Welcome to Kaupr Today

Good morning. Sorry about the late edition today. But we have been on our way to Stockholm to cover the Blockchain Sweden Industry Report 2025, which we will share takeaways from tomorrow.

Today’s main topics:

• War fears ease, oil pulls back, stocks rebound

• Bitcoin stabilizing — but missing the rock ’n’ roll?

• AI in the enterprises and AI competitions

• TradFi and crypto are getting cozy

• Nordic blockchain industry in focus

Have a good 5-minute read!

Morten

War fears ease, oil pulls back, stocks rebound

Asia-Pacific stocks rebound as oil pulls back and war fears ease

Asia-Pacific markets are rebounding after Monday’s oil‑shock rout, with South Korea’s Kospi up over 5%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining about 1.7% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rising around 1.3% as lower crude prices and Wall Street’s bounce lift sentiment. Futures also point to a slightly higher open for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng after President Donald Trump suggested the Iran war may be nearing an end, helping pull Brent and WTI back from near‑120‑dollar spikes toward the low‑100s.

Why it matters: The quick snapback shows how tightly Asian equities are trading against the oil curve and war headlines, with signs of de‑escalation and softer crude rapidly triggering short‑covering after record selling days.

Source: Asia-Pacific markets set to rebound as Trump comments drive oil lower, CNBC

Oil shock whipsaws global markets as Wall Street snaps back

CNBC’s live blog shows how stocks reversed earlier steep losses on Monday to close higher, with the Dow ending up about 200 points, after President Donald Trump signaled the U.S.–Iran war could be “near an end” and oil prices retreated from an intraday spike toward 120 dollars a barrel. Asian and European markets had tumbled earlier as Brent briefly surged more than 30% above 100 dollars and airlines, energy‑intensive sectors and bond markets all priced in a potential 1970s‑style energy shock before crude eased back toward the 105–110 range.

Why it matters: The session underlines how fragile risk sentiment is, with stocks, bonds, oil and the dollar whipsawing on every headline about war escalation or cease‑fire hopes, and rate‑cut expectations shifting as quickly as the crude curve.

Source: Stock futures are flat as traders weigh Trump’s cue that Iran war may soon end: Live updates, CNBC

Bitcoin stabilizing — but missing rock ’n’ roll?

Bitcoin shows tentative signs of stabilizing as Iran conflict fears ease

Bitcoin’s market structure is showing early signs of improvement after last week’s war‑driven sell‑off, with the price back around 69,000 dollars and Glassnode flagging firmer momentum, stronger ETF inflows and better profitability metrics. Futures open interest and renewed buying in perpetuals suggest traders are tip‑toeing back into leverage, while QCP Capital says bitcoin’s role as a “digital escape hatch” is becoming more relevant as Middle East tensions highlight capital‑flight and sanctions risks.

Why it matters: The backdrop is still fragile — spot volumes and network activity remain soft — but if Iran conflict fears keep fading and oil drifts lower, stabilizing on‑chain metrics plus ETF demand could mark the start of a more durable base rather than just another short‑covering bounce.

Source: Bitcoin Shows ‘Tentative Signs of Improvement’ as Iran Conflict Fears Wane, Decryp

Crypto’s ‘rock ’n’ roll’ era is over as institutions take over

Leah Callon‑Butler argues that crypto’s rebel phase is ending as spot ETFs, institutional custody, bank‑grade regulation and players like TP ICAP and BlackRock pull it into mainstream market infrastructure. Mass adoption now looks like wholesale brokers routing slices of trillions in trades through crypto rails, rather than retail users buying coffee with wallets.

Why it matters: Even if crypto still signals rebellion, it has already reshaped finance — from stablecoins beating major payment networks to tokenized real‑world assets in core plumbing and DeFi being wrapped by banks — and institutions can regulate and package these tools, but “they cannot uninvent them.”

Source: Crypto’s Rock ’n’ Roll Era Is Over, CoinDesk / Leah Callon‑Butler

AI in enterprises and AI competitions

Enterprise agentic AI needs a process layer most firms still lack

VentureBeat, citing Celonis’ 2026 Process Optimization Report, notes that 85% of enterprises want to become “agentic” within three years, but 76% say their operations aren’t ready and only 19% actually run multi‑agent systems today. The article argues that AI agents won’t deliver real ROI without an “AI‑ready” process layer: mapped and optimized workflows, process data, KPIs, policies and org context exposed via process intelligence instead of being stuck in silos.​

Why it matters: Agentic AI is framed less as a model choice and more as an operating‑model challenge — if companies don’t first fix fragmented processes and build shared visibility, they will mostly automate chaos rather than transform it.​

Source: Enterprise agentic AI requires a process layer most companies haven’t built, VentureBeat

Nicolai Tangen will open Norway’s national AI championship

Oljefondet CEO Nicolai Tangen will open Norway’s 2026 National AI Championship (NM i KI) next week, calling it a “fantastic initiative” and saying he hopes many more women sign up for the competition. The championship, organised by Astar and NORA, runs 19–22 March with hubs across Norway, a total prize pool of 1 million NOK and an open format aimed at students, professionals and hobbyists to boost national AI skills.

Why it matters: The event reflects growing concern that Norway is falling behind its Nordic neighbours on AI, and uses a large, open competition format – fronted by one of the country’s most visible business leaders – to mobilise developers and raise AI adoption on the ground.

Source: Nicolai Tangen åpner NM i KI neste uke: – Fantastisk initiativ!, kode24 (article in Norwegian)

TradFI and crypto are getting cozy

Nasdaq partners with Kraken parent to link tokenized equities with DeFi networks

Nasdaq is partnering with Payward, Kraken’s parent, to build an “equities transformation gateway” that lets tokenized versions of listed stocks move between Nasdaq’s regulated market and permissionless DeFi networks using Payward’s xStocks framework. Kraken will initially provide the on‑chain settlement layer, while Payward handles KYC/AML so tokenized shares can move on‑chain without losing issuer control, shareholder rights or regulatory protections.

Why it matters: The deal aims to make public‑company equities natively interoperable across traditional markets and DeFi, turning stocks into programmable assets that can plug into on‑chain lending, governance and 24/7 trading while staying under existing securities rules.

Source: Nasdaq partners with Kraken parent Payward to link tokenized equities with DeFi networks, The Block

Stablecoin payments startup Kast raises 80 million dollars at 600 million valuation

Stablecoin payments startup Kast has raised 80 million dollars in new funding at a 600 million dollar valuation, aiming to reach a 100 million dollar annual revenue run rate this year. The company plans to use the capital to expand its stablecoin‑based accounts and payments platform across North America, Latin America and the Middle East.

Why it matters: The deal shows investor appetite for stablecoin‑native payments and “digital dollar account” platforms remains strong, as stablecoins move from trading rails into mainstream financial services and cross‑border payments.

Source: Stablecoin payments startup Kast raises 80M dollars at 600M dollars valuation – report, Cointelegraph via TradingView

Coinbase launches regulated futures contracts across Europe

Coinbase has made futures contracts available to trade for Advanced users in 26 European countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands, via its MiFID‑regulated European entity. The lineup includes cash‑settled perpetual‑style futures with five‑year expiries and dated monthly/quarterly contracts on assets like bitcoin, ether, solana and the Mag7 + Crypto equity index, with leverage of up to around 10x and fees starting near 0.02%.

Why it matters: The launch brings one of crypto’s most popular derivatives products into a fully regulated European framework, giving both retail and institutional traders a local alternative to offshore venues and deepening Coinbase’s push to become a multi‑asset “everything exchange” in the region.

Source: Futures contracts now available on Coinbase in Europe, Coinbas

Nordic blockchain industry in focus

Blockchain Sweden presents new industry report on the state of Sweden’s blockchain sector

Today, Blockchain Sweden is presenting its new industry report: “Blockchain Sweden – how is the Swedish industry doing?”. Kaupr is on site for the evening presentation and panel discussion and will be live‑blogging here on LinkedIn with impressions, quotes and key figures from the report.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, Kaupr will update its own event pages with the most important insights, new numbers and comments from Swedish players in the blockchain industry, where readers will also find the latest news about blockchain in Sweden.

Source: Today Blockchain Sweden presents its new industry report: “Blockchainsverige – hur mår den svenska branschen?”, Kaupr / LinkedIn​

What to watch for

Watch whether war headlines continue to point toward de‑escalation or flip back to renewed strikes, and whether oil settles into a new range near triple digits or clearly rolls over from yesterday’s spike. Also keep an eye on whether bitcoin can turn this bounce into a stable base instead of another pop‑and‑fade, especially if volatility comes back in equities and energy.

Why it matters: Together, these signals will tell you if markets are moving past “oil shock mode” or heading for another inflation scare — with bitcoin caught between acting as a macro risk asset and a potential hedge when geopolitical stress returns.

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

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Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor