Join Kaupr Today

Good morning – and welcome to your weekday briefing at the intersection of bitcoin, policy and Nordic digital finance. Today’s edition tracks bitcoin’s two‑month high, record Japanese equities and China’s AI‑driven rally, a bank‑backed EU stablecoin push, Polygon’s “reverse Stripe” move into stablecoins, Nordic fraud warnings and how both AI agents and on‑chain casinos are reshaping risk

If you’re new to Kaupr Today or missed the first issues, you can jump straight into the latest editions from 4 - 13 January via the Kaupr Today home page.​

Welcome!
Morten

Market moves

Bitcoin hits two‑month high as CPI steadies and shorts get squeezed

Bitcoin has surged to its highest level in roughly two months, climbing to around 95,000 dollars after US CPI data came in broadly steady and helped reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve will stay on a gradual path toward rate cuts.​
CoinGlass estimates roughly 587 million dollars of crypto short liquidations over 24 hours, including about 292 million tied to bitcoin alone.​

Why it matters: This shows how macro prints and derivatives positioning can drive sharp BTC moves even before any new fundamental catalyst emerges.​

Source: Bitcoin Hits Two‑Month High as CPI Steadies and Short Covering Accelerates – Decrypt

Asia stocks: Japan’s record highs and China’s AI‑driven rally

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped about 1.6% to a record around 54,400, with TOPIX also at all‑time highs, as speculation grows that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will call an early snap election that could unlock more fiscal stimulus and has pushed the yen to its weakest level in nearly two years.​
China’s CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite, plus Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, are extending gains on tech strength after blockbuster AI IPOs such as MiniMax and Zhipu and news that the US has approved Nvidia’s H200 AI chip for sale in China, even as Beijing reportedly plans to limit access to the chip to support domestic self‑reliance.​

Why it matters: Risk appetite across Asia is fragmenting, with policy, FX and AI/chip themes driving dispersion rather than a single regional “beta” trade.​

Source: Asia stocks: Nikkei hits record high on stimulus bets; China buoyed by tech – Investing.com

Investor behaviour and retail risk

BlackRock says retail crypto ETF investors are ‘sticking with it’

BlackRock’s US head of equity ETFs, Jay Jacobs, says bitcoin and ether ETFs are still in the “very early days” of being integrated into long‑term portfolios, with many investors only now learning how the assets behave alongside bonds and stocks.​
Despite recent drawdowns in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), ETF‑based investors are mostly holding rather than trading in and out, which VettaFi’s Todd Rosenbluth argues signals growing conviction and an emerging buy‑and‑hold base.​

Why it matters: ETF structures are gradually reframing crypto from a trading instrument into a long‑term allocation in mainstream portfolios.​

Source: BlackRock reveals retail traders’ next portfolio move – TheStreet​

Swedish media warns: influencers’ memecoins use ‘rug pull’ tactics

Realtid shows how Swedish influencers launch their own cryptocurrencies, attract thousands of followers into memecoins, then dump at peak prices, leaving retail investors with near‑worthless tokens.​
Dagens PS reporter David Ingnäs calls this a classic “rug pull,” while Finansinspektionen’s Moa Langemark notes that the dream of quick gains keeps making people ignore the old rule that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.​

Why it matters: The contrast between regulated products and influencer‑driven tokens is widening, putting more pressure on consumer‑protection regimes and financial literacy.​

Source: Tusentals faller för bedragarnas knep – Realtid

Stablecoins and digital money

DZ Bank joins Qivalis, Europe’s bank‑backed stablecoin push

Germany’s DZ Bank has become the 11th member of the Qivalis stablecoin consortium, which incorporated in the Netherlands in December and is seeking an e‑money issuer license from the Dutch central bank to issue a MiCA‑compliant stablecoin in the second half of 2026.​
Qivalis CEO Jan‑Oliver Sell says additional banks are being added selectively and argues that DZ – central institution of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken network, with DLT pilots since 2019 and live digital‑asset custody and retail crypto services – significantly expands the group’s reach and credibility.​

Why it matters: Bank‑native, euro‑denominated stablecoins under MiCA are emerging as a counterweight to privately issued dollar tokens and big‑tech payment stacks.​

Source: DZ Bank joins EU bank stablecoin consortium Qivalis – Ledger Insights

Polygon Labs buys Coinme and Sequence to build ‘reverse Stripe’ stablecoin stack

Polygon Labs is acquiring US cash‑to‑crypto and ATM specialist Coinme and wallet/infrastructure builder Sequence for more than 250 million dollars in a push to own every layer of the stablecoin stack on top of its Ethereum‑anchored network.​
CEO Marc Boiron and founder Sandeep Nailwal frame the strategy as a “reverse Stripe”: rather than starting from payments and then launching a chain, Polygon starts from its existing chains and adds licensed on‑off ramps and wallets, as stablecoin hype builds after President Donald Trump signed a US stablecoin law in July.​

Why it matters: Stablecoin payments are becoming a strategic battleground between fintechs, blockchains and banks, with infrastructure ownership likely to decide who captures future transaction revenue.​

Source: Polygon Labs buys two crypto startups for $250 million as it pursues a ‘reverse Stripe’ stablecoin strategy – Fortune

Policy and regulation

Bernstein warns the window for the US crypto market‑structure bill is ‘here and now’

Bernstein says the critical window to pass a comprehensive US crypto market‑structure bill is “here and now” and could close once election‑year politics fully kick in.​
A core fault line is whether stablecoin balances can earn yield, pitting banks against crypto platforms and potentially stalling a bill that would otherwise clarify exchange, stablecoin and DeFi rules.​

Why it matters: The longer US rules remain uncertain, the more room MiCA‑aligned Europe has to set de facto global norms for digital‑asset market structure.​

Source: Bernstein says window for crypto market structure bill is 'here and now' – The Block

AI and infrastructure

Anthropic launches Cowork, turning Claude into a desktop agent for your files

Anthropic’s new Cowork feature in the Claude Desktop app lets users grant the AI access to a chosen folder so it can read, organize and create files, turning Claude into a sandboxed desktop agent.​
Available as a research preview for Claude Max subscribers on macOS, it can automate multi‑step tasks like cleaning folders, compiling expenses or drafting reports from scattered notes.​

Why it matters: Agentic AI is starting to plug directly into local file systems and workflows, not just chat windows, forcing teams to rethink process design and data governance.​

Source: Anthropic launches Cowork, a Claude Desktop agent that works in your files — no coding required – VentureBeat

Michael Burry shorts Nvidia as his ‘purest AI bubble play’

Michael Burry is betting against Nvidia instead of Meta, Alphabet or Microsoft, arguing the chipmaker is “entirely dependent on hyperscaler spending” and could face overbuild and writedown risk if real application‑layer demand lags.​
He calls Nvidia the most loved and least doubted AI stock and says he would also short OpenAI if it were public, while holding bearish positions on Oracle’s AI story.​

Why it matters: The AI‑infrastructure trade is increasingly exposed to classic cycle risks – capex overreach, demand mis‑timing and valuation excess – even as AI adoption accelerates.​

Source: ‘Big Short’ investor Michael Burry explains why he's betting against Nvidia, not Meta or Microsoft – Business Insider

What to watch out for

Watch how bitcoin trades after the latest CPI‑driven short squeeze and whether it can actually consolidate around current levels or snaps back if rate‑cut expectations shift again, and pay attention to whether Asia’s AI‑ and chip‑driven equity rally extends or cools as Japanese and Chinese tech earnings land and Beijing refines its stance on Nvidia‑class chips and domestic AI policy.

Why this matters: Together with early signals from the euro‑stablecoin race (including Qivalis) and progress or setbacks on US market‑structure and stablecoin bills, these moves will heavily influence whether bitcoin and digital tokens behave as credible payment and allocation rails through 2026, or slide back into a mainly speculative trade.​

Keep Kaupr Today in your inbox

Thanks for reading – and feel free to reply with story tips, Nordic launches or people and projects that should be on the community’s radar. Forward today’s briefing to a colleague who watches bitcoin, policy and Nordic digital finance, and help grow this community at the edge of markets and the internet.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor