authentication, terms of service, billing setup, and merge decisions. No other major cloud provider currently offers comparable agent-driven account provisioning.

Why it matters: This is the commerce layer the agentic economy has been missing. When AI agents can provision, pay, and deploy autonomously, the boundary between software and service provider collapses. The governance risks are real — but they are problems to solve, not reasons to stop building.

Source: Cloudflare and Stripe Let AI Agents Create Accounts, Buy Domains, and Deploy to Production — InfoQ

Jensen Huang: AI agents need CPUs — and that is a brand new $200B market for Nvidia

After posting a record $81.6 billion in Q1 revenue and forecasting $91 billion next quarter, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pitched Vera — a CPU purpose-built for agentic AI — as a major new growth driver. While GPUs handle the "thinking" part of AI, agents run on CPUs to execute tasks. Huang predicts billions of agents will each need their own "agentic PC." Vera has already generated $20 billion in standalone sales this year.

Why it matters: Nvidia is extending its AI dominance from training into inference and now into agent execution. A $200 billion CPU market that did not exist two years ago is the clearest measure yet of how fast the agentic economy is scaling.

Source: Jensen Huang says he's found a 'brand new' $200B market for Nvidia — TechCrunch

Prediction markets under the microscope

Senate hearing puts prediction markets on notice — national security is now the argument

The Senate Commerce Committee's Consumer Protection Subcommittee held a hearing titled "No Sure Bets" on Wednesday, focused on prediction markets and sports integrity. Senators were largely unswayed by industry arguments that prediction markets are not subject to gambling regulation. Chair Marsha Blackburn cited national security concerns — pointing to the case of an Army soldier arrested for betting on classified military information. Two bills are now in play: one banning CFTC-registered entities from offering sports-style bets, another prohibiting federal officials from using insider information to trade prediction markets.

Why it matters: Prediction markets are simultaneously facing a criminal prosecution, a CFTC regulatory proceeding, and a Senate hearing. The industry's biggest risk is no longer insider trading — it is being reclassified as gambling by lawmakers who are not persuaded by the "financial market" framing.

Source: Senators talk prediction markets — Politico

Prediction markets are a young man's game — and that is a problem worth watching

Prediction markets are a fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar industry. Kalshi is now valued at $22 billion, Polymarket at $9 billion. But 71% of users are men, and disproportionately under 45, according to Morning Consult. A poll from the American Institute for Boys and Men and Ipsos found that just over a quarter of American men aged 18–24 have used a prediction market or gambling app in the past six months — nearly double the rate of the general public.

Why it matters: The user base of prediction markets looks less like a financial market and more like a sports betting demographic. That shapes how regulators will ultimately frame the rules — and whether prediction markets get treated as mature financial products or as a new form of online gambling.

Source: 'Monitoring the situation': Why young men are drawn to prediction markets — BBC

HYPE goes institutional

Hyperliquid ETFs pull record $25.5M in a single day — HYPE near all-time high

US spot HYPE ETFs from Bitwise and 21Shares attracted $25.5 million in net inflows on Wednesday — their largest single day since launching May 12 — bringing cumulative inflows to $54 million in seven trading days. HYPE jumped 17.3% to $55.91, within $3 of its all-time high. Presto Research: institutions are entering HYPE ETFs faster than they entered Bitcoin ETFs on a market-cap-adjusted basis. Hyperliquid now accounts for 42% of all onchain blockchain fees.

Why it matters: Seven trading days in, Hyperliquid ETFs are tracking faster than Bitcoin ETFs did at launch on a relative basis. Wall Street is not just watching DeFi infrastructure — it is buying it.

Source: Hyperliquid ETFs attract record $25.5 million in net inflows as institutions pile in — The Block

Relevant in the Nordics: Virtune has listed a HYPE ETP on Xetra — read our article: Virtune launches two new crypto ETPs on the same day — Kaupr

🍕 Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day

Today is Bitcoin Pizza Day — and those pizzas would have cost $1.26 billion at peak

On 22 May 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas — the first commercial Bitcoin transaction in history. At Bitcoin's October 2025 peak of $126,000, those pizzas were worth $1.26 billion. In 2026, Bitcoin Pizza Day is being celebrated across the Nordics and Baltics — Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo, Stockholm, Tallinn, and Tórshavn among the cities hosting events. Full schedule at globalpizza.party.

Why it matters: Sixteen years on, the pizza transaction is no longer just a fun anecdote. It is the origin story of an industry that is now reshaping global financial infrastructure — much of which we cover every week in Kaupr Today.

Source: Bitcoin Pizza Day 2026 — It Cost Him 10,000 Bitcoin — Kaupr

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — listen on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — three episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Friday and weekend — and welcome back on Tuesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Thursday 21 May 2026

This week Kaupr has been deep in the Nordic stablecoin story — and today we go deeper. We interview AllUnity CEO Alexander Höptner on why Sweden is the perfect starting point for a pan-Nordic stablecoin infrastructure, and we cover Qivalis, the euro stablecoin consortium that now counts 37 banks — every Nordic country except Norway.

Beyond the Nordics: the global race for onchain assets has crossed $65 billion, Variational just raised $50 million to port TradFi liquidity onto blockchain rails, and Bitcoin is bouncing — but analysts are divided on whether it has legs.

Other stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ AllUnity CEO: Sweden is the perfect starting point for a Nordic stablecoin — watch
♦️ Qivalis grows to 37 banks — Norway and DNB are the only Nordic absentees.
♦️ K33 posts 64% revenue growth in Q1 despite a weaker market.
♦️ The RWA market hits $65 billion — Ethereum leads, but no clear winner yet.
♦️ Bitcoin rebounds to $77,000 — on-chain data suggests February was the bottom.

Have a great read!

Morten

🚀 Just launched: Kaupr Onchain One free account. Access to everything Kaupr publishes. Passwordless. Join the journey: In Norwegian · In Swedish · In Danish · In English

You can also read the launch story here:
Kaupr launches Kaupr Onchain — a content and engagement solution for onchain finance — Kaupr

Nordic and European stablecoins — the infrastructure is being built now

"Sweden is the perfect starting point for a Nordic stablecoin" — AllUnity CEO

AllUnity CEO Alexander Höptner tells Kaupr that Sweden's technical maturity, EEA integration, and cross-border capital flows make it the ideal launch market for SEKAU. He confirms five to six new currencies planned after summer, with the US dollar on the roadmap. The key message: stablecoins are cash equivalents, not crypto assets — and AI agents that cannot pay for content will simply treat it as if it does not exist.

Why it matters: Yesterday we covered the SEKAU launch. Today Höptner explains the strategic logic — and paints a picture of a stablecoin economy that runs on European currencies, not just dollars. [TAG @AllUnity]

Watch the video interview and read our article: "Sweden the perfect starting point for a Nordic stablecoin"
You dan also watch the video interview on our YouTube channel
Read the launch story: Sweden Gets the Nordics' First Private E-Krona

Qivalis grows to 37 banks — all of the Nordics are in, except Norway and DNB

The Qivalis euro stablecoin consortium has tripled from 12 to 37 banks across 15 European countries. Nordic members now include Nordea, SEB, Handelsbanken, Swedbank, Danske Bank, Jyske Bank, OP Pohjola, and Landsbankinn — every Nordic country except Norway. DNB was invited from the start and remains outside. European heavyweights Santander, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Rabobank are among the new additions. Launch target: second half of 2026.

Why it matters: Norway is the only Nordic country without a seat at the table as European banking infrastructure for digital euros takes shape. DNB's absence is the most conspicuous gap in what is becoming the continent's most credible regulated stablecoin project.

Source: Qivalis grows to 37 banks: All of the Nordics are in — except Norway and DNB — Kaupr

Nordic crypto business

K33 posts 64% revenue growth in Q1 — but Bitcoin losses weigh on the bottom line

K33 delivered 740 million SEK in Q1 2026 revenue — up 64% year-over-year and 73% quarter-over-quarter — despite spot market volumes declining approximately 15% during the quarter. The company launched crypto-backed lending, completed a major platform upgrade with full bank integration, and acquired a 46% stake in Sixty Six Capital to expand Bitcoin treasury exposure. Net loss was 35.8 million SEK, driven by realised and unrealised losses on Bitcoin holdings. CEO Torbjørn Bull Jenssen expects MiCA approval by end of Q2.

Why it matters: K33 is growing market share in a down market — the clearest sign of structural momentum. MiCA approval would open the full EEA for institutional clients, and the Sixty Six Capital stake ties the company's upside directly to Bitcoin's recovery since quarter-end. [TAG @K33]

Source: K33 Q1 2026 Interim Report — K33

The $65 billion race for onchain assets

The RWA market hits $65 billion — and no clear winner yet

The total RWA market cap has surpassed $65 billion, up 44% since January, as institutional asset managers accelerate tokenization. Ethereum holds 33% market share, backed by BlackRock's BUIDL fund and deep DeFi infrastructure. Provenance Blockchain commands 27%, anchored by Figure Lending's mortgage issuance. BNB Chain, XRP Ledger, and Solana each sit at 6%. Tokenized equities hit a record $3.57 billion in single-day trading volume this week. DTCC has announced limited production of tokenized securities activity for July 2026, with a broader launch in October.

Why it matters: RWA liquidity is among the stickiest in crypto — once institutional issuers build on a chain, switching costs are high. This is the critical window for chain positioning, and the race is still open.

Source: Ethereum leads $65 billion RWA race as blockchains compete for institutional tokenization flows — The Block

Variational raises $50M to bring TradFi liquidity to onchain derivatives

Variational, a decentralised derivatives protocol, raised a $50 million Series A led by Dragonfly Capital with participation from Bain Capital Crypto and Coinbase Ventures. Unlike Hyperliquid's order book model, Variational aggregates liquidity from traditional finance dealers and crypto exchanges — targeting a 100x liquidity gap between onchain and CME markets. The platform launches publicly later this year in select jurisdictions, starting with zero-fee perpetual futures and RWA trading.

Why it matters: The next frontier in onchain finance is not building new liquidity — it is porting existing TradFi liquidity onto blockchain rails. Variational is betting that brokerage-style aggregation beats the order book model for institutional-grade depth.

Source: Variational raises $50 million Series A to bring liquidity from traditional markets to blockchain rails — Fortune

Bitcoin bounces — but does it have legs?

Bitcoin rebounds to $77,000 — on-chain data suggests February may have been the bottom

Bitcoin rebounded above $77,000 on Wednesday, lifting the CoinDesk 20 index more than 1%. Multiple on-chain and derivatives indicators suggest the cycle low was set in February's $60,000 selloff: realized cap has stabilised near $1.08 trillion after heavy wealth destruction, and perpetual funding rates remained deeply negative for months — a historically reliable capitulation signal. The next durable move higher needs either a calmer Treasury market or clear evidence that ETF demand is rebuilding.

Why it matters: Bitcoin is pinned between its rising 50-day and falling 200-day moving averages. A break above $82,500 or below $76,000 is likely to set the trend for the coming months — and the on-chain picture is more constructive than the price action suggests.

Source: Bitcoin rebounds above $77,000. Analysts weigh in on whether the bounce has legs. — CoinDesk

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — listen on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — three episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Wednesday — and welcome back on Thursday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Wednesday 20 May 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today — a little later than usual!

Today is a special day. We are launching Kaupr Onchain — a free account giving access to the entire Kaupr universe, two to three years in the making. That is why this edition is arriving a little later than your usual 08:00. We think it was worth the wait.

Other stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Sweden gets the Nordics' first private e-krona — AllUnity launches SEKAU in June. ♦️ The 30-year US Treasury yield hits 5.2% — highest since 2007.
♦️ Zerohash becomes first MiCA-licensed firm with full EMI status in Europe.
♦️ Google retires the keyword box — search is now a conversation.
♦️ K33: this Bitcoin bear market is different — and the downside may already be limited.
♦️ Revolut launches first physical crypto card — 70 million users, Dogecoin-themed.

Have a great read!

Morten

Today, Kaupr launches Kaupr Onchain

Kaupr launches Kaupr Onchain — one account, the entire Kaupr universe

Kaupr today launches Kaupr Onchain — a free account giving investors, professionals, and builders access to everything Kaupr publishes: news, analysis, video, TV, community, newsletters, Voice Letter, and exclusive events. Passwordless registration: email address, six-digit code, done. Two to three years in the making.

Why it matters: Kaupr Onchain is not a blockchain product — it is a name that describes a direction. The same direction traditional finance, fintech, and agentic AI are all moving toward.

Join the journey: In Norwegian · In Swedish · In Danish · In English

Source: Kaupr launches Kaupr Onchain — a content and engagement solution for onchain finance — Kaupr

Nordic spotlight

Sweden gets the Nordics' first private e-krona — AllUnity launches SEKAU

AllUnity — backed by DWS, Flow Traders, and Galaxy — launches SEKAU in June: the first MiCA-regulated stablecoin in a Nordic currency, pegged 1:1 to Swedish kronor. Alongside it, Agentic Payments on the x402 standard lets autonomous AI agents transact with near-instant finality and settle to business bank accounts. The state e-krona is still years away.

Why it matters: Sweden leads the cashless transition, but the digital krona gap is real. [TAG @AllUnity] is not waiting for central banks.

Source: Sweden Gets the Nordics' First Private E-Krona — AllUnity Launches Swedish Stablecoin — Kaupr

Europe's stablecoin infrastructure is being built right now

Zerohash becomes first MiCA-licensed firm with full EMI status in Europe

Zerohash Europe secured an EMI license from De Nederlandsche Bank — the first MiCA-licensed firm to also hold full EMI status. The EBA's June 2025 No Action Letter required stablecoin-handling firms to obtain both licenses. Zerohash beat the March 2026 deadline and can now serve banks, brokerages, fintechs, and payment providers across all 30 EEA countries.

Why it matters: Most competitors are still working toward dual licensing. Zerohash sets the compliance template for European stablecoin infrastructure.

Source: Zerohash secures first EMI license under MiCA for stablecoin and brokerage services in Europe — The Block

70 million users just got a crypto card

Revolut launches first physical crypto card — Dogecoin-themed, LED included

Revolut is launching a Dogecoin-themed physical crypto debit card with an LED display that lights up on tap — usable anywhere Visa and Mastercard are accepted, rolling out in the UK and EEA. Links directly to crypto balances, converts at real-time rates, no extra exchange fees, supports 200+ cryptocurrencies. Industry-wide daily crypto card transactions have recently exceeded 100,000. Tax caveat: spending crypto is treated as a disposal in most jurisdictions.

Why it matters: Adding a physical card to a 70-million-user platform creates a mass adoption vehicle most crypto-native card products have lacked. For Nordic Revolut users, crypto spending just became a physical reality.

Source: Revolut unveils first physical crypto card as industry-wide card usage grows — The Block

When the macro turns against you

The 30-year US Treasury yield hits 5.2% — highest since 2007

The 30-year US Treasury yield hit 5.20% on Tuesday — last seen in 2007. The Iran war has shut the Strait of Hormuz, pushing oil to four-year highs and reigniting inflation fears. Traders now price in a Fed hike — in February they priced in three cuts. Bitcoin sits at $76,758.

Why it matters: Breaking 5% on an energy shock is a macro regime change, not a technical move. The path of least resistance for risk assets is down until yields stabilise.

Source: US 30-Year Yield Hits Highest Since 2007 as Selloff Deepens — Yahoo Finance / Bloomberg

K33: this Bitcoin bear market is different — and the downside may already be limited

Bitcoin's 30-day average funding rate has stayed negative for 81 consecutive days — nearing its record — showing persistent bearish positioning even as prices recovered from February's $60,000 lows. K33's Vetle Lunde calls it "uniquely pessimistic sentiment" that historically resembles bottoms, not bear market rallies. Base case: February's $60,000 was the deepest drawdown of the cycle.

Why it matters: When everyone is positioned for the worst, the worst often doesn't come. K33 argues this bear market lacks the leverage-driven collapse risk of 2018 and 2022 — changing the calculus for when to re-enter.

Source: This Bitcoin bear market is different, with 'uniquely pessimistic' traders limiting downside, K33 says — CoinDesk

The age of the agent begins

Google retires the keyword box — search is now a conversation

At Google I/O, Google announced the biggest search redesign in 25 years — a dynamic AI interface accepting text, images, PDFs, videos, and Chrome tabs. Persistent AI agents now monitor topics and push notifications without being asked. AI Mode: one billion monthly users in year one, queries doubling every quarter. Google processes 3.2 quadrillion tokens per month, up seven-fold. CapEx 2026: $180–190 billion.

Why it matters: Google taught the world to think in keywords. Now it asks it to think out loud. The persistent information agents are the infrastructure layer beneath every agentic payments and onchain finance use case.

Source: Google just redesigned the search box for the first time in 25 years — here's why it matters more than you think — VentureBeat

Podcast: The Rise of the Agency Economy - Why AI Agents Need Crypto

Episode 3: The Rise of the Agency Economy - Why AI Agents Need Crypto

Welcome to the frontlines of the digital finance revolution. In this episode of Kaupr Weekly, host Morten Myrstad dives into a seismic shift that is redefining the very nature of economic activity: the convergence of AI and crypto, and the rise of the...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

Listen directly by clicking on the paragraph above. You can also listen to this podcast episode on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube podcast / music.

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — listen on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — three episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Wednesday — and welcome back on Thursday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today - Tuesday 19 Mai 2026

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Monday may have been the most consequential day for onchain finance in months. The SEC is preparing an innovation exemption for tokenized stocks, the FCA and Bank of England published a joint tokenisation vision, and Standard Chartered put a $4 trillion price tag on where this is all heading. Three major regulatory and institutional signals — on the same day.

Other stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Musk loses OpenAI lawsuit — jury dismisses all claims in under two hours.
♦️ Hyperliquid rewrites the stablecoin revenue model with Circle and Coinbase
♦️ Japan sells $30B in US Treasuries — Bitcoin caught in the crossfire.
♦️ Tom Lee holds his $9K ETH target despite a 10% weekly drop.
♦️ Bitcoin Depot files Chapter 11 — 9,000 ATMs go dark.

Have a great read!

Morten

The week tokenized markets became real

SEC prepares "innovation exemption" for tokenized stocks

The SEC is expected to release an innovation exemption for tokenized stocks as soon as this week — creating a new framework for crypto-native platforms like Coinbase to offer tokenized equities without full broker-dealer registration. The tokens may not carry traditional shareholder rights and could track stocks without company consent. Nasdaq and NYSE both received separate tokenized trading approvals in March and April 2026.

Why it matters: Combined with the FCA's joint tokenisation vision published the same day, Monday may go down as the moment two of the world's top regulators simultaneously opened the door to onchain securities markets.

Source: SEC to propose tokenized stock framework as Wall Street efforts deepen — CoinDesk / Bloomberg

Standard Chartered: $4 trillion onchain by 2028 — DeFi wins

Standard Chartered projects $4 trillion in tokenized assets onchain by end-2028 — $2 trillion stablecoins, $2 trillion RWAs — with established DeFi protocols as the primary beneficiaries. The key argument is composability: one onchain asset can simultaneously earn yield, serve as collateral, and remain liquid. "This is not possible off-chain," writes Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank's global head of digital assets research.

Why it matters: There are currently 1,000 times more assets offchain than onchain. Standard Chartered is telling institutional clients the transition has started — and DeFi is the infrastructure that captures it.

Source: Standard Chartered projects $4T in tokenized assets by end-2028, with DeFi protocols primary beneficiaries — The Block

FCA and Bank of England set out joint vision for tokenisation

The FCA and Bank of England published a joint call for input Monday, setting out a shared vision for tokenisation in UK wholesale markets covering bonds, equities and fund units. The Digital Securities Sandbox already has 16 firms working towards going live. Responses are due 3 July 2026, with a full cross-authority roadmap expected later this year.

Why it matters: The UK is moving from experimentation to regulatory framework at exactly the same moment the US Clarity Act advances and Standard Chartered projects $4 trillion onchain. For Nordic financial institutions, this is the European regulatory signal to watch.

Source: Call for input: The future of tokenisation — a joint vision from the authorities for UK wholesale markets — FCA

The trial of the century ends in two hours

Musk loses OpenAI lawsuit — all claims dismissed

A federal jury in Oakland unanimously dismissed all of Elon Musk's claims against OpenAI and Sam Altman on Monday — less than two hours of deliberation ending a three-week trial that sought up to $180 billion in damages. The jury found Musk filed outside the statute of limitations. Judge Gonzalez Rogers adopted the verdict immediately. Musk called it a "calendar technicality" and vowed to appeal.

Why it matters: The merits were never decided — whether OpenAI "stole a charity" remains legally unresolved. But the verdict removes the single biggest legal threat to OpenAI's for-profit restructuring, clearing the path for what is expected to be one of the largest IPOs in history.

Source: Jury dismisses all claims in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — NPR

Who owns the stablecoin economy?

Hyperliquid flips the stablecoin revenue model — Circle and Coinbase pay the price

Hyperliquid's new USDC deal with Coinbase and Circle makes the exchange the primary beneficiary of its own stablecoin reserves — capturing up to 90% of yield from $5.1 billion in USDC deposits. Compass Point estimates the deal strips $60–80 million in annual EBITDA from Circle and Coinbase combined. HYPE is up nearly 10% while the broader market weakened. Other DeFi protocols are already watching.

Why it matters: Hyperliquid has rewritten the stablecoin revenue contract. If the model spreads, Circle and Coinbase face structural margin compression across the entire DeFi ecosystem — not just one exchange.

Source: Hyperliquid's USDC deal could supercharge HYPE, pressure Circle, Coinbase margins, analysts say — CoinDesk

Tether invests in LemFi — replacing SWIFT across Africa and Asia

Tether has invested in LemFi, a remittance platform serving millions of migrants sending money from the UK, US, Canada, and Europe to Africa and Asia. The deal integrates USDT as a settlement layer across key corridors, replacing multi-day SWIFT chains with near-instant settlement. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino cited 585 million USDT users globally.

Why it matters: Stablecoins replacing SWIFT for remittances is not a future scenario — it is happening now, corridor by corridor. For Nordic fintechs and regulators thinking about cross-border payments infrastructure, this is the competitive benchmark.

Source: Tether Invests in LemFi to Promote Stablecoin-Powered Remittances Across Emerging Markets — Tether.io

When the macro turns against you

Japan is selling US Treasuries — and Bitcoin is caught in the crossfire

Japan sold $29.6 billion of US government debt in Q1 2026 — the largest quarterly net sale since 2022 — as domestic yields hit their highest since 1997. Bitcoin dropped to $76,900 and has failed to close above its 200-day MA of $82,228 on five consecutive attempts. Citigroup warns JGB volatility could force risk-parity funds to dump $130 billion in US bonds. The 30-year Treasury yield sits at 5%.

Why it matters: Japan holds $1.24 trillion in US Treasuries. If it becomes a sustained seller, yields rise, liquidity tightens, and Bitcoin faces its hardest macro headwind of 2026. But the same sovereign debt fragility that pressures BTC short-term is exactly the long-term argument for it.

Source: Bitcoin faces Treasury yield pressure as Japan sells nearly $30 billion of US debt — CryptoSlate

Tom Lee blames oil prices for Ethereum's slump — and holds his $9K target

Ethereum has erased all its May gains, dropping nearly 10% in a week to an intraday low of $2,097. Bitmine chairman Tom Lee points to oil: ETH's inverse correlation to crude has hit its highest level on record. Despite the dip, Lee holds his $9,000–$12,000 year-end target. A close above $2,100 at month-end remains his "crypto spring" confirmation signal.

Why it matters: ETH breaking below $2,100 before month-end would invalidate Lee's own benchmark — at a moment when Bitmine holds $12 billion in ETH on its balance sheet. The stakes are not just analytical.

Source: What's Dragging Ethereum Down? BitMine's Tom Lee Has an Answer — Yahoo Finance / BeInCrypto

When the ATM model breaks

Bitcoin Depot files for Chapter 11 — 9,000 ATMs go dark

Bitcoin Depot (Nasdaq: BTM), North America's largest Bitcoin ATM operator, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 Monday and took its entire network of 9,000+ kiosks offline. CEO Alex Holmes cited a regulatory crisis: states have imposed new transaction limits, compliance obligations, and in some cases outright bans on BTM operations. The company will pursue an orderly wind-down and asset sale.

Why it matters: The BTM model — cash-to-crypto for the unbanked — has been squeezed by regulation and fraud litigation simultaneously. Bitcoin Depot's collapse is the clearest signal yet that physical crypto infrastructure faces an existential regulatory challenge in the US.

Source: Bitcoin Depot Initiates Voluntary Chapter 11 Process — GlobeNewswire

This week: The Rise of the Agency Economy - Why AI Agents Need Crypto

Episode 3: The Rise of the Agency Economy - Why AI Agents Need Crypto

Welcome to the frontlines of the digital finance revolution. In this episode of Kaupr Weekly, host Morten Myrstad dives into a seismic shift that is redefining the very nature of economic activity: the convergence of AI and crypto, and the rise of the...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

Listen directly by clicking on the paragraph above. You can also listen to this podcast episode on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube podcast / music.

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — listen on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — three episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Wishing you a great Tuesday — and welcome back on Wednesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Today, Kaupr Weekly and TV recordings

Last week we went deep on two major structural stories: Wall Street's race to tokenize money market funds, and prediction markets at a crossroads — scandal, criminal indictment, and a regulatory bet all in the same week.

This week we are zooming out. Beyond Bitcoin, beyond the institutional headlines — into altcoins with real fundamentals, and the new tools quietly rewiring how pro-retail investors trade and save. The next phase of digital finance is wider than most people think.

Yesterday we also published Episode 3 of Kaupr Weekly — if you missed it, it is right below, or available on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. And towards the end of today's edition, we share a Kaupr TV interview and articles on Deploi, a fascinating Swedish startup tokenizing private credit.

Other stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Dogecoin, Cardano, and NEAR — altcoins building real infrastructure, not just hype. ♦️ Jito launches a self-custodial trading terminal for traders who want to trade anything and everything.
♦️ Stablecoin rewards: banned in law, but inevitable in practice.
♦️ Virtune turns three — and holds 93% of Nordic crypto ETP market share.

Have a great read and happy listening!

Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

This week: The Rise of the Agency Economy - Why AI Agents Need Crypto

Episode 3: The Rise of the Agency Economy - Why AI Agents Need Crypto

Welcome to the frontlines of the digital finance revolution. In this episode of Kaupr Weekly, host Morten Myrstad dives into a seismic shift that is redefining the very nature of economic activity: the convergence of AI and crypto, and the rise of the...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

Listen directly by clicking on the paragraph above. You can also listen to this podcast episode on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube podcast / music.

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — listen on your favourite platform

A new episode drops each weekend — three episodes so far. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast on the week's biggest stories in crypto and fintech.

🎧 Listen and subscribe at today.kaupr.io/listen — or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Altcoins with a reason to exist

Dogecoin is outgrowing Elon Musk

DogeOS CEO Jordan Jefferson says Dogecoin is entering a phase of independent ecosystem growth — beyond Musk-driven attention cycles. Recent signals: Thumzup Media's $2 million DOGE purchase and DogeOS's $6.9 million Polychain-led raise. The goal is a real onchain economy, not a celebrity catalyst.

Why it matters: With a $17.6 billion market cap and a top-10 position, Dogecoin now has the scale to justify serious infrastructure investment — with or without Elon.

Source: Dogecoin has 'crazy things on the horizon' as ecosystem grows beyond Elon Musk — The Block

Cardano whales now hold 67% of ADA — while the chain goes quiet

Wallets holding at least one million ADA control 67% of circulating supply — the highest whale concentration since July 2020 — after accumulating through a 71% price drop. Meanwhile the chain has gone quiet: DeFi TVL down 80% to $137 million, daily DEX volume at $1.95 million, active addresses at 16,000.

Why it matters: Whales stacking through a brutal drawdown is a classic pre-cycle pattern — but conviction has not yet translated into usage. That gap is the story.

Source: Cardano whales now hold 67% of ADA supply in highest share since 2020 — CoinDesk

NEAR is up 50% in 90 days — and the numbers back it up

NEAR Protocol is up nearly 50% in 90 days on two bets: NEAR Intents — a crosschain liquidity protocol with $18 billion in total volume, $5 billion since February alone — and NEAR AI, infrastructure for autonomous agents to move value securely across chains.

Why it matters: NEAR is one of the few L1s with measurable traction in both crosschain liquidity and AI agent infrastructure. The rally has fundamentals behind it.

Source: NEAR's Intents and AI Bets Fuel Revival — Bankless

Pro-retail gets the tools institutions had first

Jito goes consumer — and redefines who crypto traders are

Jito Labs is launching JTX — a self-custodial trading terminal for pro-retail traders, launching in July with spot trading, then perpetual futures and prediction markets. CEO Lucas Bruder: "They don't even think of themselves as a crypto trader anymore. They're just traders. And they want to trade anything and everything." Jito has $100M+ in cash and $50M from a16z.

Why it matters: The next wave of onchain users are not crypto natives — they are traders who want self-custody, speed, and access to any asset class. That changes how crypto infrastructure thinks about distribution.

Source: It's a 'new era' for crypto users who 'trade anything and everything' as Jito goes consumer — The Block

Stablecoin rewards: banned in law, but inevitable in practice

The Clarity Act prohibits passive yield on stablecoins — but industry players say it does not matter. Borderless CEO: "If it's not rewards for holding balances, it's going to be rewards in some other way." Over 100 amendments were filed this week, including a banking industry push to strip all rewards language entirely. MoneyGram's CEO argues stablecoins are already treated like fiat — making yield on them increasingly hard to justify banning.

Why it matters: This is a battle over whether digital dollars can compete with bank deposits for user balances. The law may say no — the market is already saying yes.

Source: 'A million different ways to skin the cat': Stablecoin backers see incentives as inevitable under Clarity Act — The Block

Nordic spotlight

Virtune turns three — and holds 93% of Nordic crypto ETP trading volume

Swedish Virtune marks three years since its first crypto ETP on Nasdaq Stockholm. It now manages $320 million across 23 products on six European exchanges, with 160,000+ investors and 14 billion SEK in 2025 trading volume — its first profitable year.

Why it matters: A 93% Nordic market share and a first profitable year signal that the infrastructure phase is over — institutional demand is now the growth driver.

Source: Virtune celebrates three years since the listing of its first crypto ETP — NTB

Watch premium content from Kaupr TV

Reshaping private credit with blockchain

Leon Aleksander Karlsen Solbakken and Morten Myrstad sit down with Oskars Jepsis, founder and CEO of Deploi — a Stockholm-based startup tokenizing private credit assets on blockchain. Jepsis explains how the current fund model is broken: locked capital, infrequent valuations, and fees paid to the same agencies that helped trigger 2008. Deploi replaces funds with tokenized loan assets, enabling real-time pricing and daily yield.

Why it matters: Private credit is one of the world's largest and least transparent asset classes. Deploi's infrastructure could bring real-time pricing and AI-driven capital allocation — without the intermediaries.

Watch now: Reshaping Private Credit with Blockchain
Read and watch: The Trillion-Dollar Market No One Sees — Deploi Wants to Open Private Credit
Read: Deploi Issues Private Credit Directly on the Blockchain

Explore and share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today. If you find this briefing useful, please share it with a colleague or friend who should be following Nordic and European digital‑finance news more closely.

Kaupr Today now has its own home — read, listen, watch and explore at today.kaupr.io.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor