Across global finance, the conversation around digital assets has changed tone.

What was once framed as disruption is now being treated as infrastructure. Stablecoins are no longer discussed primarily as speculative instruments, but as settlement rails. Tokenization is moving from pilots to regulated products. Crypto exposure is increasingly delivered through ETPs, balance sheets, and licensed platforms, not only wallets and trading apps.

In the Nordics, this shift is happening quietly, but decisively.

January’s developments across payments, asset management, regulation, and treasury strategy point to the same conclusion: digital finance is entering its deployment phase, driven less by startups and more by banks, asset managers, regulators, and public institutions.

This edition of Future of Finance Premium connects those signals and uses the launch of Kaupr TV Live as a lens to understand where the system is heading next.

Best regards,
Morten

On a regular basis, Kaupr and its editor, Morten Myrstad, conduct video interviews with business and thought leaders in crypto and digital assets, in the Nordics and beyond.

The videos are published on the Kaupr Media YouTube Channel and as news articles with the videos interview embedded on the Kaupr news site.

Below we share a short intro and links to the latest business leader talk.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Kaupr founder and editor Morten Myrstad, Blockchain Sweden General Manager Pehr Granfalk offers a candid assessment of Sweden’s blockchain landscape and a warning that the country risks losing an entire generation of innovation if it fails to act.

Read and watch on the Kaupr news site or on Kaupr Media YouTube.

In a new in-depth interview, ARYZE CEO Bertram Sites joins Kaupr founder and editor Morten Myrstad to unpack where the stablecoin industry is heading and why infrastructure, compliance, and programmability will matter more than speculation.

Read and watch on the Kaupr news site or on Kaupr Media YouTube.

Bitwise Asset Management’s expansion into the Nordic market, including multiple ETP listings on Nasdaq Stockholm, marks a strong institutional signal. With Swedish investors accounting for an estimated 20–25% of all European crypto ETP exposure, the region has emerged as one of Europe’s most mature markets for regulated digital-asset products.

The move underscores how global asset managers now view the Nordics not as an edge case, but as core infrastructure markets.

Klarna, the global digital bank and provider of flexible payments, is now introducing instant peer-to-peer payments that allow customers to send money to friends and family directly from the Klarna app, whether it's for splitting bills or giving money as a gift, thus combining the convenience of cash with the protection of a regulated bank.

Klarna has also launched KlarnaUSD - its first stablecoin. This represents a significant shift for a company with a management that has previously been a pronounced skeptic of cryptocurrency.

Global cryptocurrency exchange and onchain technology company OKX has launched Spot Margin trading in Europe, thus expanding the set of advanced trading tools available to clients in the region. The product mirrors the functionality of OKX's global platform, but is adapted to operate within European regulatory frameworks and is delivered through a separate unified USD EEA order book.

OKX also rolls out a new MasterCard in the EEA/EEA that allows users to pay directly with stablecoins at millions of user locations, with no transaction and currency fees, and with temporary crypto rewards of up to 20 percent on eligible purchases.

NBX has purchased an additional 3.5 bitcoin at a price of about NOK 894,000 per bitcoin as part of the company's long-term treasury strategy. The build-up of the holdings takes place on the basis of the financing agreement with the global investment company LDA Capital (“LDA”).

According to the press release, NBX will continue to increase its bitcoin holdings through a Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) approach and a strategic partnership with LDA Capital.

With a new CLARITY hearing scheduled for Thursday, Congress is moving closer to a potential decision on how US crypto exchanges, stablecoins and digital financial assets should be regulated.

CLARITY could both trigger a far greater wave of institutional tokenization of financial assets and at the same time sharply reduce the scope for current passive stablecoin return models.

The transition period for the introduction of MiCA in Norway is to be extended by six months to June 30, 2026, and Norwegian crypto exchanges will have to be patient before they can seriously take advantage of the opportunities that MiCA entails.

All the main Norwegian crypto exchanges have applied to the Financial Supervisory Authority for a VASP license, namely Bare Bitcoin, Firi, K33, NBX and Tyr Markets.

Norges Bank has concluded that there is currently no basis for introducing digital central bank money (DSP). This likely means further attention to other forms of payment such as stablecoins, bitcoin and tokenized bank deposits.

Norges Bank's decision comes at the end of phase 5 of the central bank's DSP process, a phase that has dealt not only with technical matters, but also about whether there would be a recommendation to make a policy decision.

In a development that signals cryptocurrency's entry into traditional finance, Harvard's endowment fund has made a bold move that has garnered attention from the crypto community. The fund now owns nearly half a billion dollars worth of Bitcoin ETFs.

The Harvard story is an emblematic of a broader shift - from Ivy League corridors to Wall Street, in which elite institutions are leading the way and shaping the future of crypto in mainstream finance.

Walmart is beefing up its presence in crypto through fintech app OnePay, which now lets users trade and hold Bitcoin and Ether, bringing digital currencies closer to daily retail at the giant.

The new functionality enables millions of OnePay users to buy, hold and convert cryptocurrencies into cash that can be used for purchases at Walmart.

The launch of Kaupr TV Live on January 23, hosted by Morten Myrstad and Leon Aleksander Solbakken, marked more than a new media format. It reflected the need for real-time analysis of markets, regulation, and infrastructure as digital finance matures. Discussions spanning asset management, tokenization, regulation, and treasury strategy revealed a consistent conclusion: crypto is no longer fighting for legitimacy, it is negotiating its role inside the financial system.

On YouTube you can pick and choose which part of the first show you want to watch.

Sessions
00:00 – Countdown & intro to Kaupr TV Live
00:01:00 – Welcome, what is Kaupr TV and today’s headlines
00:03:35 – Bitwise listing & Nasdaq bell. Guest: Marco Poblete, Bitwise
00:12:22 – Partner opportunities
00:13:05 – Nordic and global news
00:20:45 – Market & outlooks. Guest: Martin Leinweber, MarketVector
00:34:34 – Donald Trump – good or bad for crypto?
00:39:35 – Crypto regulation in the US and Europe. Guests: Magnus Jones & Åsa Skålen
00:57:27 – Bitcoin and Bitcoin lending. Guest: Torbjørn Bull Jenssen, K33
01:04:16 – Closing: upcoming events and new Kaupr TV shows

Rather than experimentation, the focus was on legal structure, custody workflows and institutional distribution, reinforcing the same signal seen elsewhere.

In this Kaupr video interview, Virtune’s Christopher Kock walks through the Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP, a flagship product now listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. The video dives into the rationale for index-based crypto exposure, the mechanics of a broad digital-asset benchmark, and why index ETPs can act as a gateway for investors, especially those seeking regulated access without direct wallet custody.

The Norwegian Cross‑country legend Petter Northug, having joined the Swedish ETP provider Virtune as ambassador, is arguing that “crypto is like elite sport” – all about long‑term discipline, realistic expectations and riding out volatility. In this conversation he traces his crypto journey since 2016–2017 and links elite‑sport discipline to long‑term, regulated crypto investing.

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Best regards,

Morten
Founder & Editor