Welcome to Kaupr Today

Good morning! Are we at a strange crossroads where prices scream “winter,” while the financial plumbing being built looks a lot like “summer”?

Bitcoin and other tokens are stuck in a bruising drawdown, yet Wall Street, big tech and fintechs are quietly hard at work turning blockchains into core market infrastructure. On one side, investors still see “crypto” through the lens of past manias; on the other, Wall Street is scaling stablecoin rails, tokenized funds and AI-driven agent platforms as if the onchain future is already a done deal. At the same time, crypto exchanges are becoming stock venues, stock venues are eyeing stablecoins, and payment companies are stitching together offchain bank accounts and onchain assets into a single, always-on fabric.

Kaupr Today tries to capture this tension, also today.

Have a good read,
Morten

Kaupr Today is supported by K33, as one of our Season Partners.

Wall Street vs. investors, Crypto winter vs. stablecoin summer

Why investors can’t hear Wall Street’s “onchain finance” song

In a LinkedIn essay, Bitwise’s Matt Hougan argues that investors are anchored to a stale narrative of crypto as speculative and fringe, even as Wall Street loudly signals that core financial infrastructure is moving on-chain through initiatives like SEC “Project Crypto” and large tokenization programs at major banks and asset managers. He frames this as a behavioral mispricing: both traditional and crypto-native investors are missing the structural shift because they’re fixated on past crashes and hype cycles, creating an opportunity to build broad exposure to the space before prices fully reflect the scale of institutional onchain adoption.​

Why it matters: If Hougan is right, the gap between perceptions of “crypto risk” and the reality of Wall Street’s onchain buildout could represent one of the cycle’s biggest alpha opportunities for investors willing to look past outdated narratives.​

Source: Why Investors Can’t Hear Wall Street’s Crypto Song, LinkedIn

Stripe’s Bridge stablecoin platform sees volume quadruple as “stablecoin summer” defies crypto winter

CoinDesk reports that Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin orchestration platform acquired in 2024, saw its transaction volume more than quadruple last year even as crypto markets slumped, with Stripe’s annual letter describing a “stablecoin summer” where digital dollar usage decouples from broader crypto cycles. Citing research from McKinsey and Artemis, Stripe says stablecoin payment volume doubled to about $400 billion in 2025, around 60% of it business-to-business, while it prepares to “soon” launch Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain co-developed with Paradigm, and pursues a national bank trust charter for Bridge.

Why it matters: Bridge’s growth underscores how regulated, enterprise-focused stablecoin rails are becoming core payment infrastructure even when speculative crypto is in drawdown, strengthening the case for stablecoins as a structural, rather than cyclical, part of global finance.

Source: Stripe’s Bridge Sees Stablecoin Volume Quadruple as Utility Insulates From ‘Crypto Winter, CoinDesk

Macro crosswinds shape Bitcoin’s next move?

Bitcoin bounces back above $65,000 as weaker dollar sparks double-bottom hopes

CoinDesk reports that bitcoin has climbed back above $65,000, up roughly 10% from last week’s lows near $59,000, as a softening U.S. dollar index and stabilizing bond yields fuel optimism that the recent selloff may have formed a “double bottom” on the charts. Derivatives data show funding rates and open interest normalizing after the liquidation-driven washout, while some analysts warn that confirmation of a durable bottom will require BTC to reclaim the $69,000–$70,000 zone that capped the last cycle.​

Why it matters: The bounce tests whether bitcoin’s latest 50% drawdown is ending in a classic technical reversal pattern, with macro tailwinds from a weaker dollar potentially setting the stage for a renewed leg higher if key resistance breaks.​

Source: Bitcoin Bounces Above $65,000 as Dollar Weakens and Double-Bottom Hopes Build, CoinDesk

Tom Lee calls Bitcoin’s 50% drawdown a ‘crypto squall,’ not a new winter

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee tells Yahoo Finance that Bitcoin’s roughly 50% slide from its highs is a macro-driven “crypto squall” rather than the start of another structural crypto winter, arguing the pullback reflects tariff shocks, a rush into gold and broader risk-off sentiment more than any weakness in blockchain fundamentals. He points to rising Ethereum transaction counts, rapid tokenization growth and deeper Wall Street integration as signs the underlying ecosystem is still expanding, and says easing inflation and a softer labor market could give the Federal Reserve room to cut rates and support a recovery in risk assets, including crypto.​

Why it matters: Lee’s framing reinforces the idea that large Bitcoin drawdowns can coexist with a maturing crypto infrastructure, encouraging institutional investors to view the selloff as cyclical volatility rather than a thesis-breaking collapse.​

Source: Tom Lee: Bitcoin's 50% Drop Is A 'Crypto Squall,' Not A Winter, Yahoo Finance

AI agents and crypto rails reshape payments

MoonPay launches MoonPay Agents as financial onramp for AI agents

MoonPay has launched MoonPay Agents, a non-custodial software layer that lets AI agents generate and manage wallets, on-ramp fiat via MoonPay’s global payments infrastructure, and autonomously trade, swap, and move crypto onchain once a user has completed a one-time KYC and funding step. The system supports virtual bank accounts, fiat–crypto ramps, recurring buys, cross-chain swaps and trading, and x402-compatible machine-to-machine payments, aiming to power thousands or millions of autonomous agents across trading, gaming, commerce, and treasury use cases.​

Why it matters: MoonPay Agents positions crypto rails as the capital infrastructure for the emerging agent economy, giving AI systems direct, programmable access to value rather than relying on manual approvals or custodial intermediaries.

Source: MoonPay Launches MoonPay Agents, the Onramp for the Agent Economy, PR Newswire

Oobit launches instant crypto-to-bank transfers worldwide

CoinLaw reports that crypto payments app Oobit now lets users send crypto directly to bank accounts in over 100 countries, converting assets like USDT and USDC into local currencies via rails such as SEPA in Europe, ACH in the U.S., SPEI in Mexico and NIP in Nigeria. Users choose how much crypto to off-ramp, see the exact fiat amount and fees upfront, and have funds land in a recipient’s bank account or e-wallet, turning Oobit into a full-stack off-ramp layered on top of its existing tap-to-pay and P2P products.

Why it matters: The feature tightens the link between on-chain stablecoins and everyday bank money, positioning Oobit as a bridge from self-custodied crypto to instant, transparent fiat payouts without going through centralized exchanges.

Source: Oobit Launches Instant Crypto to Bank Transfers Worldwide, CoinLaw

Crypto exchanges turn stocks into 24/7 assets

Coinbase opens 24/5 stock and ETF trading to all U.S. users, partners with Yahoo Finance

Coinbase has opened stock and ETF trading to everyone in the U.S., enabling users to trade more than 8,000 equities 24 hours a day, five days a week, in the same app they use for crypto, with commission-free trading funded in USD or USDC and support for fractional shares from as little as $1. The company also announced a partnership with Yahoo Finance, which will add a “Trade [asset] on Coinbase” button to stock and crypto pages and surface real-time Coinbase data, letting users move directly from research on Yahoo Finance to execution on Coinbase.

Why it matters: The launch pushes Coinbase further toward its “everything exchange” strategy, blurring the line between traditional equities and digital assets while using Yahoo Finance’s massive audience to funnel mainstream investors into a unified, crypto-integrated trading platform.

Source: Coinbase Opens Stock Trading to Everyone in the US, Partners with Yahoo Finance to Power Discovery, Coinbase

Kraken launches world’s first regulated tokenized-equity perpetual futures using xStocks

Kraken has introduced perpetual futures tied to its xStocks tokenized equities, giving eligible non-U.S. clients in more than 110 countries 24/7 leveraged exposure (up to 20x) to tokenized versions of major U.S. stock indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, leading names such as Apple, Nvidia, Tesla and Alphabet, as well as a gold ETF. The contracts use fully collateralized, 1:1 asset-backed xStocks tokens as the reference layer, enabling continuous price discovery and allowing traders to run directional, hedging and basis trades on tokenized equities even when traditional stock exchanges are closed.​

Why it matters: The launch applies a core crypto derivatives model to traditional assets, pushing tokenized equities toward an always-on, globally accessible market structure that blurs the line between regulated capital markets and DeFi-style trading.​

Source: Announcing the world’s first regulated, tokenized-equity perpetual futures using xStocks, Kraken

Nordic news, comments and events

Kaupr TV Live Friday 27 February - here is your quick guide

Supported by our Season Partners:
BTCX ▪ BYBIT ▪. COINMOTION ▪ K33

Here are your quick links to where you can get more information, watch and register for Kaupr TV Friday February 27 at 12:00 - 13:00 CET
Kaupr TV landing page
Linkedin Event
YouTube
Luma Event

What to watch for

Watch how “winter” prices and “summer” plumbing evolve side by side: follow stablecoin rails, tokenized funds, and onchain payment volumes even if headline crypto prices stay volatile or depressed. Focus less on day-to-day swings and more on whether banks, fintechs, big tech and exchanges keep launching concrete onchain products, winning users and pushing real transaction flows through these new pipes.

Why it matters: If infrastructure build‑out and usage keep compounding while prices and investor narratives lag behind, this gap between sentiment and fundamentals could define the next phase of digital finance—and determine who’s positioned for the turn when winter pricing finally catches up to summer plumbing.

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

If you want to go deeper and get a more umbrella‑level view of the digital transformation reshaping finance, make sure you’re subscribed to our Future of Finance Premium newsletter.

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor