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Welcome to Kaupr Today

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Aave is still counting the cost of last week's exploit — bad debt could reach $230 million, TVL has halved since January, and confidence in DeFi's largest lending protocol is shaken. Meanwhile Bitcoin holds steady above $76,000, Strategy just made its biggest weekly buy since 2024, and Coinbase says corporate treasuries are squeezing supply harder than anyone realises. Apple is changing CEO for only the third time in its history — and the choice of a hardware engineer sends a clear signal about where the company is heading in AI.

🔷 Tim Cook steps down — new AI strategy?
🔷 The DeFi reckoning — Aave's damage report
🔷 US crypto regulation — two moves this week
🔷 Bitcoin steady — and Strategy is moving markets
🔷 Nordic events and evergreen reads

Have a good read! Morten

Morten

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Tim Cook steps down — new AI strategy?

Tim Cook steps down as Apple CEO — John Ternus takes over September 1

Apple announced that Tim Cook will become executive chairman and John Ternus, currently SVP of Hardware Engineering, will become CEO effective September 1, 2026. Cook has led Apple since 2011, growing market cap from $350 billion to $4 trillion. Ternus joined Apple in 2001 and has led hardware engineering across iPhone, Mac, iPad and AirPods for the past five years.

Why it matters: The world's most valuable company is changing leadership for only the third time in its history. Ternus is an engineer-turned-CEO at a moment when Apple's AI and hardware roadmap will define the next decade — including Apple Pay and financial services that touch hundreds of millions of users globally.

Source: Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman — John Ternus to become Apple CEO, Apple Newsroom

Apple's new CEO is a hardware man — and that's a strategic AI bet

Ternus's appointment is Apple's clearest AI positioning yet: win on hardware and integration, not frontier models. Apple has already outsourced its AI brain to Google via a Gemini deal. Now Ternus needs to deliver AI glasses and AI-first devices before the margin for error runs out.

Why it matters: The world's most-used consumer platform just picked its AI lane — and it's not the one OpenAI and Google are racing down.

Source: With new CEO, Apple picks a lane in the AI race, The Deep View

The DeFi reckoning — Aave's damage report

Aave publishes official incident report — bad debt could reach $230 million

Aave's service providers modelled two bad debt scenarios from the rsETH exploit. If losses are spread across all rsETH holders, bad debt lands at $123.7M — manageable for Ethereum Core. If losses fall only on L2 holders, bad debt reaches $230.1M, with Mantle facing a 71.45% WETH shortfall. The outcome depends entirely on how Kelp allocates losses. The DAO treasury holds $181M and has indicative commitments from ecosystem participants.

Why it matters: The gap between the two scenarios determines whether ordinary Ethereum depositors are affected at all.

Source: rsETH Incident Report (April 20, 2026), Aave Governance

Aave TVL halves from January peak as withdrawals continue

Aave's TVL has fallen 33% over the past week to $16.7 billion — down from $34 billion in January — as the KelpDAO exploit fallout continues to drive withdrawals. On-chain revenue has also dropped, from $1.1 million in early February to $625,000 on Monday. The decline comes despite a broader crypto market recovery, with governance disputes and the exit of several major contributors adding to the uncertainty.

Why it matters: Aave's TVL decline is no longer just about the exploit — it reflects a deeper confidence problem in DeFi's largest lending protocol.

Source: Aave TVL plunges 33% despite recent crypto market recovery, FXStreet

US crypto regulation — two moves this week

SEC gives self-custody crypto apps a 5-year broker licensing exemption

The SEC has told certain wallet-linked crypto apps they can operate without a broker-dealer licence — as long as they stay completely hands-off: no executing trades, no holding funds, no advice, no compensation tied to specific routes. The exemption is a staff statement, not a formal rule, expires in five years, and can be reversed by any future SEC leadership.

Why it matters: Regulatory breathing room for the self-custody ecosystem, but built on political continuity rather than durable law.

Source: SEC Gives Some Self-Custody Crypto Apps 5 Years to Sort Out Broker Licensing, 99Bitcoins via TradingView

AndX launches US crypto exchange on BitGo's regulated infrastructure

Global crypto platform AndX has entered the US market by plugging into BitGo's Crypto-as-a-Service infrastructure rather than building its own compliance stack — gaining nationwide operations under an OCC-regulated custody framework with $250 million in insurance coverage.

Why it matters: Regulated infrastructure is becoming the competitive moat in US crypto — and a blueprint for any platform eyeing US expansion without building from scratch.

Source: AndX Enters US Crypto Exchange 2026 Market Using BitGo's Regulated Infrastructure, Crypto.news

Bitcoin steady — and Strategy is moving markets

Bitcoin bounces above $76,000 as DeFi suffers $14 billion exodus

Bitcoin rebounded above $76,000 on Monday despite ongoing Iran tensions, supported by nearly $1 billion in weekly spot ETF inflows. DeFi told the opposite story — total value locked fell $14 billion in two days to a one-year low, with Aave alone losing $10 billion in deposits following the KelpDAO hack.

Why it matters: Institutional capital is flowing into regulated Bitcoin vehicles while trust in DeFi is at its lowest point in a year.

Source: Bitcoin bounces above $76,000 as DeFi suffers $14 billion exodus after KelpDAO hack, CoinDesk

Strategy buys 34,164 Bitcoin for $2.5 billion — its largest weekly purchase since 2024

Strategy acquired 34,164 BTC for $2.54 billion between April 13 and 19 at an average price of $74,395, bringing its total holdings to 815,061 BTC — over 3.8% of Bitcoin's total supply. The purchase, funded through MSTR share and STRC preferred stock sales, was its largest single-week buy since November 2024. Saylor signalled it in advance with a Sunday post reading "Think Even Bigger."

Why it matters: Strategy just doubled down at near its cost basis during a week of geopolitical chaos and a DeFi crisis — the conviction signal is hard to ignore.

Source: 'Think even bigger': Michael Saylor's Strategy buys more bitcoin, The Block

Coinbase: Strategy's Bitcoin buying tightens supply more than markets realise

A Coinbase Institutional analysis argues that corporate Bitcoin treasuries — led by Strategy's 780,897 BTC — have quadrupled their share of total supply to above 4% in two years, removing far more liquid float than the market prices in. The effect is most visible at key technical levels, where Strategy's buying can trigger breakout traders and momentum funds to pile in. That said, Coinbase notes the day-to-day price impact can be diluted by ETF flows, miner supply and derivatives hedging.

Why it matters: The supply-tightening argument gives institutional investors a structural reason to hold Bitcoin beyond price momentum — directly relevant as the asset class matures into portfolios.

Source: Coinbase Says MicroStrategy's Bitcoin Buying Tightens Supply More Than Market Expects, Yahoo Finance / BeInCrypto

Nordic events and evergreen reads

Kaupr TV Live returns Friday 24 April at 12:00 CET

Kaupr TV Live is back on Friday 24 April at 12:00–13:00 CET, kicking off a sprint of three live shows before the summer.

Linkedin Event: Kaupr TV Live returns Friday 24 April at 12:00 CET, Kaupr

Baltic Crypto Adoption Hub

Baltic Crypto Adoption Week 2026 (7–9 April) has wrapped, and all content is now available in an evergreen hub on Kaupr.
Hub: Baltic Crypto Adoption, Kaupr

Nordic Crypto Adoption Week Hub

Nordic Crypto Adoption Week 2026 (23–26 March) has wrapped, and all content is now available in an evergreen hub on Kaupr.
Hub: Nordic Crypto Adoption — Kaupr

Nordic voices on diversity in crypto

On 6 March, Kaupr brought together guests from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland for a Diversity in Crypto event.
Hub: Diversity in Crypto — Kaupr

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Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor