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Good morning! Bitcoin’s latest pullback is testing nerves, with on‑chain data pointing to a clear shift into a defensive, bear‑tilted regime even as K33 argues this looks more like structural selling than a new 80 percent crash setup. At the same time, stablecoins and tokenisation keep pushing into real‑world use, from UNICEF’s humanitarian pilots to MetaMask bringing 200+ tokenised US securities into a self‑custodial wallet. And in the Nordics, people and licences are on the move, as educators like Stack by Me and early MiCA players such as AK Jensen race to shape how a more regulated crypto market will actually work in practice.

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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.

If you want to go deeper and get a more umbrella‑level view of the digital transformation reshaping finance, make sure you’re subscribed to our Future of Finance Premium newsletter, where our latest edition was published last Friday.​

Have a good read,
Morten

Cycle check: Pullback or full‑blown bear?

Glassnode: bears in control as bitcoin slides

Glassnode’s Week On‑Chain (Week 05, 2026) report concludes that bitcoin has decisively broken below the “True Market Mean” around 80k dollars, with profitability measures like MVRV Z‑Score and Relative Unrealized Loss showing the weakest unrealised gains since October 2022. Realised losses exceed 1.2 billion dollars per day, spot demand remains thin, futures markets are in forced deleveraging, and options markets are paying up for short‑dated downside protection, all consistent with a defensive, bear‑controlled regime.​

Why it matters: With leverage being flushed but new spot and ETF demand still missing, Glassnode warns that bitcoin remains vulnerable to further downside until fresh capital steps in to absorb supply and rebuild confidence.​

Source: Bears In Control – Week On‑Chain Week 05, 2026, Glassnode Insights

‘This time is different’: K33 downplays risk of another drawdown

Following bitcoin’s sharp pullback, fears of a repeat 80 percent bear‑market crash have resurfaced, but K33 Research says the current correction looks more like structural selling and cautious positioning than a bursting bubble. The firm points to support zones, relatively low perpetuals leverage and growing institutional demand as reasons why a catastrophic four‑year‑cycle‑style drawdown is unlikely.​

Why it matters: If bitcoin has indeed shifted into a more institutional regime with shallower drawdowns, it could look less like a boom‑and‑bust trading vehicle and more like a maturing macro asset, changing how investors manage risk.

Source: ‘This time is different’: Bitcoin drop revives four-year cycle fears, but K33 says another 80% decline is unlikely, The Block (via CoinStats)

Stablecoins in the real world

UNICEF expands CryptoFund and tests stablecoins

UNICEF is expanding its CryptoFund initiative and starting to test stablecoins as a tool for more efficient humanitarian cash transfers, aiming to combine blockchain transparency with more stable currency value for recipients. The pilot projects build on several years of crypto‑fund experience and will examine how stablecoins work in practice when funds need to reach children and families in crisis areas quickly and securely.

Why it matters: If the pilots succeed, stablecoins could become a key payment tool in the humanitarian sector, offering lower costs, faster payouts and better traceability than traditional banking solutions.

Source: UNICEF utvider CryptoFund og tester stablecoins i humanitær bistand, Kaupr

AI agents will use crypto rails because they mirror machines

Xave Meegan argues that future AI agents will naturally gravitate toward crypto rails because they operate machine‑to‑machine, 24/7, across borders and with minimal trust, matching how autonomous agents transact and coordinate. As agents start holding and moving value, paying for services and interacting without human intermediaries, on‑chain primitives like programmable wallets, tokens and smart contracts become a native settlement layer for AI economies.​

Why it matters: If this thesis is right, AI adoption could turn into a powerful demand driver for crypto infrastructure itself, shifting the narrative from humans speculating on tokens to autonomous systems needing neutral, programmable money and markets.​

Source: Thesis: Why AI agents will use crypto rails, BlockEden forum (Xave Meegan thesis)​

From pilots to products in tokenization

MetaMask adds tokenized US stocks, ETFs and commodities

MetaMask has integrated Ondo Global Markets, letting eligible mobile users in supported non‑US regions buy, hold and trade more than 200 tokenized US stocks, ETFs and commodities – including Tesla, NVIDIA, Apple and QQQ – directly alongside their crypto assets. The GM tokens live on Ethereum, offer 24/5 trading with 24/7 transfers and aim to deliver “Robinhood‑style” US exposure from a self‑custodial wallet, though with a long list of excluded countries and KYC requirements.

Why it matters: The integration shows self‑custodial wallets evolving into distribution rails for tokenised securities, blurring lines between brokerage and DeFi and expanding real‑world asset access for non‑US investors.

Source: MetaMask adds tokenized US stocks, ETFs, and commodities via Ondo Global Markets, MetaMask News

21X takes MiCAR and DLT Pilot message to the European Parliament

21X uses a LinkedIn update to highlight that it is in Brussels to brief MEPs from the EPP Group on how the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime and MiCAR can unlock tokenised capital markets at scale. The firm presents its fully regulated on‑chain trading and settlement venue as a live MiCAR‑ready case study and argues for aligning policy, standards and market practice as Europe moves from pilots to mainstream adoption.

Why it matters: Direct engagement between 21X and EU lawmakers underlines that tokenised securities and on‑chain market infrastructure are moving from niche experiments into the core of Europe’s capital‑markets agenda.

Source: 21X’s Post, LinkedIn

Axiology raises €5M seed to scale tokenised securities

Investor Aleksander Ożarowski announces that Exponential Science and e² VC have co‑led a €5 million seed round in Lithuanian tokenised‑securities platform Axiology, alongside existing backers like Coinvest Capital and Baltic Sandbox Ventures. Axiology, one of only four firms licenced as a combined DLT Trading and Settlement System under the EU DLT Pilot Regime, will use the funding to expand its permissioned XRPL‑based infrastructure for fixed‑income markets, including digitally native Lithuanian defence bonds.

Why it matters: The round underscores rising investor conviction that EU‑regulated tokenisation venues like Axiology will become core infrastructure for government and corporate bonds, merging blockchain rails with traditional securities rules.

Source: Thrilled to co-lead Axiology’s €5m seed round, LinkedIn

People and lisences in Nordic crypto

Stack by Me highlights Norwegian crypto expert

Stack by Me says that crypto is a hot topic that few people really understand, and highlights crypto expert Kaja Vagle (CryptoClarity) as this week’s “rising star” in the Pengefeministen universe. The post directs users to content and courses in the Stack app that are designed to lower the barrier to learning about investing and crypto.

Why it matters: By teaming up with prominent finfluencers, Stack by Me is trying to own the conversation about safe, understandable crypto investing among younger – especially female – investors in the Nordics.

Source: Krypto er et hot topic – men de færreste forstår hva det faktisk er, LinkedIn

AK Jensen first with MiCA authorisation in Norway, ahead of local crypto exchanges

AK Jensen has become the first firm to obtain MiCA authorisation in Norway, securing a CASP licence while major Norwegian crypto exchanges are still waiting for their applications to be processed. The approval comes amid an extended transition scheme that lets existing VASPs operate on national registrations as Finanstilsynet works through a backlog of complex MiCA applications.

Why it matters: AK Jensen’s early MiCA win shows how international players can gain a competitive head start over domestic exchanges in Norway, shaping competition and passporting options across the Nordics before local platforms are fully licensed.

Source: AK Jensen first to obtain MiCA authorisation in Norway – while Norwegian crypto exchanges are still waiting, Kaupr

What to watch for

In the coming weeks, watch whether bitcoin’s on‑chain stress eases into stabilising inflows and calmer derivatives markets, or whether persistent realised losses and thin spot demand keep locking the market into a grinding, defensive phase. In parallel, track how fast the “boring” rails – humanitarian stablecoin pilots, tokenised securities in mainstream wallets and MiCA‑licensed venues in Europe – move from proof‑of‑concept to meaningful issuance and trading, as that will show where real risk appetite and user demand are actually shifting.

Why it matters: If bitcoin fails to rebuild spot and ETF demand while losses remain elevated, the market could drift into a slow‑bleed environment that quietly reshapes which holders, projects and business models survive. If, instead, most of the new usage, regulation and capital coalesce around stablecoins, tokenised assets and MiCA‑grade infrastructure, this phase of the cycle is likely to reward the underlying pipes and licences far more than the narrative‑driven tokens that stole the show in earlier booms.

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 end of the week — and welcome back on Friday morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.​

Best regards
Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor