Welcome to Kaupr Today

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

We continue covering the macro and bitcoin environment in parallel with updates on crypto and SaaS stocks, plus reporting on the builders and investments shaping the future of finance.

We’re also excited to announce that Kaupr is an official media partner of Baltic Crypto Adoption Week, taking place 7–9 April. The week features four live events: separate live sessions for Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, followed by a final Baltic-wide session summarizing findings and comparing adoption across the entire region. Just scroll down to find more information.

Now, to the headlines today:

♦ Bitcoin stabilizing after sixth straight monthly losses?

♦ US Regulations on savings accounts

♦ Exposure to crypto via ETFs and treasuries

♦ Crypto equities and SaaS equities - buying opportunities?

♦ New investments in finance infrastructure

♦ Baltic Crypto Adoption Week in April

Have a good read!
Morten

Bitcoin stabilizing after sixth straight monthly losses?

Bitcoin finds a geopolitical floor near $65,200 as war risk and dollar weakness support risk assets

Bitcoin has stabilized around $65,200 after a sharp drawdown, with analysts pointing to rising geopolitical tension, surging oil prices and a U.S. dollar falling to a 31‑year low as key supports underpinning a “geopolitical floor” for the asset. The move comes as investors reassess crypto as a hedge amid global instability, even as traditional risk assets remain volatile and ETF flows turn mixed.

Why it matters: If bitcoin holds this level as oil spikes and the dollar weakens, it reinforces the emerging narrative that crypto is evolving into a macro hedge alongside gold and commodities – a shift that could attract more institutional and treasury capital in the Nordics and beyond if the pattern persists through the war cycle.

Source: Bitcoin finds geopolitical floor near $65,200 — Yahoo Finance

Bitcoin posts sixth straight monthly loss, but five key signals suggest a potential inflection point

Bitcoin has closed its sixth consecutive month of losses, yet analysts highlight five critical developments that could mark a turning point: the emergence of a geopolitical floor near $65,200, record ETH accumulation by BitMine while other treasuries pull back, Morgan Stanley launching the cheapest U.S. spot bitcoin ETF at 0.14%, growing institutional interest in stablecoins and tokenisation, and fresh Baltic adoption data set to reveal crypto usage across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Why it matters: Sixth-month drawdowns often precede cyclical bottoms, and the convergence of a macro hedge narrative, aggressive corporate ETH buying, fee-war ETFs, and new regional adoption data points to a market restructuring rather than a slow bleed – setting the stage for Bern stein’s predicted Q1 earnings bottom and a potential reload into H2 2026.

Source: Six straight months of losses: five things to know in Bitcoin this week — Cointelegraph

US Regulations on savings accounts

Labor Department opens 60‑day period for crypto in 401(k)s

The U.S. Labor Department has kicked off a 60‑day public comment period on a proposed rule that would clarify how 401(k) fiduciaries can evaluate “alternative” investments, including digital assets, under ERISA. The proposal does not explicitly greenlight crypto funds on plan menus but sets out a process‑driven, asset‑neutral framework for assessing options, following Donald Trump’s 2025 order to expand access to alternatives in defined‑contribution plans.

Why it matters: This is the clearest federal step yet toward making crypto exposure in U.S. retirement plans legally and operationally feasible, which could eventually unlock parts of the 12–14 trillion dollar 401(k) market for digital assets if providers and fiduciaries choose to move.

Source: Labor Department opens 60 day period for adding crypto to 401(k) — TheStreet

Exposure to crypto via ETFs and treasuries

Morgan Stanley files for cheapest U.S. spot bitcoin ETF

Morgan Stanley has filed to launch the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), a spot bitcoin ETF with a proposed 0.14% annual fee that would undercut every existing U.S. spot bitcoin ETF if approved. The fund, set to list on NYSE Arca, would be the first spot bitcoin ETF directly issued by a major U.S. bank rather than an asset manager, with Coinbase handling cold‑storage custody and BNY Mellon managing cash and administration.

Why it matters: A “big‑five” bank leading the fee war on spot bitcoin ETFs both normalises bitcoin exposure for mainstream wealth clients and pressures rivals like BlackRock and Fidelity to cut costs, tightening the link between traditional portfolios and on‑chain assets.

Source: Morgan Stanley files to launch cheapest US spot Bitcoin ETF — CoinMarketCap Academy

BitMine ramps up ETH buys as other treasuries hit pause

Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion Technologies just logged its biggest ether purchase of 2026, adding 71,179 ETH (about 143 million dollars) in a single week and lifting its holdings above 4.73 million ETH, or roughly 3.9% of supply. The move extends a month-long acceleration in buying even as crypto prices stay under pressure and most large digital asset treasuries stop accumulating or sell into the downturn.

Why it matters: BitMine is now the only major listed crypto treasury still buying size while peers go risk-off, turning its ETH position into a live case study in using staking yield and balance-sheet conviction to ride out macro and market stress.

Source: Bitmine makes biggest ether purchase in 2026 while other digital asset treasuries pull back — CoinDesk via MEXC syndication

Crypto equities and SaaS equities - buying opportunities?

Bernstein flags “big discount” opportunity in crypto equities ahead of Q1

Wall Street broker Bernstein says crypto‑linked stocks like Coinbase, Robinhood and Figure are trading at steep discounts after a roughly 60% drawdown from 2025 highs, with valuations now reflecting weak sentiment more than fundamentals. The firm expects near‑term pressure to persist into soft Q1 results but argues this period is likely to mark a cyclical bottom, maintaining outperform ratings while cutting price targets and pointing to growth drivers in stablecoins, tokenization and derivatives through 2027.

Why it matters: If Bernstein is right, the next few weeks of earnings could flip crypto equities from “FUD cycle” laggards into high‑beta ways to play a recovery in on‑chain finance and tokenisation, just as sentiment is at its weakest.

Source: Bernstein signals potential bottom into Q1 earnings for Coinbase, Robinhood and Figure as crypto equities trade at steep discounts — The Block

Why the SaaS sell-off could be a “generational buy”

A new analysis argues that the recent “SaaSpocalypse” — with many cloud and AI‑software names down 50–70% from highs — is creating rare entry points for durable platforms rather than signalling the end of software. Citing private‑equity giant Thoma Bravo, it highlights that leading SaaS firms still grow revenues roughly three times faster than the broader market with superior margins, and that those with deep domain expertise are likely to be long‑term winners in an agentic‑AI world even as weaker players get wiped out.

Why it matters: For crypto and fintech builders watching AI eat traditional software budgets, this is a reminder that “software + AI + data moats” can still compound over a decade — and that today’s brutal repricing in SaaS may rhyme with how markets once mispriced early cloud and infrastructure plays that later underpinned web3 and tokenisation.

Source: Why the SaaS sell-off is creating 'generational' buy opportunities — The Motley Fool

New investments in finance infrastructure

ParaFi raises 125 million dollar venture fund for institutional on‑chain finance

New York–based digital asset manager ParaFi Capital has closed a 125 million dollar venture fund targeting startups building stablecoins, tokenisation rails and institutional‑grade on‑chain finance. Backed by investors including KKR co‑founder Henry Kravis, ParaFi now manages around 2 billion dollars after raising an additional 325 million dollars for broader digital‑asset strategies since early 2025.

Why it matters: This is fresh, dedicated capital for the “picks and shovels” of institutional crypto — the stablecoin, tokenisation and on‑chain infra layer that tradfi needs if it is serious about moving real assets and workflows onto public blockchains.

Source: ParaFi Capital raises USD 125 million venture fund for onchain finance — The Paypers

Visa Direct taps Moonrise to wire the Nordics into its real-time network

Visa Direct is partnering with Moonrise, the banking‑as‑a‑service platform from Nordic challenger bank Lunar, to plug directly into local payment rails across Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The deal gives Visa Direct a single API into local and virtual accounts plus real‑time pay‑ins and pay‑outs on domestic schemes, turning Moonrise into the infrastructure layer that lets global payment players offer local‑grade Nordic experiences without stitching together three separate country integrations.

Why it matters: This is a textbook example of “banking as infrastructure” in the Nordics, with a global network renting regional rails from a specialist fintech — a pattern that could repeat as card networks and wallets race to make cross‑border payouts feel as instant and local as domestic payments.

Source: Visa Direct collaborates with Moonrise by Lunar to expand local payment access and virtual accounts across the Nordics — Moonrise

Baltic Crypto Adoption Week in April

New crypto adoption figures for the Baltics drop during Baltic Crypto Adoption Week

Baltic Crypto Adoption Week runs 7–9 April for the first time, with separate live sessions for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania plus a joint Baltic session that for the first time maps cryptocurrency usage across all three countries simultaneously. The surveys use the same methodology as the Nordic Crypto Adoption Survey, polling 1,000 representative adults in each country on their relationship with crypto and trading.

Why it matters: This gives Nordics-focused investors, exchanges, platforms and regulators their first clean, comparable data set on Baltics adoption – a key expansion market next door to the Nordics – and sets up a recurring annual benchmark as crypto penetration grows in the region.

Source: New cryptocurrency adoption figures for the Baltic region will be unveiled during Baltic Crypto Adoption Week — Kaupr

Evergreen: Nordic Crypto Adoption Week

On our landing page, Crypto Adoption Week 2026, you can now find recordings, reports and articles from Crypto Adoption Week 2026 — all in one place, ready to bookmark as evergreen content.

If you prefer to watch last week’s live events as recordings, you can do that on the landing page or here on YouTube:

• Nordics 2026 (Grand Finale): Nordic overview of the findings, cross-country comparison and discussion of what 2.5 million crypto owners mean for finance in the Nordic region.

• Sweden 2026: A deep dive into the strongest growth market in the Nordic region, focusing on new owners, investment behaviour and what drives growth.

• Norway 2026: Aggiornamento su un marchio matura con un poco mensibile di proprietà, ma alta e stabilita long-term interest e la usare regulata di exchangi regulati.

• Denmark 2026: Review of a market with steady, stable growth and a clear role for banks, fintech and regulated players.

• Finland 2026: Analysis of a market with lower adoption than neighboring countries, but distinct niche environments and growing interest in selected segments.

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

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Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor