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

Kaupr Weekly - a Kaupr Today special edition

Two weeks ago, we launched Kaupr Weekly, a new short, news-oriented podcast where Morten Myrstad analyzes and comments on the news.

Today, we continue to share new episodes as a weekend special edition of Kaupr Today. Therefore, you now find links to two podcast episodes below.

Happy listening!

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

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — listen on your favourite platform

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

While you will always find every new episode right here in the Beehiiv newsletter each weekend, you can also subscribe and follow the Kaupr Weekly show across your favorite podcast apps:

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

🌐 Did you know?

Kaupr Today now has its own home — not just a newsletter archive, but a full experience where you can read, listen, watch and explore at your own pace.

👉 Explore today.kaupr.io →

Share Kaupr Today and Kaupr Weekly

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

Tomorrow we're back with the daily signal.

Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today!

Yesterday we covered one of the biggest stories of the week: JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Franklin Templeton all moved to tokenize money market funds in the same week. If you missed it — read Wednesday's edition here.

Polymarket is under criminal investigation, Washington finally moved on crypto regulation, and the Bitcoin rally is stalling at a critical technical level. Meanwhile, the world's largest asset manager is betting $50 billion that the AI infrastructure shortage — not a bubble — defines the next decade.

Other stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ The Clarity Act clears the Senate Banking Committee in a 15-9 bipartisan vote — Bitcoin jumps to $82,000.

♦️ Bitcoin fails its 200-day moving average — leverage flushes $400 million in longs.

♦️ Jane Street cut its MSTR stake by 78% and added 51% more downside puts — contrarian signal worth reading.

♦️ Anthropic and OpenAI together account for $2 trillion in cloud revenue backlog — and neither is profitable.

♦️ Larry Fink calls AI a supply shortage, not a bubble — and backs it with $50 billion in infrastructure deals.

Have a great read — and a great weekend!

Morten

Polymarket's moment of reckoning

NYT: over 80 Polymarket users show signs of insider trading

A New York Times investigation found more than 80 users with suspicious betting patterns across nearly 30 topics. The sharpest case: 13 users wagered $140,000 that Israel would strike Iran before it happened, netting $600,000. An Army Special Forces soldier has already been indicted for placing $33,000 in bets on the Maduro capture using classified information — and walking away with $409,000.

Why it matters: Polymarket's volume fell 9% in April while rival Kalshi grew 13%. The insider trading problem is not theoretical. It is now the central question regulators face.

Source: Dozens of Polymarket Bets Show Signs of Insider Trading, The Times Finds — The New York Times

The first criminal prediction market insider trading case

The SDNY and CFTC filed parallel criminal and civil actions against Army Special Forces member Gannon Ken Van Dyke — the first insider trading case ever involving a prediction market. Van Dyke allegedly used classified information about the Maduro operation to net $409,000 from a $33,000 bet. The CFTC has since signalled imminent rulemaking on prediction markets.

Why it matters: The first criminal charge sets a legal precedent that will define the regulatory framework for the entire sector — including how Polymarket and Kalshi operate going forward.

Source: The First Prediction Market Insider Trading Case — Sidley Austin

Polymarket asks CFTC to reopen its main exchange — amid an insider trading crisis

Polymarket is in talks with the CFTC to lift the ban on US users from its main offshore exchange, in place since a 2022 settlement. Four vacant commission seats leave Chairman Michael Selig as the sole decision-maker. The talks are happening as the NYT investigation drops and the first criminal prosecution unfolds.

Why it matters: Polymarket is asking for expanded access at the exact moment its integrity is under the harshest scrutiny it has ever faced. The CFTC's answer will define whether prediction markets get regulated as mature financial products — or treated as a problem to contain.

Source: Polymarket seeks CFTC approval to reopen main exchange to US traders — CoinDesk

Washington moves on crypto — but the hard part is still ahead

Clarity Act clears Senate Banking Committee — Bitcoin bounces to $82,000

The Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, with two Democrats crossing the aisle. The bill splits digital asset oversight between the SEC and CFTC. Bitcoin jumped to $82,000 on the news. It now needs to merge with the Agriculture Committee's crypto bill before a full Senate vote — where it will need 60 votes.

Why it matters: Bipartisan committee support is a meaningful threshold. For European and Nordic digital asset firms, US regulatory clarity is the single biggest variable in institutional adoption timelines.

Source: Bitcoin hits $82,000, Coinbase leads crypto stock gains as Clarity Act advances — CoinDesk

Democrats split, procedural chaos — and the Clarity Act still passed

Chairman Tim Scott blocked votes on amendments covering stablecoin yield and DeFi law enforcement, citing a drafting error — then allowed other amendments with the same issue. Elizabeth Warren called it "a bill written by the crypto industry for the crypto industry." Senators Gallego and Alsobrooks crossed anyway, despite no deal yet on limiting Trump's personal crypto ventures.

Why it matters: The path to 60 Senate floor votes runs through the unresolved Trump ethics provision. The committee result is a win — but the harder negotiation is still ahead.

Source: Senate advances crypto bill, Democrats split on amendments — Politico

The rally hits a wall

Bitcoin stalls at its 200-day moving average — and the pattern is familiar

Bitcoin failed to break above its 200-day MA at $82,430, trading near $79,400. CryptoQuant flags unrealized profit margins at 17.7% — the highest since June 2025 — and last week's largest single-day profit-taking since December 2025: 14,600 BTC worth $1.16 billion. The Coinbase Premium has flipped negative. Key support sits at $70,000.

Why it matters: The last time Bitcoin failed its 200-day MA was March 2022 — just before it fell from $47,000 to under $16,000. On-chain data rarely lies.

Source: Bitcoin Rally Cut Short as Profit-Taking Rises, US Demand Falls: CryptoQuant — Decrypt

Bitcoin stuck below $80,000 as leveraged longs unwind — altcoins slide

Bitcoin dropped to $78,720 after US PPI came in at 6% — the highest since 2022. Liquidations surged 68% to nearly $400 million, with $102 million of $117 million in BTC liquidations coming from longs. ETH open interest hit a record 15.42 million tokens. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index fell 10% in 24 hours.

Why it matters: The leverage flush confirms the rally was built on futures positioning, not spot demand. Until US buyers return, the on-chain recovery is not confirmed.

Source: Bitcoin stuck below $80,000 as leveraged longs unwind, altcoins slide — CoinDesk

Big players are selling Bitcoin — but for very different reasons

Jane Street quietly shifted its Bitcoin book toward downside protection

Jane Street's Q1 2026 13F shows the quant giant cutting MSTR by 78%, IBIT by 71%, and FBTC by 60% — after growing its MSTR position by 473% the quarter before. The options book tells the real story: MSTR puts grew 51%, calls fell 31%. The same shift appears on IBIT. Jane Street posted record revenue of $16.1 billion for the quarter.

Why it matters: A book that shrinks stock exposure, cuts calls, and adds puts is not a neutral straddle. It wants more downside protection — worth knowing in a market debating whether $82,000 is a ceiling or a floor.

Source: Jane Street Sells 78% of Its MSTR and Bitcoin Holdings — BitcoinTreasuries.net

MARA sold $1.5 billion in Bitcoin — and is betting the proceeds on AI

MARA Holdings sold 20,880 BTC worth $1.5 billion in Q1 2026, using $1 billion to retire 30% of its convertible debt and the rest to fund an AI infrastructure pivot. The company dropped from second to fourth among public Bitcoin holders, reported a $1.26 billion net loss, and said it will not make large ASIC purchases going forward. Up to 90% of its non-hosted mining capacity is being redirected to AI and high-performance computing workloads.

Why it matters: The largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner is selling into the rally rather than accumulating — and using the proceeds to buy energy infrastructure for AI. It is the starkest signal yet that the crypto mining business model is being replaced by something else entirely.

Source: Bitcoin miner MARA sold $1.5 billion of bitcoin as it shifts toward AI infrastructure — CoinDesk

The AI infrastructure bet

Larry Fink: there is no AI bubble — there is a supply shortage

At the Milken Institute Global Conference, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink dismissed AI bubble concerns. Demand for compute, chips, memory, and electricity is outpacing supply — and Fink predicts compute access will become a tradable asset class: "a new asset class will be buying futures of compute." BlackRock is already acting on it — a $40 billion data center consortium and a $10.7 billion deal to acquire power provider AES Corp.

Why it matters: When the world's largest asset manager calls AI infrastructure a "once-in-a-century" opportunity and backs it with $50 billion in deals, that is capital allocation — not commentary. The financialisation of compute is coming.

Source: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink disagrees with everyone who says there is an AI bubble — Times of India

The $2 trillion AI windfall — and it's going to the cloud

Anthropic and OpenAI account for $2 trillion in cloud revenue backlog

Contracts between the two leading AI labs and Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle have created a $2 trillion revenue backlog for those hyperscalers, per The Information. OpenAI is at $25 billion in annualised revenue; Anthropic crossed $30 billion in April, up from $9 billion at end-2025. Projected server costs: $45 billion for OpenAI, $20 billion for Anthropic this year.

Why it matters: The $2 trillion backlog anchors the AI investment thesis — and the gap between revenue growth and cash burn is the number that tests it. For financial institutions evaluating AI exposure, both figures matter equally.

Source: Two of the biggest cash-burning AI companies — Anthropic and OpenAI — now account for $2 trillion revenue backlog — Times of India

🎙 Kaupr Weekly — listen on your favourite platform

A new episode is dropping this weekend. Kaupr Weekly is Morten Myrstad's short, news-oriented podcast — analysing and commenting 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 Tuesday — and welcome back on Wednesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today!

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Franklin Templeton all filed or announced tokenized money market fund products this week — purpose-built for the stablecoin economy and the GENIUS Act reserve layer. Three of the most powerful names in traditional finance moving in the same direction, in the same week. That is today's lead.

Other stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Hot US inflation data kills Fed rate cut hopes — price in a 37% chance of a hike.
♦️ Circle raises $222M from BlackRock and a16z for a new institutional blockchain.
♦️ Anchorage steps back from the Kraken and Robinhood stablecoin consortium.
♦️ eToro CEO calls crypto all-time highs before year-end — with a cautious twist
♦️ Lunar founder Ken Villum Klausen steps down after eleven years.

Have a great read!

Morte

Wall Street tokenizes the money market

JPMorgan files second tokenized money market fund — built for stablecoin reserves

JPMorgan filed with the SEC to launch JLTXX — its second tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, investing exclusively in US Treasuries and overnight repo agreements. The fund is explicitly designed to meet reserve requirements for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, running on JPMorgan's own Kinexys Digital Assets platform.

Why it matters: Wall Street is building tokenized cash infrastructure directly to the spec of incoming stablecoin regulation. The largest banks are racing to own the reserve layer.

Source: JPMorgan filing to launch new tokenized fund as Wall Street tokenization race heats up — The Block

BlackRock files for two tokenized money market funds on Ethereum

BlackRock filed paperwork for two tokenized money market funds on Ethereum. The first is a digital share class tied to its existing $6.1 billion Select Treasury Based Liquidity Fund. The second — BRSRV — is a new fund aimed at investors who hold cash in stablecoins rather than traditional bank accounts. The tokenized RWA market has now surpassed $30 billion, up $10 billion since January.

Why it matters: BlackRock and JPMorgan filing tokenized Treasury products in the same week is not a coincidence — it is a land grab for the stablecoin reserve layer before the GENIUS Act takes full effect.

Source: BlackRock readies launch of two tokenized money market funds — AdvisorHub / Bloomberg

Kraken and Franklin Templeton join forces to bring Wall Street onchain

Payward and Franklin Templeton announced a partnership to build tokenized products spanning equities, yield, and custody. The centrepiece: Kraken will integrate Franklin Templeton's BENJI tokenized money market funds as live collateral and cash management infrastructure for institutional clients.

Why it matters: BENJI inside Kraken means tokenized money market funds are now active collateral infrastructure on a major crypto exchange — not just a regulatory filing.

Source: Franklin Templeton and Kraken's Payward team up to tokenize Wall Street — crypto.news

Inflation kills the rate cut — and crypto felt it

Hot inflation data kills Fed rate cut hopes for 2026

US April CPI came in at 3.8% year-over-year — above forecast and the highest since May 2023. Markets are now pricing in a 37% chance of a rate hike before year-end. Bitcoin dipped to $79,800 on the news before recovering to $81,200. Kevin Warsh takes over as Fed Chair on May 15, inheriting the most divided FOMC in 30 years.

Why it matters: Higher-for-longer is back. For Nordic investors and fintechs exposed to USD funding costs, this is the number that matters most this week.

Source: Hot inflation data pours cold water on Federal Reserve rate cut hopes — CoinDesk

eToro CEO: crypto will be back near all-time highs this year

eToro beat Q1 estimates — adjusted EPS of $0.91 versus $0.73 expected, net contribution up 19% to $258 million. The soft spot: crypto trades fell 32% year-over-year. CEO Yoni Assia told CNBC the weakness is cyclical and expects Bitcoin to climb back near its October all-time high of $126,198 before year-end.

Why it matters: A 32% drop in crypto trades alongside a beat on earnings says two things: diversification is working, and retail is sitting on the sidelines waiting for a signal.

Source: eToro CEO says crypto could climb back near all-time highs later this year — Seeking Alpha

The stablecoin infrastructure race

Circle raises $222M from BlackRock and a16z for institutional blockchain Arc

Circle raised $222 million in a token presale for Arc — its new institutional Layer 1 blockchain — valuing the network at $3 billion. a16z led with $75 million; BlackRock, Apollo, and Intercontinental Exchange are among a dozen investors. Arc uses USDC as its native gas token, built for stablecoin capital markets and tokenized assets. Q1 results: revenue up 20% to $694 million, USDC circulation up 28% to $77 billion, on-chain volume up 263% to $21.5 trillion.

Why it matters: Circle is betting that owning the infrastructure layer protects it as banks prepare competing stablecoins under the GENIUS Act. First token presale ever by a publicly listed company — and the investor list is Wall Street's A-team.

Source: Circle raises over $220 million for new blockchain project — Kaupr

Anchorage steps back from Kraken and Robinhood's USDG consortium

Anchorage Digital is pulling back from its leadership role in the Global Dollar (USDG) consortium — members include Robinhood, Kraken, Galaxy, OKX, and Visa. CEO Nathan McCauley cited "increased neutrality" as Anchorage now has 20 firms in its pipeline wanting to issue white-label stablecoins. USDG, with $3 billion in circulation, is not going away.

Why it matters: Anchorage choosing neutrality over allegiance signals the stablecoin market is entering a parallel-issuance phase — multiple regulated dollars competing rather than one consortium token dominating.

Source: Anchorage is stepping back from Robinhood and Kraken-backed stablecoin group — CoinDesk

Nordic fintech

Lunar founder Ken Villum Klausen steps down after eleven years

Ken Villum Klausen, who founded Nordic challenger bank Lunar in 2015, announced on LinkedIn he is stepping down as CEO. Søren Kyhl — former COO at Saxo Bank, 13 years at Danske Bank — takes over in early June. The exit follows a 350 million DKK raise in January, one million retail customers, and a historic first CASP licence under MiCA in October 2025.

Why it matters: Klausen built Lunar into the largest challenger bank in the Nordics, with full crypto trading across Norway, Sweden, and Denmark under MiCA. His exit marks the shift from founder-led growth to institutional-grade scaling.

Source: Lunar founder Ken Villum Klausen steps down as CEO — Kaupr

To listen: Is this crypto spring, or “sell the news”?

Episode 2: Is this crypto spring, or "sell the news"?

The Clarity Act: Current status and compromise details on U.S. stablecoin legislation. CryptoQuant Analysis: Profit-taking data and market indicators on Bitcoin's recent run. Venture Capital & Tech: Aly Yahya (Andreessen Horowitz) and Dan Morehead (Pan...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

🎧 Listen directly by clicking on the paragraph above, or go to our podcast page Kaupr Weekly to learn more about the show and how to subscribe. You can also listen to the latest podcast episode on Spotify, Apple, or 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 Tuesday — and welcome back on Wednesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today - and a new podcast episode!

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

This week's episode of Kaupr Weekly asks the question everyone in crypto is debating right now: is this crypto spring — or just another "sell the news" moment? Give it a listen after the read.

Today we lead with something a little different: AI is no longer just a product story — it is a management crisis. Three in four companies now have a Chief AI Officer, employees are running shadow AI tools without IT knowing, and ServiceNow is racing to own the governance layer. The boardroom is being rewired in real time.

Other stories in today's newsletter:

♦️ Bitcoin tops $82,000 as spot ETFs pull nearly $1B in two trading days.
♦️ Tom Lee calls ETH at $9,000–$12,000 by year-end and declares crypto spring has begun.
♦️ Kraken raises at a $20B valuation and signals it is 80% ready to go public.
♦️ Galaxy and SharpLink launch a $125M institutional DeFi yield fund seeded by ETH treasury.
♦️ 77% of Binance users now come from emerging markets — and they are using crypto as a bank.

Have a great read — and happy listening!

Morten

The AI takeover is now a management problem

The chief AI officer is here — and multiplying fast

IBM surveyed 2,000 CEOs globally and found 76% have now established a Chief AI Officer role, up from 26% in 2025. McKinsey calls it "the largest organisational shift since the industrial and digital revolutions." The main blocker is not technology — 93% cite culture.

Why it matters: The CAIO is becoming the governance layer enterprises are betting on to manage AI at scale. For Nordic financial institutions and fintechs building AI strategies, this is the model emerging across global peers.

Source: Here's how artificial intelligence is changing boardrooms — CNBC

ServiceNow wants to own the AI control layer

At Knowledge 2026, ServiceNow launched an expanded AI Control Tower — capable of discovering, governing, and measuring AI agents across enterprise environments regardless of vendor. It also introduced Otto, a unified conversational AI spanning the full platform, and announced Project Arc with NVIDIA for secure autonomous agents.

Why it matters: The race to own enterprise AI governance infrastructure is intensifying. ServiceNow is positioning itself as the single pane of glass across fragmented AI deployments — critical as regulated industries like banking and fintech scale agentic systems.

Source: ServiceNow aims to be enterprise AI control plane after Knowledge 2026 — Yahoo Finance

Your employees are already using AI. IT just doesn't know.

Business Insider reports a surge in employees using unapproved AI tools — Claude, NotebookLM and others — without IT knowledge, often to dramatically compress work time. One worker condensed 150 hours of work into 30 minutes. About half of company leaders do not know the extent of AI use inside their organisations, and only four in ten have a formal governance policy.

Why it matters: Shadow AI is the gap between official strategy and what employees are actually doing. For financial services firms — where data governance is non-negotiable — the absence of AI policy is itself a compliance risk.

Source: The sneaky rise of shadow AI in the workplace — Business Insider

To listen: Is this crypto spring, or “sell the news”?

Episode 2: Is this crypto spring, or "sell the news"?

The Clarity Act: Current status and compromise details on U.S. stablecoin legislation. CryptoQuant Analysis: Profit-taking data and market indicators on Bitcoin's recent run. Venture Capital & Tech: Aly Yahya (Andreessen Horowitz) and Dan Morehead (Pan...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

🎧 Listen directly by clicking on the paragraph above, or go to our podcast page Kaupr Weekly to learn more about the show and how to subscribe. You can also listen to the latest podcast episode on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

Crypto spring or dead cat bounce?

Bitcoin breaks $82,000 — SUI up 25%

Bitcoin briefly crossed $82,000 on Monday, driven by 11 consecutive days of ETF inflows and improved macro sentiment post US-China trade deal. SUI jumped 25% after Nasdaq-listed Sui Group Holdings staked 108.7 million SUI, removing a significant chunk of circulating supply.

Why it matters: ETF inflows and on-chain staking are pulling supply out of circulation simultaneously. The structural demand signals matter more than the price print.

Source: Bitcoin briefly tops $82,000 on improving macro conditions; Sui jumps 25% — The Block

Wall Street is up. Main Street is not.

Bitcoin gained 11.8% in April — its strongest month since April 2025 — and the Nasdaq hit an all-time high of 23,235 points. US consumer sentiment, meanwhile, has hit record lows. Analysts say the divergence reflects markets increasingly driven by institutional capital and innovation cycles rather than household finances.

Why it matters: The decoupling between Wall Street and Main Street is structural, not temporary — with direct implications for how digital assets are positioned as an investment class.

Source: Bitcoin, Nasdaq investors are celebrating, while U.S. consumers are panicking — CoinDesk

Tom Lee: ETH hits $9,000–$12,000 this year

Bitmine chairman Tom Lee set year-end targets at Consensus Miami: ETH at $9,000–$12,000, BTC at $150,000–$200,000. He called the crypto winter over and said a close above $2,100 at month-end would confirm "crypto spring." ETH trades near $2,320 — the target implies a roughly 4x move.

Why it matters: Lee backs his calls with $12 billion in ETH on Bitmine's balance sheet. Treasury conviction and public price forecasts converging is itself a market signal.

Source: Bitmine's Tom Lee Bets Big On Ethereum With New 2026 Prediction — Yahoo Finance / BeInCrypto

Institutions pile into Bitcoin ETFs — $1B in two days

US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in roughly $532 million and $467 million on back-to-back trading days last week — one of the strongest two-day stretches since launch. BlackRock's IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC led. Total net assets across US spot ETFs now stand at a record $108.76 billion.

Why it matters: Inflows at this pace mechanically remove BTC from circulating supply. This is institutional allocation, not retail momentum.

Source: Institutional inflows surge as US spot ETFs near $1B in two days — HedgeCo

The exchange arms race

Kraken goes shopping — and eyes the public markets

Payward, Kraken's parent, is raising fresh capital at a $20 billion valuation ahead of a planned IPO. Recent acquisitions include stablecoin payments firm Reap ($600M) and derivatives platform Bitnomial ($550M). Co-CEO Arjun Sethi told Consensus Miami the company is "80% ready" to go public.

Why it matters: Kraken is rebuilding itself as full-spectrum financial infrastructure — with the regulatory standing and institutional capital that previous neobank cycles lacked.

Source: Kraken parent Payward seeks fresh funding at $20 billion valuation ahead of potential IPO — CoinDesk

Bitcoin treasury Europe

Adam Back bets on Europe's first Bitcoin treasury company

Paris-listed Capital B raised €15.2 million ($17.8M) through a private placement backed by Blockstream CEO Adam Back and French asset manager TOBAM. Proceeds fund roughly 182 additional BTC, lifting holdings to 3,125 BTC. Attached warrants could unlock a further €99.1 million. This is Back's second Capital B investment in a week.

Why it matters: Back's repeated personal backing — two investments in one week — signals that the BTC treasury model is gaining serious institutional traction in Europe, not just the US.

Source: French BTC treasury firm Capital B raises $18 million from Adam Back, others — The Block

DeFi grows up

DeFi is not dead. It is going institutional.

Executives from Bitwise, eToro, and a16z Crypto said at Consensus Miami that DeFi is moving into the financial mainstream, driven by AI agents needing on-chain financial rails. eToro CEO Yoni Assia pointed to over $100 billion locked in DeFi lending markets. Bitwise is now fielding requests from regulated fintechs and neobanks for compliant DeFi exposure.

Why it matters: When institutions actively seek DeFi access, the debate shifts from "whether" to "how" — a transition that will shape regulatory frameworks, including in the Nordics.

Source: 'DeFi is not dead,' it's going mainstream with AI agents, crypto executives agree — CoinDesk

Galaxy and SharpLink put $125M of ETH to work in DeFi

Galaxy Digital and SharpLink are launching the Galaxy SharpLink Onchain Yield Fund — $125 million in initial commitments, with $100 million from SharpLink's staked ETH treasury and $25 million from Galaxy, which serves as investment manager. Capital deploys into DeFi liquidity protocols and on-chain yield strategies.

Why it matters: A publicly listed company using its crypto treasury as seed capital for an institutional DeFi fund is a first. It could become the template for how corporate ETH holdings generate yield.

Source: Galaxy and Sharplink Plan to Launch First of its Kind, Institutional Onchain Yield Fund with $125 Million in Commitments — Forbes / PR Newswire

Fintech infrastructure

From neobank wreck to BaaS platform — Keel's quiet rebuild

Manchester-based Keel emerged from stealth this week as a profitable Banking-as-a-Service platform. It started life in 2019 as consumer neobank Frost, hit 18,000 users, then pivoted when the energy switching market collapsed in 2022. Now FCA-authorised with Visa Principal Membership, its clients include a Southeast Asian platform with 750,000 users.

Why it matters: In a BaaS sector scarred by high-profile failures, Keel's model — profitability before scale, built on first-hand operating experience — is a differentiating signal for fintechs choosing infrastructure partners.

Source: Keel unveils fintech infrastructure business after pivot from neobank — Tech.eu

Crypto as banking

1.4 billion unbanked adults are choosing crypto over waiting

Binance Research reports 77% of its users now come from emerging markets, up from 49% in 2020. In those markets, 36% of users hold half or more of their portfolio in stablecoins — consistent with savings behaviour, not trading. Stablecoin transfers cost as little as $0.0001 versus a $20 minimum for SWIFT.

Why it matters: Adoption in emerging markets is driven by necessity, not speculation. Stablecoins are the primary tool — and the same use case is shaping the stablecoin regulation debate in Europe right now.

Source: Emerging market users are treating crypto exchanges like banking apps, Binance says — CoinDesk

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 on Wednesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today - and a new podcast episode!

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Last week, we launched Kaupr Weekly, a new short, news-oriented podcast where Morten Myrstad is analyzing and commenting on the news. This week: Is this crypto spring, or "sell the news"?

In our main news feed this Monday, Bitcoin is showing renewed strength and consolidating near three-month highs for a potential breakout, while the US regulatory landscape remains a high-stakes battleground. Meanwhile, tech giants PayPal and Google Cloud are aligning on cryptocurrency networks as the default payments infrastructure for the future AI economy, and a massive $4.2 billion acquisition marks a historic convergence between crypto platforms and traditional capital markets.

♦️ Bitcoin targets a bullish breakout while long-term holders secure gains.
♦️ SEC Chair Paul Atkins signals a transition toward tailored rules for onchain markets. ♦️ US banks clash with crypto advocates over stablecoin rewards in the CLARITY Act. ♦️ Google and PayPal back blockchain infrastructure for autonomous AI agents.
♦️ Bullish acquires share-registry giant Equiniti in a landmark $4.2 billion deal.

Have a good read! And Happy listening!

Morten

To listen: Is this crypto spring, or “sell the news”?

Episode 2: Is this crypto spring, or "sell the news"?

The Clarity Act: Current status and compromise details on U.S. stablecoin legislation. CryptoQuant Analysis: Profit-taking data and market indicators on Bitcoin's recent run. Venture Capital & Tech: Aly Yahya (Andreessen Horowitz) and Dan Morehead (Pan...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

🎧 Listen directly by clicking on the paragraph above, or go to our podcast page Kaupr Weekly to learn more about the show and how to subscribe. You can also listen to the latest podcast episode on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

The Big Picture right now

The $82,000 battle: Bullish breakout or "sell the news" trap?

The $82,000 battle: Bullish breakout or "sell the news" trap? Bitcoin has regained bullish momentum, clearing the $81,500 resistance zone and consolidating above $80,750 as traders target a potential breakout toward $85,000. On-chain data from CryptoQuant reveals a cautious undercurrent, with daily profit-taking recently spiking to 14,600 BTC—levels not seen since December.

Why it matters: This dual dynamic reveals a highly mature market structure. Even as short-term momentum signals a potential bullish run, long-term investors are treating these local highs with caution, prioritizing capital preservation and liquidity over unhedged speculation.

Source: Bitcoin Price Gains Renewed Strength, Market Eyes Bullish Breakout — TradingView

Bitcoin investors lock in biggest profits in a year as correction risks rise

As Bitcoin rallies 37% to tap a three-month high, investors are sitting on their highest unrealized profit margins since June 2025. CryptoQuant data shows daily realized profits spiked to 14,600 BTC on May 4—levels not seen since December. While this return to profitability is structurally healthy, analysts warn that high futures leverage combined with weak spot demand increases the risk of a sharp pullback.

Why it matters: Heavy profit-taking at key resistance levels historically points to either a local price top or a looming consolidation phase. With massive incentives for traders to lock in gains now, the market remains highly vulnerable to sudden liquidations.

Source: Bitcoin Investors Took More Profit as BTC Rallied to 3-Month High: CQ — CryptoPotato

The High-Stakes DC Battleground

Atkins to DeFi: Prepare for the "New Deal" of the onchain economy

Speaking at the AI+ Expo, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins announced that the commission may update key securities rules to better fit decentralized finance (DeFi). Atkins noted that traditional regulations written for brokers, clearing agencies, and exchanges fail to align with modern protocols executing trading and settlement near-instantaneously through code. Drawing a parallel to Regulation ATS in the late 1990s, he suggested a tailored rulemaking process is needed to support both blockchain and AI-driven finance.

Why it matters: This signals a historic shift from "regulation by enforcement" to active, tailored rulemaking. By building a compliant runway for DeFi and machine-to-machine transactions, the SEC is treating the onchain transition like the birth of electronic trading in the 90s.

Source: SEC Chair Paul Atkins signals possible rule changes for onchain trading platforms — AMBCrypto

Is the SEC finally throwing away its 1930s playbook?

At the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated that the agency’s current regulatory framework operates under rules from the 1930s that simply do not fit token-based ecosystems. While the SEC is working to streamline its approach under its new "ACT" strategy, Atkins emphasized that true, lasting certainty can only be established through a permanent act of Congress.

Why it matters: Even with a highly pro-crypto leadership currently in charge of the SEC, the progress made remains fragile and easily reversible by future administrations without the passage of permanent federal statutes like the CLARITY Act.

Source: SEC's Atkins says crypto is still stuck in 1930s-type era rules, calls for overhaul — MSN / Stocktwits

Panic at the Banks: High-stakes lobbying to crush crypto rewards

Six US banking lobby groups are pushing to alter the bipartisan CLARITY Act ahead of a Senate markup, demanding a strict ban on stablecoin rewards to protect traditional bank deposits. Coinbase and crypto advocates have hit back, accusing the banks of trying to stifle competition and consumer benefits.

Why it matters: The traditional banking sector continues to view stablecoins as a direct threat to deposit growth. Banning transaction rewards could severely limit the commercial appeal of regulated US stablecoins and drive innovation offshore.

Source: Banking groups and crypto advocates clash over stablecoin rewards in Senate bill — Investing.com

The Race of the Machine Economy

When AI starts spending money, It will use crypto

Representatives from Google Cloud and PayPal stated at the Consensus Miami conference that autonomous AI agents will inevitably rely on blockchain and crypto infrastructure to transact. Both companies emphasized that traditional banking networks are too slow and fragmented to support the micro-transactions and instant settlements required when machines begin buying services, APIs, and data from each other at scale.

Why it matters: When two of the world's largest distribution platforms for global cloud computing and consumer payments publicly agree on crypto-native networks for AI, the technology transitions from a speculative niche into the default infrastructure for the future machine-to-machine economy.

Source: Agentic commerce will run on crypto rails, PayPal and Google reps tell Consensus Miami — CoinDesk

Forget onboarding humans: Why AI agents are crypto’s ultimate user base

Speaking at Consensus Miami, Animoca Brands Chairman Yat Siu argued that the crypto industry has long misread its target audience. Instead of focusing on onboarding mainstream human users who struggle with complex web3 interfaces, Siu predicts that 50 to 100 billion autonomous AI agents will become the primary users of blockchains, bypassing human friction entirely through direct code execution.

Why it matters: This perspective redefines the future of blockchain adoption. If software agents become the primary economic actors transacting on-chain, crypto's notorious user-experience barriers disappear, allowing the underlying financial networks to scale silently in the background of the digital economy.

Source: AI agents could solve crypto's user problem — CoinDesk

The Real-World Adoption Wave of Stablecoins

Bitwise CIO: Tech pilots could drive stablecoins to $4 trillion by 2030

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan predicts the global stablecoin supply could surge from $300 billion to $4 trillion by 2030, driven by tech giants testing digital dollar payouts. Highlighting DoorDash’s pilot with Stripe for 10 million gig workers and Meta’s creator salary initiatives in Colombia and the Philippines, Hougan argues that corporate adoption is driven by operational simplicity—like bypassing fragmented local banking networks and currency conversions—rather than just fee savings.

Why it matters: This shift demonstrates that the primary growth driver for stablecoins is transitioning from speculative crypto trading to real-world corporate logistics. For multinational platforms managing millions of micro-transactions, replacing legacy banking networks with compliant digital dollar payouts represents a massive leap in operational efficiency.

Source: Bitwise CIO says big tech stablecoin tests could help drive $4 trillion supply by 2030 — The Block

Merging TradFi and Onchain Rails

The $4.2 Billion Megadeal: Bullish buys the gateway to tokenized stock markets

Cryptocurrency exchange operator Bullish has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Equiniti, a leading global transfer agent serving nearly 3,000 public companies and 20 million shareholders, in a deal valued at $4.2 billion. Bullish plans to combine Equiniti's regulated registry layer with its own blockchain infrastructure to establish an end-to-end tokenization pipeline for public securities, operating within FCA-regulated UK and SEC-registered US frameworks.

Why it matters: This monumental acquisition represents one of the largest integrations of traditional market infrastructure by a crypto-native firm to date. By acquiring an established registry system rather than building from scratch, Bullish secures the regulatory footprints and enterprise trust required to scale real-world asset (RWA) tokenization at a global level.

Source: Bullish to acquire Equiniti from Siris in $4.2 billion transaction, creating the global transfer agent for tokenized securities — Bullish

The DeFi Blame Game

LayerZero folds: Admits critical "mistake" behind the $292M Kelp DAO hack

In a major turnaround, cross-chain protocol LayerZero has issued a formal apology and accepted responsibility for enabling the $292 million exploit of liquid restaking platform Kelp DAO in April. After weeks of public finger-pointing where LayerZero blamed Kelp for using weak security settings, the company admitted it made a critical mistake by allowing its own validation infrastructure to protect high-value assets in a vulnerable "1-of-1" configuration. To rebuild trust, LayerZero announced it will completely phase out these single-verifier setups, moving to stricter multi-signature defaults.

Why it matters: This high-profile admission underscores how structural single points of failure remain the Achilles' heel of decentralized finance. The fallout has already triggered a migration, with major protocols like Kelp and Solv moving hundreds of millions of dollars in assets away from LayerZero to competing cross-chain networks like Chainlink.

Source: LayerZero Admits Errors Following $292 Million Kelp Hack — ForkLog

The NFT Resurrection?

Bored Ape NFTs double in a month as risk appetite returns

The floor price for the blue-chip Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection has doubled over the past month, surging from 5 ETH to 10 ETH as traders rediscover their appetite for high-risk assets. This sudden revival has also lifted the ecosystem's native token, APE, and triggered a broader recovery across other major digital collectible collections, such as Pudgy Penguins.

Why it matters: While the broader NFT market is still down over 95% from its historic peak, this sharp rebound suggests that retail interest is not entirely dead. It shows that speculative capital is quickly returning to established, well-known digital brands the moment broader market sentiment improves.

Source: Bored Ape NFTs are finally making a comeback as crypto traders rediscover their appetite for risk — CoinDesk

Share Kaupr Today

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

Tomorrow we're back!

Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Kaupr Weekly - a Kaupr Today special edition

Last week, we launched Kaupr Weekly, a new short, news-oriented podcast where Morten Myrstad is analyzing and commenting on the news.

Today, we continue to share new episodes as a weekend special edition of Kaupr Today.

Therefore, you now find links to two podcast episodes below.

Happy listening!

This week: Is this crypto spring, or sell the news?

Episode 2: Is this crypto spring, or "sell the news"?

The Clarity Act: Current status and compromise details on U.S. stablecoin legislation. CryptoQuant Analysis: Profit-taking data and market indicators on Bitcoin's recent run. Venture Capital & Tech: Aly Yahya (Andreessen Horowitz) and Dan Morehead (Pan...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

Last week: The payment stack is being rebuilt

Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt — 4 May 2026

Kaupr Weekly — Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt This week, the future of payments arrived — not from crypto companies, but from Western Union, Meta, Visa, Stripe and David Marcus. Money is being rebuilt from the ground up, and stablecoins...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

Share Kaupr Today

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

Tomorrow we're back with the daily signal.

Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Stablecoins are no longer just a trading tool — they're becoming the payment layer for AI, the backend for neobanks, and the settlement rail for institutional finance. Meanwhile, corporate bitcoin treasuries are maturing fast, and the Nordics are making moves.

• 🤖 Amazon, Coinbase and Stripe build the wallet for AI agents

• 🏦 The new stablecoin consumer: neobanks, small users, and PayPal's big restructure

• ₿ Boltz bridges bitcoin and the regulated dollar — without custody

• 📊 Strategy may sell bitcoin; Bitmine may stop buying ETH

• 🇳🇴 NBX lands on Swiss SIX; Stockholm's Pit raises $16M from a16z

Have a good read!
Morten

Every headline satisfies an opinion. Except ours.

Remember when the news was about what happened, not how to feel about it? 1440's Daily Digest is bringing that back. Every morning, they sift through 100+ sources to deliver a concise, unbiased briefing — no pundits, no paywalls, no politics. Just the facts, all in five minutes. For free.

Read the newsletter trusted by 4.5 million fact-seekers.

Stablecoins and the agentic economy

The plumbing for AI-native payments is being built right now — and stablecoins are at the centre of it.

Amazon, Coinbase and Stripe give AI agents a wallet

AWS launched AgentCore Payments, letting AI agents pay autonomously for APIs, data and online services using USDC via Coinbase's x402 protocol on Base and Solana. The system settles in around 200 milliseconds and has already processed 169 million machine-native payments across 590,000 buyers.

Why it matters: When the three largest cloud and payments players align on a single stablecoin payment standard for AI agents, it stops being an experiment and starts being infrastructure.

Source: Amazon teams with Coinbase and Stripe to let AI agents pay with stablecoins — Decrypt

Anchorage and M0 team up to build a stablecoin factory for institutions

Anchorage Digital, the US's first federally chartered crypto bank, has partnered with stablecoin infrastructure provider M0 to offer a combined issuance stack for companies launching regulated stablecoins. M0 handles design and interoperability; Anchorage provides issuance, custody and reserve management.

Why it matters: As the GENIUS Act reshapes the US stablecoin market, a ready-made regulated issuance stack lowers the barrier for banks, fintechs and tech companies to launch their own digital dollars — and Anchorage says it already has up to 20 institutional issuers in the pipeline.

Source: Anchorage Digital and M0 team up to power next wave of regulated stablecoins — CoinDesk

OpenTrade raises $17M to scale stablecoin yield infrastructure

London-based OpenTrade closed a $17M round led by Mercury Fund and Notion Capital, with a16z Crypto among participants, bringing total funding to over $30M. The platform — which lets fintechs and neobanks offer RWA-backed stablecoin yield — has surpassed $200M in TVL and is targeting $1B in transaction volume by end of 2026.

Why it matters: As stablecoin supply tops $310 billion, yield infrastructure is becoming the backend layer that fintechs compete on — and London-based players like OpenTrade are well positioned to serve European platforms under MiCA.

Source: OpenTrade raises $17 million to expand stablecoin yield infrastructure — CoinDesk

The new stablecoin consumer

Stablecoin neobanks are rebuilding consumer banking from the ground up

A new category of fintech-crypto hybrids is offering ordinary bank accounts where money moves as digital dollars or euros on a blockchain. Players like RedotPay (5 million customers, $10B annual volume) and Europe's Deblock and Brighty are already live — while no Nordic pure-play has emerged yet.

Why it matters: The Baltics have the MiCA licences and the infrastructure. The Nordics have the fintech culture. The gap between them and a consumer-facing stablecoin neobank is narrowing.

Source: Stablecoin neobanks are building a new kind of consumer bank — Kaupr

New Tether stablecoin is mostly held by small users

USDT0, Tether's cross-chain stablecoin built on LayerZero, has passed $86.7 billion in transaction volume since January 2025 and is now the third-largest holder of USDT. Yet 99.2% of holders carry less than $1,000 — while transfers above $1 million account for just 1.8% of transactions but 68.8% of total volume.

Why it matters: The user profile challenges the dominant institutional narrative around stablecoins — actual adoption is broader and smaller than the industry framing suggests, with retail and institutional usage coexisting in the same system.

Source: New Tether stablecoin is mostly held by small users — Kaupr

PayPal separates Venmo and bets on AI

New CEO Enrique Lores has reorganised PayPal into three standalone units: Checkout Solutions & PayPal, Consumer Financial Services & Venmo, and Payment Services & Crypto. A new AI transformation group will be led by a former Walmart tech executive. Two senior executives departed in connection with the restructuring.

Why it matters: PayPal is repositioning itself as a technology company — and carving out Venmo makes it easier to track, scale, or sell the platform as competition from Apple, Google and Stripe intensifies.

Source: PayPal's new CEO makes Venmo a standalone business unit as potential buyers circle — CNBC

Bridging Two Financial Worlds

Boltz lets you swap bitcoin directly into USDC — without an account or KYC

Non-custodial swap provider Boltz launched USDC swaps across all major Bitcoin layers including Lightning, using Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol. No account, no KYC, no custody at any point — users send bitcoin and receive Circle-issued USDC accepted by Stripe, Visa, Coinbase and more.

Why it matters: For the first time, bitcoin holders can reach regulated dollar rails without giving up custody or identity — a genuinely new bridge between open money and the institutional stablecoin stack.

Source: Boltz launches non-custodial USDC swaps, bridging Bitcoin directly to Circle's regulated dollar — Bitcoin Magazine

Digital Asset Treasuries

JPMorgan: Strategy on track to buy $30 billion in bitcoin this year

JPMorgan analysts estimate Strategy could purchase around $30 billion worth of bitcoin in 2026 at its current pace — well above the $22 billion it bought in each of the two prior years. The firm has added 145,834 BTC worth roughly $11 billion year-to-date, much of it bought opportunistically below its $75,000 average cost.

Why it matters: Corporate bitcoin accumulation at this scale is becoming a structural market force — and the $30 billion figure signals treasury strategies are here to stay.

Source: JPMorgan says Strategy's bitcoin buying could reach $30 billion this year at current pace — The Block

Bitmine nears 5% of ETH supply — and may ease off

Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said at Consensus Miami that the firm may slow its ether purchases as it closes in on its target of holding 5% of circulating ETH supply. The company already holds 5.18 million ETH worth around $11.9 billion — at its current pace of 100,000 ETH per week, it would hit 5% in six weeks. Lee said the firm would then shift focus to staking and share buybacks.

Why it matters: Bitmine has been one of the few large treasury firms actively buying through the downturn. A slowdown removes a significant demand driver for ETH at a fragile moment for the asset.

Source: Bitmine to slow down ether purchases as it nears accumulation goal, Tom Lee says — CoinDesk

Saylor breaks Strategy's never-sell rule

Michael Saylor said on Strategy's Q1 earnings call that the firm will "probably sell some bitcoin to pay a dividend" — the first public reversal of its founding pledge never to liquidate BTC. Strategy holds 818,334 BTC at an average cost of $75,537, with roughly $1.5 billion in annual dividend obligations across its STRK and STRC preferred stock instruments.

Why it matters: The "never sell" commitment was central to Strategy's identity and its influence on corporate bitcoin adoption. Walking it back — even as a signalling exercise — shifts the narrative around bitcoin as a pure treasury reserve.

Source: Strategy likely to sell bitcoin to cover STRC dividends, Michael Saylor says — The Block

The Nordics & Europe

NBX approved as crypto custodian on Swiss SIX Exchange

Norwegian Block Exchange has been approved by SIX Exchange Regulation as a custodian for crypto assets underlying exchange-traded products on Switzerland's SIX Swiss Exchange. The approval builds on NBX's e-money licence from Finanstilsynet — and places the Oslo-based exchange among a small group of institutions that qualify under SIX's post-2024 supervisory requirements.

Why it matters: SIX is Europe's leading marketplace for crypto-backed ETPs, with over 250 listed products. NBX becoming an approved custodian there is a meaningful step for a Nordic crypto firm embedding itself in institutional European infrastructure.

Source: NBX approved as crypto custodian on Swiss SIX exchange — Kaupr

Stockholm AI startup Pit raises $16M from a16z

Pit, founded by the cofounders of European scooter giant Voi including CEO Fredrik Hjelm, has raised a $16M seed round led by a16z. The company offers enterprise AI automation for back-office processes in telecom, healthcare and logistics — positioning itself as an "AI product team as a service." Sovereign tech is a key selling point: EU models on EU compute is top of mind for almost every CIO the team meets.

Why it matters: Stockholm is consolidating as one of Europe's top AI hubs, and Pit's a16z backing — built on the Voi founders' existing relationship with the firm — shows Nordic founder networks are now opening doors to top-tier US venture capital.

Source: Voi founders' new AI startup Pit has become the latest rising star out of Stockholm — TechCrunch

🎧 Listen — Kaupr Weekly

10 minutes. One story. Weekly.

Kaupr Weekly covers what actually mattered in crypto, fintech and digital assets — properly analyzed.

A new episode drops this weekend. To get it straight to your inbox, subscribe to Kaupr Today.

Follow us on: 🟢 Spotify · 🎵 Apple Podcasts · ▶️ YouTube · 📬 Beehiiv

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 on Wednesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today and Kaupr Weekly

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Bitcoin is finding its lane. Wall Street is going crypto. AI agents are getting their own payment rails. And Europe is fighting over who controls the future of money.

🔷 Bitcoin finds its lane — store of value wins, stablecoins take payments
🔷 Wall Street goes crypto
🔷 Fintech and AI reshape investing — from Wall Street to retail
🔷 The agentic economy 🔷 Nordics and Europe

Have a good read! Morten

You don't need to be technical. Just informed.

Most AI newsletters are written for engineers. This one isn't.

The AI Report is read by 400,000+ executives, operators, and business leaders who want to know what's happening in AI — without wading through code, jargon, or hype.

Every weekday, we break down the AI stories that matter to your business: what's being deployed, what's actually working, and what it means for your team.

Free. 5 minutes. Straight to the point.

Join 400,000+ business leaders staying ahead of AI — without the technical overwhelm.

Read it free today

Bitcoin finds its lane — store of value wins, stablecoins take payments

Real estate meets Bitcoin — a $5 billion property empire bets on the hybrid model

Grant Cardone fused $100 million in Bitcoin with a $235 million real estate deal at Consensus Miami 2026 — pairing stable property cash flows with Bitcoin upside inside a single LLC, targeting 22–32% returns. REITs are structurally blocked from doing the same. Cardone also plans to tokenize his $5 billion portfolio for secondary market liquidity.

Why it matters: A major real estate operator is using Bitcoin as a treasury asset alongside income-producing property — a model competitors cannot legally copy.

Source: Bitcoin-real estate strategy could outperform REITs, says Grant Cardone — CoinDesk

Cathie Wood concedes stablecoins won the payments fight — Bitcoin found a better lane

Cathie Wood now acknowledges stablecoins have taken the transactional role she once expected Bitcoin to fill. In Venezuela, USDT accounts for 90% of P2P crypto volume; in Brazil, 66% of all crypto transactions. What's left for Bitcoin is the better seat — scarce reserve asset and institutional balance sheet allocation. ARK's 2030 Bitcoin price target remains $710,000.

Why it matters: The stablecoin vs Bitcoin division of roles is now visible in real payment data. Bitcoin didn't lose its thesis; it narrowed into a cleaner one.

Source: Cathie Wood's Bitcoin bull thesis concedes stablecoins won the real-world payment fight — CryptoSlate

Going deeper → America's $31.27 trillion in debt now exceeds GDP — silently reinforces the case for Bitcoin — CryptoSlate

Wall Street goes crypto

Morgan Stanley launches crypto trading on E*Trade — undercutting Coinbase and Robinhood on price

Morgan Stanley is launching spot crypto trading on E*Trade at 50 basis points — below the 60–95 charged by Coinbase, Robinhood and Schwab. The pilot rolls out to 8.6 million clients later this year. Morgan Stanley is also seeking a trust bank charter to custody crypto directly and exploring tokenized equity trading.

Why it matters: When a 91-year-old Wall Street bank starts a price war in retail crypto, the competitive landscape changes overnight.

Source: 91-year-old Wall Street bank to challenge Coinbase, Robinhood — TheStreet

Fintech and AI reshape investing — from Wall Street to retail

Anthropic goes after Wall Street — 10 AI agents for banking, with Goldman and Blackstone

Anthropic launched 10 pre-built AI agents for financial services at an invite-only New York briefing with Jamie Dimon in the room — handling pitchbooks, credit memos, KYC and insurance claims inside existing workflows with full Microsoft 365 integration. Goldman Sachs and Blackstone are backing a new joint venture to embed Claude into mid-market operations. FactSet fell 8% and Morningstar dropped 3% on the news.

Why it matters: Anthropic is building the operating layer for Wall Street — and the market reaction from data providers shows the threat is being taken seriously.

Source: Anthropic's AI Agents Are Coming for Wall Street — Business Insider

Robinhood's venture fund attracted 150,000 retail investors — pre-IPO access goes mainstream

Robinhood's Ventures Fund I — a publicly traded fund giving retail investors exposure to OpenAI, Stripe and Databricks before IPO — attracted 150,000 investors with no accreditation required and daily liquidity. CEO Vlad Tenev: as private companies stay private longer, retail deserves in before the IPO.

Why it matters: Democratising pre-IPO access is the next frontier after zero-commission trading — and Robinhood is first with a scalable, regulated structure.

Source: Robinhood's venture fund IPO attracted 150,000+ retail investors, CEO says — TechCrunch

Going contrarian → Kevin O'Leary says Wall Street's tokenization boom is all talk without crypto rules — CoinDesk

The agentic economy

Solana and Google Cloud launch Pay.sh — AI agents pay per API call with stablecoins

The Solana Foundation and Google Cloud launched Pay.sh — a gateway letting AI agents pay for Google Cloud services including Gemini, BigQuery and Vertex AI, plus 50+ community APIs, per request in stablecoins. Fractions of a cent per call, no subscriptions, no accounts required. Built on x402 and Stripe's Machine Payments Protocol.

Why it matters: Google just plugged its entire cloud into stablecoin payment rails for AI agents — the agentic economy is active infrastructure, not a concept.

Source: Solana and Google Cloud Launch Stablecoin Payments Service for AI Agents — Decrypt

Circle launches nanopayments on mainnet — AI agents can now pay $0.000001 with no fees

Circle launched Nanopayments in production across 11 blockchains. AI agents can now send stablecoin payments down to one millionth of a dollar with no transaction fees — Circle batches transactions and covers gas itself. Settlement confirms in under 500 milliseconds. An autonomous robot from OpenMind already used it to pay in USDC to recharge itself, without a human in the loop.

Why it matters: Micropayments have been an unsolved internet problem for two decades — transaction fees always exceeded the payment amount. Circle just removed that barrier.

Source: Circle makes micropayments possible for AI agents — Kaupr — in Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish

Nordics and Europe

Europe's digital euro is on track for 2029 — but banks and one MEP are fighting to stop it

The EU is pushing to legislate a digital euro by end-2026 with retail availability in 2029 — partly to counter Visa and Mastercard controlling 61% of eurozone card payments. The ECB says it is preserving public money in the digital age. But French banks warn it competes with commercial bank money, and one Spanish MEP has called legal tender status an "atomic weapon." A parliamentary committee vote is expected in June.

Why it matters: The digital euro battle is about who controls European payment infrastructure — and with the US advancing private stablecoins and China scaling its digital yuan, the outcome will define Europe's monetary sovereignty for the next decade.

Source: Europe moves to break Visa and Mastercard's grip — but not everyone agrees — Euronews

🎧 Listen — Kaupr Weekly

10 minutes. One story. Weekly.

Kaupr Weekly covers what actually mattered in crypto, fintech and digital assets — properly analyzed.

Follow us on: 🟢 Spotify · 🎵 Apple Podcasts · ▶️ YouTube · 📬 Beehiiv

🎧 Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt

Kaupr Weekly — Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt This week, the future of payments arrived — not from crypto companies, but from Western Union, Meta, Visa, Stripe and David Marcus. Money is being rebuilt from the ground up, and stablecoins...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

📖 Prefer to read? The companion article is on Kaupr - in Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish

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 on Wednesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today and Kaupr Weekly

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Crypto VC just had its biggest week of the year — $4.5 billion deployed in days by a16z, Haun Ventures and others. Prediction market ETFs hit Wall Street and the SEC immediately pumped the brakes. Stripe revealed what the agentic economy actually needs. And in Norway, NBX just landed a major European approval.

🔷 Crypto VC is back — $4.5 billion in one week
🔷 Prediction markets hit Wall Street — and the SEC has questions
🔷 The agentic economy — Stripe builds the infrastructure
🔷 Also a good read
🔷 Nordics and Europe

Kaupr Weekly is now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Beehiiv — find the links further down.

Have a good read! Morten

Kaupr Today is supported by Coinmotion, as one of our Kaupr TV Season Partners. Click on the image to learn more.

Crypto VC is back — $4.5 billion in one week

a16z raises $2.2 billion for fifth crypto fund — 100% dedicated to crypto entrepreneurs

Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm has closed Fund 5 at $2.2 billion — roughly half the size of its record $4.5 billion fourth fund from 2022, but a deliberate choice. The firm says shorter fundraising cycles let it keep pace with rapidly changing trends. Focus areas: stablecoins, tokenization, onchain lending, prediction markets and AI agent infrastructure. CTO Eddy Lazzarin has been promoted to general partner. Total accumulated across five funds: $9.8 billion.

Why it matters: a16z is deploying $2.2 billion into crypto at a moment of neutral sentiment and improving fundamentals — a deliberate bet on the building phase rather than the trading phase. When the most influential crypto VC doubles down, the market listens.

Source: Crypto powerhouse a16z raises $2.2 billion for fifth fund — Forbes

Haun Ventures raises $1 billion — crypto VC's big week continues

Haun Ventures has closed $1 billion across two new funds, targeting financial infrastructure, asset tokenization and the AI agent economy. The firm points to stablecoin volumes approaching Visa and Mastercard levels as proof that the infrastructure is ready for the next wave of products. Haun joins a16z ($2.2B), Dragonfly ($650M) and Blockchain Capital ($700M) — all closing major crypto funds this week.

Why it matters: Four major crypto VC firms closed funds in the same week — totalling over $4.5 billion dedicated to building on crypto infrastructure. That's not a trend. That's a signal.

Source: Haun Ventures Raises $1B for Crypto Infrastructure and New Markets — Incrypted

Going deeper → Why the Crypto Industry's Newest $2 Billion Fund Is a Wake-Up Call for Smaller Startups and Investors Alike — Inc.

Prediction markets hit Wall Street — and the SEC has questions

SEC delays prediction market ETFs — 24 products paused, likely temporary

The SEC has delayed more than two dozen prediction market ETFs from Roundhill, GraniteShares and Bitwise that were expected to launch this week, requesting more information on product mechanics and disclosures. The delay is described as likely temporary. Combined volume on Polymarket and Kalshi reached $85 billion in the first four months of 2026 — the underlying market keeps growing regardless of the regulatory pause.

Why it matters: The SEC is not rejecting prediction market ETFs — it's asking questions. That's a different signal than a block, and suggests the products will eventually launch on stronger footing.

Source: US SEC review delays first prediction-market ETFs — Reuters

Prediction market ETFs: the risks the SEC is asking about

Roundhill's own filing warns of "catastrophic" losses — if an event outcome is disputed or revised after settlement, investor losses are final with "no recourse." The SEC's delay centres on exactly this: retail investors recognise "ETF" as a safe wrapper, but the underlying product is binary and unforgiving.

Why it matters: The familiar ETF structure creates a dangerous perception gap — this is closer to a derivative bet than an investment.

Source: Prediction Market ETFs Raise Questions on Risk and Investor Suitability — Investing

The agentic economy — Stripe builds the infrastructure

Stripe is rebuilding commerce for AI agents — wallets, stablecoins and fraud protection

At its Sessions developer conference last week, Stripe launched three pieces of agentic commerce infrastructure: Link wallets for AI agents with programmable spending limits and approval requirements, stablecoin-based streaming payments for machine-to-machine micropayments settled on its own blockchain Tempo, and expanded fraud protection covering the entire customer journey — not just the transaction. Traffic from AI models to Stripe's developer documentation has grown tenfold in a year while human use is flat. Stripe processes around 2% of global GDP.

Why it matters: This is the most complete picture yet of what agentic commerce actually requires — wallets that agents can use, rails that make micropayments viable, and fraud protection built for software at scale. Stripe is positioning itself as the foundational infrastructure layer of the agent economy.

Source: How Stripe plans to make AI agents the web's new customers — Kaupr — in Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish

Also a good read

Bullish acquires Equiniti for $4.2 billion — creating the transfer agent for tokenized securities

Bullish has agreed to acquire Equiniti — the transfer agent for nearly 3,000 blue-chip public companies processing $500 billion in annual payments — for $4.2 billion. The deal combines Equiniti's regulated transfer agent infrastructure with Bullish's blockchain-native tokenization stack, enabling real-time cap table visibility, automated corporate actions and 24/7 settlement for tokenized equities.

Why it matters: Tokenization needs a transfer agent — and now there's one built for the blockchain. This fills the foundational gap that has kept tokenized equities in pilot mode.

Source: Bullish to acquire Equiniti in $4.2 billion deal combining transfer agent and tokenization stack — The Block

Nordics and Europe

Norwegian crypto exchange NBX approved as custodian on SIX Swiss Exchange

Norwegian Blockchain Exchange (NBX) has been approved as a custodian of crypto assets for exchange-listed products on SIX Swiss Exchange — one of Europe's largest and most regulated stock exchanges. The approval means NBX can now custody the underlying crypto assets for ETPs and derivatives listed on SIX, meeting the strict prudential supervision requirements introduced by SIX and FINMA. NBX is listed on Oslo Børs.

Why it matters: A Norwegian crypto exchange winning custodian approval on SIX Swiss Exchange is a significant Nordic milestone — it puts NBX on the same approved list as major international institutions and opens a new revenue stream in the fast-growing European crypto ETP market.

Source: NBX approved as custodian of crypto assets for exchange-listed products on SIX Swiss Exchange — Finansavisen

OKX Europe CEO: crypto exchanges without MiCA licence are illegal from July 1

Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, says that from July 1 it is illegal to offer crypto services in Europe without a MiCA licence — and that holding a licence on paper is not enough. Exchanges serving European customers through their global entity rather than their licensed European entity are also in breach. Ghoos demands regulators enforce the rules, not just publish them.

Why it matters: MiCA's transition period expires in eight weeks — and a licensed operator is now publicly calling for enforcement. Every Nordic and Baltic investor using a non-licensed platform should take note.

Source: OKX CEO: Crypto exchanges without MiCA licence are illegal from July 1 — Kaupr — in Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish

🎧 Listen — Kaupr Weekly

10 minutes. One story. Weekly.

Kaupr Weekly covers what actually mattered in crypto, fintech and digital assets — properly analyzed.

Follow us on: 🟢 Spotify · 🎵 Apple Podcasts · ▶️ YouTube · 📬 Beehiiv

🎧 Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt

Kaupr Weekly — Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt This week, the future of payments arrived — not from crypto companies, but from Western Union, Meta, Visa, Stripe and David Marcus. Money is being rebuilt from the ground up, and stablecoins...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

📖 Prefer to read? The companion article is on Kaupr - in Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish

 📺 Watch from Kaupr TV

Missed this one? Still worth your time.

Safello founder Frank Schuil returned as CEO with two clear bets: becoming the institutional crypto partner of choice in Sweden under MiCA — and building a serious position in decentralised AI through Bittensor.

▶️ Watch the short · 📺 Full interview on Kaupr TV · 📖 Read the article

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 on Wednesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today and Kaupr Weekly

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today — and to Kaupr Weekly!

Crypto spring. Tom Lee says it has started. Bitcoin broke $80,000. The Clarity Act cleared its last major hurdle. But is this the beginning of something — or will the market sell the news?

🔷 The Clarity Act moment — and the crypto spring question
🔷 Tokenization — the tipping point
🔷 Also a good read

And if you missed yesterday's special edition — we launched Kaupr Weekly, our new 10-minute podcast. Episode 1 is just below.

Have a good read! Morten

Kaupr Today is supported by K33, as one of our Kaupr TV Season Partners. Click on the image to learn more.

New from Kaupr — we just launched a podcast

Kaupr Weekly is our new 10-minute podcast. Every week, editor Morten Myrstad takes one big story from the week and explains what it actually means — not a summary of the newsletter, but his own reflections and conclusions.

🎧 Kaupr Weekly — The payments stack is being rebuilt — 4 May 2026

Kaupr Weekly — Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt This week, the future of payments arrived — not from crypto companies, but from Western Union, Meta, Visa, Stripe and David Marcus. Money is being rebuilt from the ground up, and stablecoins...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

📖 Prefer to read? The companion article is on Kaupr - in Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish

The Clarity Act moment — and the crypto spring question

Tom Lee calls it — "crypto spring has begun"

Bitmine acquired 101,745 ether last week, bringing total holdings to 5.18 million ETH — roughly 4.29% of the token's outstanding supply. Chairman Tom Lee declared "crypto spring" has commenced, pointing to Bitcoin breaking $80,000, the Clarity Act compromise and Ethereum's strength since the Iran conflict began. The firm has staked over 4.36 million ETH, generating nearly $300 million in annualized revenue. Lee argues the pattern is familiar: prices strengthen while investor sentiment stays muted and bearish — exactly how past cycles began.

Why it matters: When the most prominent Ethereum bull on Wall Street calls a new cycle while still buying at scale, it's not cheerleading — it's a position statement backed by $13 billion in crypto and cash.

Source: Tom Lee says 'crypto spring' started as largest Ethereum treasury buys $238 million in ether, CoinDesk

Clarity Act compromise sends digital asset stocks surging

Circle jumped 20%, BitGo 10%, Coinbase 7% and Galaxy Digital 4% on Monday after the Clarity Act stablecoin yield compromise was released over the weekend. Circle's chief strategy officer Dante Disparte called it a signal that the US is choosing to lead in digital assets. Coinbase's chief policy officer said that while banks got tighter yield restrictions, the industry protected activity-based rewards — and that the broader bill can now move forward on token classification, DeFi and tokenization.

Why it matters: Markets don't wait for legislation to pass — the compromise alone moved billions in market cap on Monday morning.

Source: CLARITY Act Compromise Propels Digital Asset Shares Higher, PYMNTS

The Clarity Act just cleared its final hurdle — and it's bigger than the yield fight

The Senate released compromise text on Friday resolving the last sticking point in the Clarity Act — banning yield on passive stablecoin holdings, allowing activity-based rewards. A committee markup is expected the week of May 11. Polymarket puts the odds of passage in 2026 at 55%, up nine points in 24 hours. But the yield section was never the most important part — the bill fundamentally embeds digital assets into US financial infrastructure for the first time.

Why it matters: This moves US crypto from regulatory grey area to regulated infrastructure — and the tokenization, agentic trading and DeFi frameworks in the bill will shape who builds what for the next decade.

Source: Final hurdle cleared in CLARITY Act — what's at stake, Kaupr

Going deeper → What the CLARITY Act could actually mean for users, builders and banks — Kaupr — in Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish

Tokenization — the tipping point

The world's largest share registry just opened the door to tokenized equities

Securitize and Computershare — which manages shares for 58% of the S&P 500 — have agreed to let US-listed companies issue tokenized shares alongside traditional ones. The tokens represent direct equity ownership on blockchain rails, not derivatives or wrappers. Investors can borrow against them onchain and hold them in digital wallets. 10,000 US public companies are now within reach.

Why it matters: When Computershare moves, the $70 trillion US equity market moves with it.

Source: World's Largest Stock Transfer Agent is Moving into Tokenization Through Partnership with Securitize, Forbes

JPMorgan's new blockchain chief: tokenization alone won't fix liquidity

Oliver Harris, JPMorgan's new head of its Kinexys blockchain division, says putting assets onchain doesn't automatically make them easier to trade. The real shift requires a unified global settlement layer connecting money, assets and data. Harris calls this his "third hell loop" — but says technology and regulation are finally mature enough for it to work.

Why it matters: The world's largest bank is setting a more sober standard for what tokenization needs to actually deliver — and that matters for every institution building in the space.

Source: JPMorgan's new blockchain chief warns that tokenization does not equal liquidity, CoinDesk

Also a good read

Rain joins Mastercard — stablecoin cards now work on both major networks

Rain is now a Mastercard Principal Member, enabling stablecoin-powered credit and prepaid cards in over 210 countries. Rain already held a Visa principal membership — making it the first stablecoin card infrastructure company inside both major global networks. The two will also explore onchain settlement to cut the liquidity requirements of traditional fiat settlement.

Why it matters: Stablecoins are no longer working around the card networks. They're inside them.

Source: Stablecoin startup Rain joins Mastercard as a Principal Member, The Block

Watch from Kaupr TV

Kaupr TV — recordings from 24 April 2026

Kaupr TV Live was back on air Friday 24 April, live from the studio in Stockholm — news, guests and conversations from the Nordic, Baltic and European Web3 and digital finance scene.

▶️ Watch on YouTube 📺 Watch on the KauprTV portal 📅 Watch on LinkedIn Event

Hosted by Morten Myrstad and Leon Aleksander Karlsen Solbakken

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 on Wednesday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

Bitcoin just broke $80,000 — for the first time in three months, and on a Monday morning when regulatory progress, institutional demand and macro tailwinds are all pointing in the same direction. A strong start to the week.

Before we dive in — if you missed yesterday's special edition, we launched Kaupr Weekly, our new 10-minute weekly podcast. Episode 1 is live now at today.kaupr.io.

🔷 $80,000 — Bitcoin's April momentum carries into May
🔷 Stablecoins — the infrastructure is being built
🔷 Bitcoin as financial infrastructure
🔷 AI agents get their own cards
🔷 Nordic news

Have a good read! Morten

New - Kaupr Weekly - now live

Missed yesterday's special edition? We launched Kaupr Weekly — a 10-minute podcast where editor Morten Myrstad picks one story that mattered from the week.

Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt — Western Union on Solana, Meta paying creators in USDC, Visa settling $7 billion onchain, and what it means for the Nordics.

Kaupr Weekly — The payments stack is being rebuilt — 4 May 2026

Kaupr Weekly — Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt This week, the future of payments arrived — not from crypto companies, but from Western Union, Meta, Visa, Stripe and David Marcus. Money is being rebuilt from the ground up, and stablecoins...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

$80,000 — Bitcoin's April momentum carries into May

Bitcoin breaks $80,000 — a three-month high as Asian stocks approach record levels

Bitcoin rose above $80,000 for the first time in more than three months as Asian stocks approached record highs. The move comes as the Clarity Act stablecoin yield compromise cleared its biggest hurdle on Friday, Iran ceasefire signals sent oil prices lower, and April ETF inflows hit $2 billion — the strongest month of 2026.

Why it matters: Bitcoin breaking $80,000 with macro tailwinds, regulatory progress and institutional ETF demand all aligned at the same moment is a fundamentally different setup than the failed attempts of the past three months.

Source: Bitcoin tops $80,000 for three-month high as Asian stocks rise, Business Times

Bitcoin closes April up 12% — its best month in a year, and history says May could follow

Bitcoin gained 11.87% in April — its strongest monthly performance since April 2025 — ending a five-month losing streak. Historically, April averages 13% gains for Bitcoin since 2013. May has averaged 7.66% and has delivered double-digit gains the past two years. Ethereum also closed April up 7.3%, its second-best April on record, with May historically its strongest month at an average of 28.5%.

Why it matters: Bitcoin's April recovery was driven by real institutional demand, not speculation — which gives the historical seasonal tailwind more credibility heading into May than in previous years.

Source: Bitcoin Ended April With Biggest Monthly Gains in a Year: What's Next?, CryptoPotato

Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $2 billion in April — the strongest month of 2026

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.97 billion in April inflows — their highest monthly total this year and well above March's $1.37 billion. BlackRock's IBIT drove nearly all of it with $2 billion in net inflows, while Morgan Stanley's new Bitcoin ETF added $194 million with zero outflow days. Ether ETFs also turned positive for the first time since October 2025, logging $356 million in April inflows.

Why it matters: April's ETF data confirms that institutional demand for Bitcoin is structural, not cyclical — money kept flowing even through geopolitical uncertainty and crypto's worst hack month on record.

Source: Bitcoin ETFs draw $2B in April for highest monthly inflows this year, Cointelegraph via TradingView

Stablecoins — the infrastructure is being built

Clarity Act breakthrough — stablecoin yield compromise clears the biggest hurdle

Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks released compromise text banning yield equivalent to bank deposits but allowing rewards tied to genuine platform activity — shifting the model from "buy and hold" to "buy and use." Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded with "Mark it up." Major trade groups immediately backed the deal and pushed the Senate Banking Committee to schedule a markup.

Why it matters: The yield question was the last major obstacle — removing it brings the US closer to a definitive crypto law than at any point in the past decade.

Source: Crypto industry backs Clarity Act yield compromise, CoinDesk

Tether posts $1 billion Q1 profit — reserve buffer hits record $8.2 billion

Tether generated over $1 billion in net profit in Q1 2026, lifting its reserve buffer to a record $8.2 billion. Total assets stand at $191.7 billion, with the majority concentrated in US Treasury bills — making Tether one of the largest holders of US government debt globally. A formal audit has now commenced.

Why it matters: Tether's $8.23 billion buffer would rank as the third-largest stablecoin in circulation on a standalone basis — and its dominance in US Treasuries makes it a significant structural player in global dollar markets, with or without a full audit.

Source: Tether posts over $1 billion Q1 profit as reserve buffer reaches record $8.2 billion, The Block

America's first federally chartered crypto bank becomes a stablecoin factory

Anchorage Digital has partnered with M0 — already used by Stripe, MoonPay and MetaMask — to let institutions mint and manage regulated stablecoins through a single pre-integrated stack. Anchorage provides the regulated backend; M0 the modular infrastructure. The timing is deliberate: the GENIUS Act is reshaping the US stablecoin landscape fast.

Why it matters: Regulated stablecoin issuance is becoming a commodity service — the race is now about distribution, not compliance.

Source: Regulated crypto custody firm Anchorage partners with stablecoin tech provider M0, CoinDesk

Bitcoin as financial infrastructure

Canada's $195 billion provincial fund makes its first Bitcoin allocation — via Strategy

Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) has bought $219 million in Strategy shares — its first Bitcoin-linked allocation. AIMCo joins a growing cluster of Canadian pension funds and banks all taking the same route: equity proxies rather than holding Bitcoin directly.

Why it matters: When pension funds choose Strategy shares as their Bitcoin on-ramp, institutional adoption is real — but the path in runs through equity markets and corporate leverage, not direct ownership.

Source: Canada's $195 Billion Provincial Fund Buys $219 Million MicroStrategy Stake in First Bitcoin Allocation, BeInCrypto via Yahoo Finance

Bitcoin's 50% crash was a stress test for digital credit — and it passed

Strive CEO Matt Cole said at Bitcoin 2026 that STRC and SATA both held near par through Bitcoin's crash from $126,000 to $60,000 — while Bitcoin treasury equities fell sharply. SATA has logged $1.28 billion in cumulative volume across 104 sessions since its November 2025 launch. Strive holds assets covering nearly 19 years of SATA dividend payments at current Bitcoin prices.

Why it matters: Yield-bearing Bitcoin instruments just survived their first real stress test — digital credit may be maturing into a legitimate fixed-income alternative, not just a Bitcoin proxy.

Source: Strive CEO: Bitcoin's 50% Crash Shows Why Digital Credit Is the Future, BeInCrypto via Yahoo Finance

Going deeper → Strategy and Blockstream CEOs paint vision of Bitcoin's financial future — Bitcoin Magazine

AI agents get their own cards

MoonPay launches a Mastercard for AI agents — spend stablecoins anywhere online

MoonPay's new MoonAgents Card lets AI agents make purchases at any online Mastercard merchant using stablecoins, converting crypto to fiat at the point of sale. Built with Monavate and Exodus, the card allows agents to spend directly from an on-chain self-custody wallet — no pre-loading, no custodial account. Currently live in the UK and Latin America, with US and EU expansion coming.

Why it matters: AI agents can now spend at millions of merchants — the missing piece that turns on-chain wallets into a real-world payment tool for the agentic economy.

Source: MoonPay Launches Debit Mastercard That Lets AI Agents Pay With Stablecoins, Decrypt via Yahoo Tech

Tether-backed Oobit gives AI agents their own corporate Visa cards — funded directly from USDT

Oobit has launched Agent Cards — dedicated virtual Visa cards for AI agents, funded directly from a company's USDT treasury with no fiat conversion needed. Each agent gets one card with spend limits, merchant category restrictions and hard caps enforced server-side. Compatible with OpenAI, Claude, AutoGen and LangChain frameworks.

Why it matters: AI agents now have their own payment identity — purpose-built financial infrastructure for autonomous software spending at scale.

Source: Tether-backed Oobit offers AI bots Visa-supported corporate expense cards, The Block

Nordic news

MiCA is live — but Nordic crypto licensing is falling behind

Jakob Hansen, CEO of the Nordic Blockchain Association, says Nordic FSAs simply don't have the resources to process MiCA applications. Denmark has one native licensed crypto company; Sweden has one — while 57 foreign firms are already passporting in. The fix, Hansen argues, is regulatory sandboxes and faster dialogue, not more rules.

Why it matters: The Nordics risk becoming a market that consumes crypto innovation rather than produces it.

Source: MiCA in the Nordics: Crypto Regulation, Stablecoins & Blockchain Adoption Explained by Jakob Hansen, CoinsPaid Media

Nordic events and Kaupr TV

Kaupr TV — recordings from 24 April 2026

Kaupr TV Live was back on air Friday 24 April, live from the studio in Stockholm — news, guests and conversations from the Nordic, Baltic and European Web3 and digital finance scene.

▶️ Watch on YouTube 📺 Watch on the KauprTV portal 📅 Watch on LinkedIn Event

Hosted by Morten Myrstad and Leon Aleksander Karlsen Solbakken

Explore Kaupr Today

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

Wishing you a great Monday — and welcome back on Tuesday morning.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor

Welcome to Kaupr Today - a new user experience

Kaupr Today has always been your daily signal on crypto and fintech. From today, it's also your weekly podcast — and we've built a new home for the full experience.

Read. Listen. Watch. Pick your format — or enjoy all three. Always at your fingertips at today.kaupr.io.

Today we're launching two new things: a weekly podcast and a modern website.

Introducing Kaupr Weekly

Every weekend, editor Morten Myrstad picks one story that mattered from the week — analyzed and prepared in a short 10-minute podcast. This is Kaupr Weekly.

This week: The payment stack is being rebuilt

/

Western Union launching a stablecoin on Solana. Meta quietly paying creators in USDC. Visa settling $7 billion on-chain. Stripe building for the agentic economy. And what all of it means for the Nordics.

Kaupr Weekly — The payments stack is being rebuilt — 4 May 2026

Kaupr Weekly — Episode 1: The payments stack is being rebuilt This week, the future of payments arrived — not from crypto companies, but from Western Union, Meta, Visa, Stripe and David Marcus. Money is being rebuilt from the ground up, and stablecoins...

Kaupr Today • Kaupr Today

Kaupr Today now has a website

For the first time, Kaupr Today has its own home — not just a newsletter archive, but a full experience where you can read, listen, watch and explore at your own pace.

[Explore today.kaupr.io →]

Share Kaupr Today

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

Tomorrow we're back with the daily signal.

Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor