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Welcome to Kaupr Today

Good morning and welcome to Kaupr Today!

In today’s edition:

🔷 Hormuz disruptions: Oil jumps - stocks and bitcoin slips
🔷 Digital Treasury bets - Bitcoin or Ethereum?
🔷 Venture record investments - but is AI a bubble?
🔷 Investment strategies - Tokenization & ETFs
🔷 Crypto-related frauds and fraud accuces

We also highlight our evergreen hubs covering crypto adoption in the Nordics and Baltics, and diversity in crypto.

Have a good read!
Morten

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Hormuz disruptions: Oil jumps - Stocks & Bitcoin slips

Oil Jumps, Stocks Drop on US Plan to Block Hormuz: Markets Wrap

Oil surged and US equity futures fell after President Trump ordered a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following failed peace talks with Iran, sending Brent crude up almost 8%, lifting European gas futures as much as 17%, and knocking S&P 500 futures about 1% lower while risk‑sensitive currencies like the Australian dollar and South African rand slid against the dollar.

Why it matters: A US‑led Hormuz blockade tightens an already fragile energy market and rekindles stagflation fears, putting renewed pressure on central banks, risk assets and oil‑importing economies just days after markets had begun to price in a ceasefire‑driven relief rally.

Source: Oil Jumps, Stocks Drop on US Plan to Block Hormuz: Markets Wrap – Bloomberg

Bitcoin slips below $71,000 as Trump orders blockade of Strait of Hormuz

Bitcoin fell about 2.5% to $71,067 after US–Iran talks collapsed in Islamabad and President Trump announced a US Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, as crypto sold off on risk‑off sentiment while oil spiked above $100/barrel on the Strait effectively shut and ~2,000 vessels stranded.

Why it matters: Bitcoin is trading as a clear risk asset and selling off on escalation signals in the critical energy corridor that carries roughly 20% of global crude, while elevated oil prices and a hawkish Fed stance (Fed’s 2026 inflation forecast lifted to 2.7%) keep pressure on BTC alongside April tax‑selling as investors lock in 2024–2025 gains; Iran’s shift to mandatory Bitcoin-based tanker tolls shows geopolitical incentives for censorship‑resistant settlement but doesn’t offset near‑term macro headwinds until the war, oil prices and Fed policy ease.

Source: Bitcoin slips below $71,000 as Trump orders blockade of Strait of Hormuz – CoinDesk

Bitcoin & Ethereum treasury bets

Strategy’s Michael Saylor signals impending Bitcoin purchase

Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor has once again posted his characteristic “orange” Bitcoin chart on X, a pattern that has historically preceded fresh BTC accumulation by the company and suggests a new purchase could soon extend its streak of weekly buys that has already taken its holdings above 760,000 Bitcoin.

Why it matters: Saylor’s social “signal” posts have become a closely watched indicator for traders because each new Strategy buy not only tightens Bitcoin’s liquid supply but also reinforces the narrative of BTC as a long-term corporate treasury asset, regardless of short-term price drawdowns.

Source: Strategy’s Michael Saylor signals impending Bitcoin purchase – Cointelegraph via TradingView New

BMNR stock vs MSTR: Why BitMine is better than Strategy by far

The article argues that BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) is a superior long‑term digital asset treasury play to Strategy (MSTR), highlighting BitMine’s capped goal of accumulating 5% of all ETH, income from staking a multi‑billion‑dollar Ethereum treasury, a debt‑free balance sheet with over 800 million dollars in cash, and an active buyback program versus Strategy’s open‑ended Bitcoin accumulation funded with heavy leverage and potential shareholder dilution.

Why it matters: The comparison captures a broader shift in crypto‑treasury narratives from highly levered, endlessly expanding Bitcoin balance sheets to yield‑generating Ethereum treasuries with clearer caps on dilution and more traditional capital‑return tools like buybacks.

Source: BMNR stock vs MSTR: Why BitMine is better than Strategy by far – Invezz via TradingView News

Venture record investments - but is AI a bubble?

Charts of the Week: Venture’s $300B Quarter

Q1 2026 was the biggest quarter for venture funding ever recorded, with about 300 billion dollars invested into roughly 6,000 startups globally, more than 150% growth quarter‑on‑quarter and year‑on‑year, and around 80% of that capital flowing into AI companies; four mega‑rounds for OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and Waymo alone accounted for 188 billion dollars of the total, while early‑stage and seed dollars rose even as seed deal counts fell 30%, signaling fewer but much larger bets.

Why it matters: Venture is consolidating around a small group of AI “private giants” and capital‑intensive infrastructure plays, reshaping who gets funded and on what terms, and marking a shift from software‑only cycles toward an AI wave that also depends on chips, fabs, robots and physical assets.

Source: Charts of the Week: Venture’s $300B Quarter – a16z News

The $2 trillion AI bubble is about to pop — here’s exactly how it happens

The essay argues that a roughly 2 trillion dollar AI bubble has formed around hyperscaler capex, chip makers and private AI valuations, built on circular spending (companies buying each other’s GPUs and services to book revenue), thin real profits, and unsustainable energy and infrastructure costs; it predicts that once funding tightens and revenue disappoints, AI infra stocks and late‑stage startups could see dot‑com‑style drawdowns while a smaller set of durable AI and infrastructure players survive.

Why it matters: If AI spending and valuations reset sharply, it will ripple through venture, public markets and big‑tech balance sheets, hurting over‑levered players but potentially clearing space for more sustainable AI businesses, open‑source projects and targeted infrastructure investments.

Source: The $2 Trillion AI Bubble Is About To Pop — Here’s Exactly How It Happens – Medium opinion piece (drawing on broader AI‑bubble critiques)

Investment strategies - Tokenization & ETFs

2 Ways to Invest in the Tokenization Market

The Motley Fool piece argues the tokenized asset market could grow from about 30 billion dollars in 2024 to as much as 4 trillion dollars by 2030, and suggests two main ways to position for that upside: hold smart‑contract blockchains already winning tokenization flows (notably Ethereum and Solana) and buy listed companies building tokenization infrastructure, with Circle (USDC and its Arc chain) as the flagship equity example.

Why it matters: If tokenization of real‑world assets scales as forecasts from firms like McKinsey indicate, blockchains that capture significant issuance and companies that provide compliant rails for tokenized dollars, securities and alternative assets could see outsized growth in fees, volumes and valuations.

Source: 2 Ways to Invest in the Soaring Tokenization Market – The Motley Fool

BlackRock rips page from hedge fund playbook, applies it to ETFs

BlackRock is scaling up its liquid alternatives line by wrapping hedge fund‑like strategies—market‑neutral, long‑short, and managed futures—inside actively managed ETFs such as the iShares Systematic Alternatives Active ETF (IALT), aiming to deliver absolute‑return, low‑correlation performance with daily liquidity and ETF‑level fees.

Why it matters: This move pushes sophisticated “alts” out of traditional hedge fund structures and into mainstream ETF distribution, giving advisors and allocators a way to bolt on diversifying, alpha‑seeking exposures without lockups or two‑and‑twenty fees, and reinforcing the trend toward active ETFs as a core portfolio building block.

Source: BlackRock rips page from hedge fund playbook, applies it to ETFs – CNBC

Crypto-related frauds and fraud accuses

FBI says crypto-related fraud losses hit record $11.4 billion in 2025, with seniors bearing the brunt

Americans lost 11.4 billion dollars to crypto-related fraud in 2025, a 22% jump from 2024, with 181,565 complaints and an average loss of 62,604 dollars per victim; people aged 60 and over filed 44,555 complaints and absorbed about 4.4 billion dollars in losses, making them the hardest-hit group.

Why it matters: Crypto scams now account for more than half of all U.S. cybercrime losses and disproportionately target older investors, putting pressure on regulators, platforms and product designers to build much stronger protections, guardrails and education into the digital asset ecosystem.

Source: FBI says crypto-related fraud losses hit record $11.4 billion in 2025, with seniors bearing the brunt – The Block

Justin Sun accuses Trump-linked World Liberty Financial over hidden blacklist

TRON founder Justin Sun has accused Trump-affiliated DeFi project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) of secretly embedding a blacklist “backdoor” in its token smart contract that allows the team to freeze, restrict, or effectively seize investor funds without disclosure or due process.

Why it matters: The dispute highlights deep tensions between political branding and DeFi principles, with Sun warning that opaque controls and retroactive wallet blacklisting in a high‑profile, president‑linked project could undermine trust in tokenization and “on‑chain rights” narratives across the broader crypto market.

Source: Justin Sun Accuses Trump’s World Liberty Financial of Hiding Wallet Blacklist Function – Yahoo Finance (syndicated crypto report).

Evergreen Hubs: Crypto Adoption & Diversity

Over March and April, Kaupr hosted a series of community events on crypto and digital asset adoption across the Nordic and Baltic regions. The event pages have now been converted into permanent hubs — bookmark them to access session recordings, key findings, and survey reports anytime.

Baltic Crypto Adoption Hub

Baltic Crypto Adoption Week 2026 (7–9 April) has wrapped, and all content is now available in an evergreen hub on Kaupr. It covers news, session recordings, key findings, and survey reports for Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, plus a joint Baltic overview.

Why it matters: A single reference point for the region's crypto adoption data makes it easier for practitioners, policymakers, and investors to track the Baltic market over time.

Hub: Baltic Crypto Adoption, Kaupr

Nordic Crypto Adoption Week Hub

Nordic Crypto Adoption Week 2026 (23–26 March) has wrapped, and all content is now available in an evergreen hub on Kaupr. It covers news, session recordings, key findings, and survey reports for Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, plus a joint Nordic overview.

Why it matters: Centralising Nordic adoption research in one place gives the industry a durable benchmark for tracking how the region's crypto market evolves.

Source: Nordic Crypto Adoption — Kaupr

Nordic voices on diversity in crypto

On 6 March, Kaupr brought together guests from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland for a Diversity in Crypto event. Participants shared personal experiences, discussed the challenges facing underrepresented groups, and outlined concrete steps to strengthen diversity and inclusion across the Nordic crypto and Web3 space.

Why it matters: With Nordic regulators and institutions paying closer attention to governance standards, diversity is increasingly part of the broader conversation about sustainable industry growth in the region.

Source: Diversity in Crypto — Kaupr

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Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor