Equities update - August 17th, 2026

Week 33 saw broader US equity indices rally, with the S&P 500 reaching a new all-time high as technology stocks recovered and Asian equities rebounded following several weeks of deleveraging. The move continues to be supported by a particularly strong Q2 earnings season, with approximately 85% of S&P 500 companies reporting earnings above expectations and adjusted earnings currently tracking around 31% YoY growth, the strongest since 2021, with growth expected across 10 of 11 sectors. Importantly, earnings expectations have risen faster than the market itself: the S&P 500’s forward P/E has declined to approximately 20.4x from 22.2x at the end of 2025 and 21.3x at its previous June record high, suggesting recent equity gains have increasingly been supported by fundamental earnings growth rather than further multiple expansion.

Within blockchain equities, results remain more bifurcated. Commoditised crypto trading and exchange businesses continue to face pressure from weaker volumes and fees, although growth across subscription, services, equities and other diversified revenue streams has helped cushion the impact for broader financial platforms. Elsewhere, AI and data-centre infrastructure remained a notable source of strength, while digital-asset treasury companies continued to execute their accumulation and capital-markets strategies and M&A activity remained active across the sector.

Week 33 key developments in Blockchain Equities

• Index Performance: The Index rose 1.0% during the week, outperforming Bitcoin which declined (3.6%). July CPI came in below expectations, rising 0.1% MoM and 3.4% YoY, down from 3.5% in June, while core CPI eased to 2.5% YoY. This was followed by a similarly benign PPI print, with producer prices unchanged MoM versus +0.2% expected and annual PPI slowing to 4.7% from 5.5%. July retail sales also unexpectedly declined (0.6%) MoM versus +0.1% expected, adding further evidence of softer consumer activity. Collectively, the weaker inflation and growth data reduced expectations for further near-term monetary tightening, effectively removing one rate hike from the market’s base case. The repricing was supportive for risk assets and helped push the S&P 500 to fresh record highs during the week, although Bitcoin failed to participate in the broader rally. 

• Block Index Key Movers: 7-day top performers: Bullish (+19.3%), Circle (+19.1%), Iren (+18.0%) 7-day worst performers: eToro (-18.4%), Bitdeer Technologies (-16.7%), Keel Infrastructure (-13.4%)

• AI data centre demand and execution continue to strengthen, benefiting index-based bitcoin miners - AI infrastructure momentum continued this week, with further contracting, capacity development and execution milestones across index constituents. Riot Platforms signed a 20-year lease for 191MW of critical IT capacity at Rockdale, expected to generate US$9.1bn of contracted revenue, taking total contracted capacity alongside AMD to 241MW. IREN also reached an important execution milestone after Microsoft accepted the first 50MW Horizon deployment under its US$9.7bn contract, demonstrating its ability to deliver high-density AI infrastructure against hyperscaler requirements. Elsewhere, Keel Infrastructure completed the decommissioning of its US Bitcoin mining operations as it prepares its sites for HPC development, while Bitdeer continued to advance its AI infrastructure pipeline across Tydal and Malaysia.

• The broader AI infrastructure earnings backdrop was also supportive. CoreWeave reported Q2 revenue of US$2.58bn, +112% YoY, with backlog reaching US$104bn and more than US$25bn of additional customer commitments secured in early Q3. Importantly, demand remains strong even for older-generation GPUs, with CoreWeave signing contracts for A100 capacity extending into 2029, while management implemented an approximately 25% price increase across SKUs in July. Nebius similarly reported AI-cloud revenue growth of 514% YoY and ARR of US$3.0bn. The results provide a positive read-through for index constituents exposed to these platforms, particularly Galaxy Digital and Core Scientific through their long-term CoreWeave infrastructure agreements.

•  Earnings Recap – Key Holdings:

  - Nu Holdings, Bullish, Nexon – Positive
  - Bitdeer Technologies, Bit Digital – Mixed
  - eToro, Keel Infrastructure, Sharplink Gaming, Metaplanet – Negative

Other news - Index constituents

• Bullish saw the first trades of its tokenised BLSH equity executed on Bullish Exchange and settled against a USD stablecoin, representing the first tokenised equity trading on a GFSC-regulated digital-asset exchange. Unlike synthetic stock tokens, the issuer-sponsored tokens represent direct ownership recorded at the share registry level, with Bullish aiming to combine exchange infrastructure with Equiniti’s registry capabilities to offer issuance, registry and secondary trading across the tokenisation lifecycle.

• Metaplanet established a continuous bond issuance programme, BitBonds, and completed its inaugural issuance through four privately placed unsecured senior bond series totalling approximately ¥200m (US$1.3m). The bonds have maturities of roughly three years and annual coupons of 4.0–4.3%, and were distributed through Metaplanet Securities to eligible individuals and corporates. While the initial issuance is modest, the programme provides an additional non-dilutive, yen-denominated funding channel alongside common equity, equity-linked securities and preferred shares, with future issuance dependent on market demand and funding requirements.

• Strategy sold another 1,690 BTC for approximately US$109m at an average price of US$64,262, reducing its holdings to 840,447 BTC. This follows 1,638 BTC of sales the prior week and continues the shift toward more active management of the Bitcoin treasury following the introduction of its USD reserve and greater focus on supporting its preferred securities.

• SharpLink highlighted that it completed a US$75m registered direct offering during Q2, issuing approximately 10.0m shares and accompanying warrants at a combined price of US$7.49, around 41% above the prior closing share price and at a premium to the NAV of its ETH holdings. The company subsequently used part of the proceeds to acquire approximately 10,000 ETH while also repurchasing 2.1m shares at an average price of US$4.70.

• eToro agreed to acquire TradeZero for up to US$231m, strengthening its US offering and providing additional technology and capabilities targeted at active traders. TradeZero generated approximately US$80m of revenue over the last 12 months, with the transaction expected to be accretive to adjusted earnings in its first year following completion.

• Anchorpoint Financial, Standard Chartered’s joint venture with Animoca Brands and HKT, commenced the first phase of its HKD At Par (HKDAP) stablecoin rollout. Access is initially being provided to institutional distributors and professional investors, with payments and settlement among the targeted use cases and potential broader retail distribution by the end of 2026.

• Coinbase received Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi’s FSRA to establish an international tokenisation hub in ADGM, while Deribit received a Dubai VARA broker-dealer licence and Coinbase introduced a new Deribit matching engine capable of processing more than 100,000 orders per second. Coinbase also began rolling out futures, perpetuals and options to UK professional investors across more than 170 contracts.

• Robinhood launched crypto trading for UK customers through Bitstamp UK, offering access to more than 50 digital assets alongside equities, options and futures within the same application.

Other news – Non-Index constituents

• BitMine acquired 7,391 ETH during the week, taking its holdings to approximately 5.81m ETH, or 4.8% of circulating supply, while repurchasing a further 3m shares. Total share repurchases since the beginning of July have now reached 19.1m shares under its US$4bn authorisation. BitMine has also staked approximately 5.07m ETH, with management estimating around US$257m of annualised staking revenue          .

• Tether said KPMG US completed a full audit of its 2025 financial statements, marking the first full independent audit of the USDT issuer after years of relying primarily on reserve attestations. KPMG issued an unqualified opinion, representing an important step towards improving transparency and potentially strengthening USDT’s acceptance among regulated financial institutions.

• Figure Technologies reported Q2 net revenue of US$226m, +113% YoY, with Consumer Loan Marketplace volume rising 132% to US$4.3bn. Figure Connect now accounts for 65% of marketplace volumes, while its on-chain lending activity and $YLDS tokenised security both continued to grow, highlighting increasing adoption of its blockchain-based financial infrastructure.