Welcome to Kaupr Today

Good morning! Layoffs, losses and capitulation are back on the front page, from the worst US January job‑cut wave since 2009 to Amazon’s bruising AI‑spend sell‑off and bitcoin’s biggest single day of realised losses. At the same time, sentiment whipsaws between fear and greed, making it harder than ever to separate emotional noise from actual risk. Yet beneath the volatility, a different story keeps unfolding in the Nordics, where teams like Nansen, Concordium, Velatir and Stack by Me continue to ship infrastructure, compliance rails and products for everyday savers that assume this market will be both more regulated and more real‑world in the years ahead.

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Kaupr Today is your daily briefing on digital assets, fintech, and web3 with a strong Nordic lens. It brings concise, high‑signal updates on markets, products, companies, community initiatives, and standout content from Kaupr’s channels (including Kaupr TV and events) and leading regional players.

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Have a good read,
Morten

Layoffs, losses and capitulation

US layoffs in January hit highest level since 2009

US employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January, the highest total for that month since 2009 and more than double both December’s level and January a year earlier, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The surge was led by deep cuts at Amazon and UPS and came alongside the weakest January hiring plans on record, signalling a clear shift toward corporate caution.

Why it matters: The combination of rising layoffs and collapsing hiring intentions suggests the labour market is weakening beneath still‑solid headline data, increasing the risk of slower consumer spending and longer job searches if the trend persists.

Source: US layoffs in January hit highest monthly record since 2009, Semafor

Amazon’s $200B AI bet spooks markets, raises stakes in cloud war

Amazon plans about 200 billion dollars of capital expenditure in 2026, largely on AI infrastructure and cloud data centres, far above earlier expectations and helping trigger roughly an 11–12% drop in its share price after earnings. The spending surge comes as Google Cloud grows revenue almost twice as fast as AWS and lifts margins, forcing Amazon to invest heavily just to defend its cloud leadership.

Why it matters: The move signals an expensive new phase in the battle for AI‑driven cloud dominance, forcing investors to weigh years of heavy cash burn and margin pressure against the long‑term payoff from owning critical AI infrastructure.

Source: Amazon's $200B AI Bet Sparks Sell-Off, Signals Fierce Cloud Battle, Whalesbook

Strategy posts massive Q4 2025 loss as bitcoin slides

Bitcoin‑treasury and analytics firm Strategy reported a net loss of 12.6 billion dollars attributable to common shareholders in Q4 2025, compared with a 670.8 million dollar loss a year earlier. The company’s operating loss swelled to around 17.4 billion dollars, largely due to fair‑value markdowns on its huge bitcoin holdings as the price fell sharply into year‑end.

Why it matters: Strategy’s results show how turning a corporate balance sheet into a high‑beta bitcoin bet can create extreme earnings volatility, and will likely make other firms more cautious about copy‑paste “bitcoin treasury” strategies.

Source: Strategy reports largest corporate loss in Q4 2025 as Bitcoin extends decline, FXStreet

Bitcoin logs record $3.2B day of realized losses

On‑chain data show bitcoin holders locked in about 3.2 billion dollars of realized losses on February 5, the largest single‑day loss‑taking event in the asset’s history and greater than during the Luna collapse, FTX bankruptcy or earlier “black swan” crashes. The capitulation came as bitcoin fell nearly 10% to around 64,000 dollars, its lowest level since late 2024, without a single shock headline driving the move.

Why it matters: Such extreme realized‑loss spikes are watched as possible signs of seller exhaustion, but they also underline how violent bitcoin drawdowns remain even in a more institutional market. Whether this proves to be a washout that sets a medium‑term floor will depend on how quickly fresh demand returns after this flush.

Source: Bitcoin Logs $3.2B In Loss‑Taking Wave, Beating Luna And FTX‑Era Shock Levels, Yahoo Finance / TradingView

BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF hits $10B daily volume as selling spikes

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has notched a record daily trading volume of roughly 10 billion dollars on a day of sharp market stress, making it the most heavily traded US spot bitcoin ETF. The volume surge coincided with steep bitcoin price declines and heavy net outflows from the ETF complex, as investors took profits and cut risk.

Why it matters: Volume spikes of this scale alongside aggressive selling are often interpreted as signs of capitulation, flushing out leveraged positions while showing that ETFs have become the dominant channel for institutional bitcoin exposure.

Source: BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF hits $10 billion volume record, hinting at capitulation, CoinDesk

Fear, greed and your own reflection

Are you easily gripped by fear or greed?

Kaupr uses the Crypto Fear & Greed Index to show how quickly bitcoin market sentiment can swing between fear and greed and encourages readers to use it as a mirror for their own emotional reactions rather than as a trading signal. The article notes that today’s readings are far from the extreme fear levels seen in 2022 and reminds that the index currently covers only bitcoin, with more asset‑specific versions planned.

Why it matters: Being aware of sentiment helps investors avoid panic‑selling in fear or over‑allocating in euphoria, which is especially important in volatile markets like crypto.

Source: Are you easily gripped by fear or greed?, Kaupr​

Quiet Nordic builders in a loud market

Nansen launches NX8, a tokenized Layer‑1 index for multi‑chain on‑chain finance

Blockchain analytics firm Nansen, led by the Norwegian Alex Svanevik, has launched NX8, a tokenized index that gives investors diversified exposure to eight major Layer‑1 networks including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, BNB, TRON, Avalanche and Sui. Issued via OpenDelta and tokenized on Solana using LayerZero’s omnichain standard, NX8 can be traded on DeFi venues like Orca and accessed through aggregators such as Jupiter and Kamino.

Why it matters: NX8 packages active L1 ecosystems into a single on‑chain product, simplifying portfolio construction for investors who want broad exposure to base‑layer infrastructure rather than picking individual chains.
Source: Nansen introduces a tokenized index product for L1 chains, Cryptopolitan

CCD powers Concordium’s next‑gen privacy infrastructure

Concordium, originally from Denmark, has unveiled a privacy‑preserving identity and payments stack where users verify once and then prove attributes like being over 18 using zero‑knowledge proofs, without sharing underlying personal data. The same infrastructure underpins Concordium Pay, which uses the CCD token to cover merchant‑side fees and enforce eligibility at the moment of payment, enabling compliant stablecoin payments with low fees and instant settlement in ecommerce, wallets like Bitcoin.com and Ledger, and beyond.​

Why it matters: By baking privacy‑preserving identity directly into the protocol, Concordium aims to solve age‑gating and compliance at scale without turning platforms into data hoarders, an approach that could become more important as regulation moves to the point of interaction.

Source: CCD Powers The Next-Gen Privacy Infrastructure, Concordium

Danish Velatir raises €1.2M to build European AI infrastructure

Danish AI startup Velatir has raised 1.2 million euros in pre‑seed funding led by Ugly Duckling Ventures with Norrsken Evolve and EIF participation to build an AI governance platform for European companies. The platform maps AI usage across an organisation, routes sensitive actions to human reviewers, and logs approvals to keep AI‑driven workflows compliant and auditable while integrating into tools like Slack, Teams and email.​

Why it matters: As European firms face stricter AI and data rules, Velatir is pitching “human‑in‑the‑loop” infrastructure as a way to scale AI adoption without losing transparency or regulatory control.​

Source: Danish startup Velatir raises €1.2M to build trust-based European AI infrastructure, Vestbee

Stack by Me raising MNOK, for Sweden, crypto & digital adviser

The Norwegian Investment app Stack by Me plans to raise 6 million Norwegian kroner in new equity to accelerate expansion into Sweden, add crypto trading as a new asset class and build a digital investment adviser for everyday savers. Coming less than a year after a larger funding round, the raise is meant to transform Stack by Me from a simple savings app into a broader Nordic wealth platform with more personalised, diversified investing.

Why it matters: The move shows how Nordic retail‑focused fintechs are betting on Sweden, crypto and automated advice as key levers to scale beyond niche investing tools into full‑stack wealth platforms.

Source: Stack by Me aims to raise NOK 6 million – betting on Sweden, crypto and a digital investment adviser, Kaupr

What to watch for

In the coming weeks, watch whether this bout of layoffs in the US, losses and crypto capitulation burns out into a healthier risk reset or hardens into a slower, more grinding phase where both corporates and investors stay defensive. Pay attention to how quickly bitcoin spot and ETF flows normalise, how labour‑market data evolve, and whether AI capex narratives shift from “spooking markets” to convincing investors that the cash burn will actually earn its keep.

Why it matters: If stress lingers and flows fail to rebuild, this phase could quietly cull weaker balance‑sheet bitcoin treasuries, over‑levered AI bets and fragile business models, even without a dramatic “crash” headline. If, instead, risk appetite stabilises while the Nordic builders keep shipping rails for identity, AI governance and retail investing, the winners of this cycle may be the teams that used the fear phase to lock in licences, infrastructure and trust rather than chase the loudest narratives.

Share Kaupr Today

Thank you for reading Kaupr Today — and for helping us pass the 700‑subscriber mark. 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 weekend — and welcome back on Monday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.​

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor