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The future of money is being built right now — stablecoins are replacing payment rails at Meta, Visa and Lightspark, tokenization is moving from pilot to production at JPMorgan and the world's largest share registry, and Bitcoin's smart money is positioning for a breakout. Plus a strong Nordic signal from Virtune.

🔷 Stablecoins at work — payments, creators and the agentic economy
🔷 Tokenization goes mainstream
🔷 Bitcoin — smart money moves in
🔷 Fintech and banking
🔷 Nordic news
🔷 Nordic events and evergreen reads

Have a good read! Morten

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Stablecoins at work — payments, creators and the agentic economy

David Marcus is back — Lightspark launches global payments platform at Bitcoin 2026

Marcus built PayPal, launched Libra — and was stopped by the entire world. Now he's back. At Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas he launched Grid Global Accounts: stablecoins, Visa cards and bank payouts in 65 countries through a single API, with Bitcoin as the settlement network under the hood. The most forward-looking feature: AI agents with their own ring-fenced payment accounts and spending limits. As Marcus put it: "the agent plans, the policy decides, and the account enforces."

Why it matters: Libra was stopped because Meta tried to own the currency. Lightspark builds on neutral rails instead — and this time the infrastructure is ready.

Source: Lightspark and Marcus launch global payments platform, Kaupr

Meta starts paying creators in stablecoins — four years after shelving Libra

Meta has quietly rolled out USDC payouts for select creators in Colombia and the Philippines, on Solana and Polygon, with Stripe handling tax reporting. Creators enter their own crypto wallet address — Meta does not convert USDC to local currencies. The approach is deliberately arms-length: distributing existing stablecoins rather than issuing its own.

Why it matters: When a platform with 3 billion users starts routing creator payments through stablecoins, mainstream adoption stops being a forecast — Meta's distribution scale alone could normalise USDC wallets faster than any regulatory push.

Source: Tech giant Meta starts paying some creators in stablecoin with Stripe's support, CoinDesk

Visa's stablecoin settlement hits $7 billion run rate — up 50% in one quarter

Visa has added five blockchains — Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon and Tempo — to its global stablecoin settlement pilot, bringing the total to nine networks including Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Stellar. The programme lets issuers and acquirers settle transactions in stablecoins instead of through traditional banking rails, and has now reached a $7 billion annualised run rate, up 50% from last quarter.

Why it matters: Visa is positioning itself as the common settlement layer across all major blockchain networks — not a crypto experiment, but the next version of global payment infrastructure.

Source: Visa expands stablecoin settlement network as volume hits $7 billion run rate, CoinDesk

Tokenization goes mainstream

The world's largest share registry just opened the door to tokenized equities

Securitize and Computershare — which manages shares for 58% of the S&P 500 — have agreed to let US-listed companies issue tokenized shares alongside traditional ones. The tokens represent direct equity ownership on blockchain rails, not derivatives or wrappers. Investors can borrow against them onchain and hold them in digital wallets.

Why it matters: When Computershare moves, the $70 trillion US equity market moves with it.

Source: World's Largest Stock Transfer Agent is Moving into Tokenization Through Partnership with Securitize, Forbes

JPMorgan's new blockchain chief: tokenization alone won't fix liquidity

Oliver Harris, JPMorgan's new head of its Kinexys blockchain division, says putting assets onchain doesn't automatically make them easier to trade. The real shift requires a unified global settlement layer connecting money, assets and data. Harris calls this his "third hell loop" — but says technology and regulation are finally mature enough for it to work.

Why it matters: The world's largest bank is setting a more sober standard for what tokenization needs to actually deliver — and that matters for every institution building in the space.

Source: JPMorgan's new blockchain chief warns that tokenization does not equal liquidity, CoinDesk

Galaxy Digital backs Fence with $20 million to tokenize the $6 trillion asset-backed finance market

Fintech company Fence has raised $20 million led by Galaxy Digital to bring smart contracts and tokenization to asset-backed finance. The $6 trillion market still runs on Excel, PDF and email — Fence replaces that with real-time APIs, automated smart contract payments, and tokenized loan shares investors can transfer or collateralize. BBVA, BlackRock and Fortress are already partners.

Why it matters: Asset-backed finance is one of the largest and least digitised corners of institutional finance — tokenizing it doesn't just cut costs, it creates a new layer of programmable, transferable credit infrastructure.

Source: Blockchain financial company Fence completes $20 million financing, led by Galaxy Digital, WEEX via CoinDesk

Bitcoin — smart money moves in

Bitcoin whales are aggressively long — and shorts keep paying for it

Hyperliquid whale positioning is at its most bullish on record. Bitcoin perpetual funding rates have been negative for 47 consecutive days — shorts paying longs — one of the longest stretches ever recorded. If spot prices break higher, a rapid unwind of short positions could accelerate the move significantly.

Why it matters: Smart money is leaning hard into Bitcoin near $80,000 while retail sentiment stays bearish — a divergence that historically resolves sharply in one direction.

Source: Bitcoin whales build long positions as funding stays deeply negative, CoinDesk

Bitcoin ETFs cross $102 billion — 21Shares CIO sees $100K by year-end

Spot Bitcoin ETFs crossed $102 billion in net assets, with 21Shares CIO Adrian Fritz citing Morgan Stanley's entry and growing hedge fund participation as evidence of a new institutional wave. Bitcoin's daily trading volume now exceeds $50 billion — rivalling Nvidia — which Fritz says makes liquidity concerns for institutional allocators effectively obsolete.

Why it matters: When an ETF issuer with skin in the game points to $100K on the back of structural institutional demand — not retail euphoria — it's a different quality of signal than a price prediction.

Source: Bitcoin ETFs fuel institutional surge, 21Shares' CIO sees $100K possible by year-end, CoinDesk

Fintech and banking

Borrow up to $1 million against your bitcoin — without selling it

Aven has launched a bitcoin-backed Visa card offering credit lines up to $1 million at 7.99% APR, with fixed-rate terms of up to 10 years. No annual fee, no origination fee, 2% cash back. Collateral is custodied with BitGo's OCC-regulated trust bank, and the card is issued by Coastal Community Bank.

Why it matters: Bitcoin holders can now access long-term, low-rate credit against their holdings without selling — the kind of product that turns a speculative asset into a balance sheet tool.

Source: Aven bitcoin Visa card will offer BTC-backed line of credit of up to $1 million, The Block

Nordic news

Virtune lists HYPE and SUI ETPs on the same day — Nordic investors want more than bitcoin and ether

Virtune listed a HYPE token ETP on Xetra and a SUI ETP on Nasdaq Stockholm on the same day. "Investor demand is clearly evolving beyond traditional bitcoin and ether exposure," says CEO Christopher Kock. Virtune manages $300 million in assets and holds over 90% market share for crypto ETNs on Nasdaq Nordics.

Why it matters: When the dominant Nordic ETP issuer doubles down on altcoin exposure in a single day, the European regulated crypto market has structurally moved beyond the two-asset playbook.

Source: Virtune launches two new crypto‑ETPs on the same day, Kaupr

Nordic events and evergreen content

Kaupr TV — recordings from 24 April 2026

Kaupr TV Live was back on air Friday 24 April, live from the studio in Stockholm — news, guests and conversations from the Nordic, Baltic and European Web3 and digital finance scene.

▶️ Watch on YouTube 📺 Watch on the KauprTV portal 📅 Watch on LinkedIn Event

Hosted by Morten Myrstad and Leon Aleksander Karlsen Solbakken

Nordic crypto adoption events

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. 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. Hub: 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. Hub: Diversity in Crypto — Kaupr

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Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor