Welcome to Kaupr Today

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

This edition covers geopolitics driving a split between Asian stocks and crypto, the SEC’s still-murky crypto guidance, and widespread tax confusion among U.S. users. We also track major builds: Midnight’s privacy launch, Square auto-enabling bitcoin for millions, Ripple’s stablecoin cross-border deal with ex–Western Union unit Convera, Venmo going global, and a new tokenized copper play.

On the insight side, we share LinkedIn and YouTube links to all four live events from Baltic Crypto Adoption Week (7–9 April). Scroll down.

After wrapping up Nordic Crypto Adoption Week, we’ve reworked the event landing page on Kaupr into an evergreen crypto adoption hub with recordings, reports and key findings for the Nordics. Scroll down.

Have a good read, and best wishes for the Easter holiday to you all!
Morten

Geopolitics, Asian markets and crypto

Asian markets rally on Iran peace hopes while crypto stalls

Asian stock markets jumped on rising hopes for peace in the Iran–US tensions, with oil prices retreating and the dollar weakening, but crypto markets stayed flat as investors waited for clearer signals on whether geopolitical de-escalation would sustain risk appetite. Bitcoin and major alts were range-bound despite the macro relief, suggesting crypto’s recent “geopolitical floor” narrative hasn’t yet translated into strong inflows when tensions ease.

Why it matters: If crypto continues to lag traditional risk assets during peace rallies, it could mean the market still sees BTC as a crisis hedge that performs best during escalation rather than de-escalation, shaping how Nordics-based traders and institutions position through the rest of the conflict cycle.

Source: Asian markets rally on Iran peace hopes while crypto stalls — Startup Fortune

Bitcoin and crypto may benefit from rising geopolitical tensions

A TradingView analysis argues that wars, sanctions and currency risks are pushing some investors toward scarce, non‑sovereign assets like bitcoin and major crypto, especially if central banks respond with looser policy and more liquidity. Historically, BTC has often sold off on shock headlines but recovered as a macro hedge once markets stabilise and inflation fears resurface.

Why it matters: If that pattern holds in the current crisis, geopolitical stress could end up as a medium‑term tailwind for bitcoin and large‑cap crypto rather than just a volatility spike.

Source: Why Bitcoin and Crypto May Surge Amid Geopolitical Tensions — TradingView

US crypto guidance and crypto taxes

SEC’s new crypto guidance still dodges key questions

A CoinDesk op-ed says the SEC’s much‑awaited March crypto guidance, issued with the CFTC, clarifies some token, staking and airdrop issues but still doesn’t spell out when a token sale is an “investment contract” under Howey. The authors argue this keeps plenty of room for case‑by‑case enforcement and leaves U.S. projects, exchanges and managers without bright‑line rules on when token launches or secondary trading cross into securities territory.

Why it matters: Even after a friendlier framework, legal uncertainty remains a major drag on U.S. crypto build‑out and institutional adoption.

Source: The SEC’s Latest Crypto Guidance Still Leaves Too Much Unsaid — CoinDesk

Coinbase survey shows most U.S. crypto users still confused about taxes

Coinbase’s 2026 Crypto Tax Readiness Report, run with CoinTracker, finds that only 49% of U.S. crypto users correctly understand that selling crypto is a taxable event, while nearly a quarter wrongly think simple wallet transfers trigger taxes. The average user is spread across 2.5 platforms, 83% use self‑custody, over 60% have incomplete cost‑basis data, and Coinbase expects to issue more than 4 million 1099‑DA forms, many to customers with under 600 dollars in proceeds.

Why it matters: Tax confusion and fragmented holdings remain a major friction point for mainstream crypto adoption in the U.S., even as regulators roll out new reporting rules to normalise digital assets alongside stocks and ETFs.

Source: Coinbase survey finds over half of customers don’t understand crypto tax — CoinDesk

Blockchain platforms and chains

Midnight, Charles Hoskinson’s $200 million privacy sidechain, live

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has launched Midnight, a privacy‑focused sidechain funded with around 200 million dollars to tackle crypto’s “too public, too complex” design. Midnight uses zero‑knowledge proofs and selective disclosure so businesses can run private smart contracts and tokenised assets without exposing all data on‑chain.

Why it matters: It’s a high‑profile bid to make privacy and compliance coexist on public infrastructure, turning blockchains into more usable “invisible plumbing” for things like payroll, identity and regulated deposits.

Source: Charles Hoskinson’s $200 million bet: Midnight goes live to tackle crypto’s biggest flaws — CoinDesk

Bitcoin, crossborder and mobile payments

Square auto-enables bitcoin payments for millions of U.S. businesses

Jack Dorsey’s Block has started automatically enabling bitcoin payments for eligible Square sellers across the U.S., shifting from an opt‑in to an opt‑out model that could turn on BTC acceptance for roughly 4 million merchants outside New York. Customers can now pay via a simple QR code over the Lightning Network, with near‑instant settlement, zero processing fees through the end of 2026 and the option for merchants to auto‑convert receipts to dollars or keep bitcoin on their balance sheet.

Why it matters: This is one of the biggest real‑world bitcoin payment pushes to date, bundling payments and a stealth treasury on‑ramp into the same feature and giving SMEs a low‑friction way to treat BTC as both a checkout option and a reserve asset.

Source: Jack Dorsey’s Square auto-enables bitcoin payments for millions of U.S. businesses — CoinDesk

Ripple links up with ex–Western Union unit Convera on cross-border payments

Ripple has signed a partnership with Convera, the former Western Union business solutions unit, to power crypto‑enabled cross‑border payments and treasury services for enterprises. Payments start and end in local fiat but settle via regulated stablecoins on Ripple’s rails, plugging Ripple liquidity into Convera’s FX network across 140 currencies and 200 countries.

Why it matters: It’s another case of stablecoins and tokenised rails being embedded into existing payment corridors, turning blockchain into invisible infrastructure rather than a standalone crypto product.

Source: Ripple partners former Western Union unit to enhance cross-border payments — The Block

Venmo steps beyond the U.S. as PayPal turns it into a global P2P rail

PayPal is expanding Venmo from a U.S.-only P2P app into a global payments rail by letting users send and receive money with hundreds of millions of PayPal users across 90 markets, marking Venmo’s biggest addressable‑market jump since launch. The move deepens PayPal–Venmo interoperability and positions Venmo as a front door to PayPal’s global commerce network, with international fees waived for a limited time to drive adoption.

Why it matters: Venmo’s globalisation shows how consumer wallets can piggyback on existing rails to go cross‑border fast, raising the bar for fintechs and neobanks competing on international P2P and remittances.

Source: PayPal Expands Venmo: Will It Become a Global Commerce Engine? — Yahoo Finance

Tokenized Real World Assets - copper next?

Datavault AI and Coppercore team up to tokenize copper

Tokenization firm Datavault AI is partnering with Coppercore to issue over 100 million dollars’ worth of “Coppercoin” tokens, each representing five pounds of in‑ground high‑grade copper priced off the COMEX benchmark. The program, set to launch by the end of Q2 2026, aims to give investors fractional, liquid, 24/7 exposure to copper resources and future production revenues via Datavault’s RWA tokenization platform.

Why it matters: It’s another real‑world asset tokenization play that links digital tokens directly to critical commodity supply for AI, electrification and the energy transition.

Source: Datavault AI And Coppercore To Tokenize Copper — Yahoo Finance

Baltic Crypto Adoption Week in April

Find your live streams during the 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.

Here you may find the Linkedin live events, where the event will be streamed:
Estonia Crypto Adoption on Linkedin and YouTube
Lithuania Crypto Adoption on Linkedin and YouTube
Latvia Crypto Adoption on Linkedin and YouTube
Baltic Crypto Adoption on Linkedin and YouTube

We have also created a landing page for Baltic Crypto Adoption Week where you can see updates, news, reports, live stteam and recordings, as the week is taking place.

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 hub: Nordic Crypto Adoption Week

Nordic Crypto Adoption Week wraps, turning content into an evergreen hub

Nordic Crypto Adoption Week 2026 (23–26 March) has ended, but all content is now live in an evergreen hub for Nordic Crypto Adoption, with news, session recordings, key findings and survey reports for Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway plus a joint Nordic overview. The week featured five live events, 10 panels and 40 speakers; all panels and events are available as full video recordings, and five key news articles highlight the most important regional and country findings. Articles and navigation are in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and English; videos and reports are in English.

Why it matters: The hub gives investors, professionals and builders a single, multilingual source for Nordic crypto adoption data and forward-looking use cases, turning a one-week event into a recurring reference point for the region.

Source: Nordic Crypto Adoption Week is a wrap – evergreen hub now live — Kaupr

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Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor