Equities update | June 19th, 2026

Week 25 saw strength across broader equity markets as a temporary agreement between the US and Iran provided some relief from geopolitical risk. However, the macro backdrop became less supportive after new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh used his first major policy communication to announce five task forces and suspend forward guidance. Markets moved to price a rate increase later this year, pushing treasury yields higher and the DXY above 101 to its highest level since July 2025. The impact was most visible in cryptocurrencies and growth equities with limited exposure to AI capex, while AI infrastructure and data-centre-linked names continued to outperform. This divergence was also evident within blockchain equities: Bitcoin-sensitive and software-oriented names lagged, while HIVE and Cipher benefited from company-specific AI and power-infrastructure developments. Coinbase’s product expansion demonstrated continued investment through the downturn, while Strategy’s Bitcoin purchase and weakness in STRC highlighted the rising cost and complexity of funding digital-asset treasury strategies as corporates navigate weaker crypto markets.

Week 25 Key Developments in Blockchain Equities:

• Index Performance: The Index rose 5.1% this week, outperforming Bitcoin, which declined 2.2%. The US macro backdrop became less supportive for risk assets as new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s press conference commentary pushed rate expectations higher.. Warsh effectively suspended forward guidance, shortened the policy statement and launched five task forces covering communications, the balance sheet, economic data, productivity and employment, and inflation. Markets subsequently assigned roughly a 57% probability to a September hike, pushing the two-year Treasury yield to 4.2% and added notable pressure to crypto assets. 

• Block Index Key Movers: 7-day top performers: Cipher Digital (+28.9%), Bit Digital (+25.4%), Samsung (+20.6%) 7-day worst performers: CoinShares (-6.8%), Strategy Inc (-6.3%), CME Group (-6.0%)

• Index constituent Coinbase expanded its “Everything Exchange” strategy with tokenised US equities, stock and crypto options, thematic index perpetuals, unified liquidity and an AI adviser for Coinbase One subscribers - The launches broaden Coinbase beyond spot crypto, supporting higher engagement and cross-selling across derivatives, subscriptions, lending, custody and payments. This matters as Q1 transaction revenue fell 40% year-on-year to US$756m, while stablecoin revenue rose 11% to US$305m, or almost 23% of net revenue. Adjacent products are already scaling, with retail derivatives exceeding a US$200m annualised revenue run-rate in Q1 and prediction markets reaching a US$100m annualised run-rate in March 2026, based on twelve times monthly revenue. Coinbase is also adapting rewards ahead of the proposed CLARITY Act by linking incentives to trading, payments or onchain activity rather than passive stablecoin holdings, helping preserve the customer-acquisition benefits of USDC rewards. Overall, the expansion should reduce reliance on volatile spot trading, although returns will depend on adoption, regulation and competition from Robinhood and established brokers.

• Index constituent Strategy Inc purchased a further 1,587 Bitcoin for US$100m – The purchase was made at an average price of US$63,024, increasing holdings to 846,842 Bitcoin, while rebuilding its USD reserve to US$1.1bn. The transaction showed Strategy can still access common-equity funding and continue accumulating Bitcoin, but attention shifted to STRC, which fell to US$82.61 before recovering to US$88.59 on Thursday. The decline matters because STRC was intended to provide durable funding near par; instead, technical deleveraging, short selling and competition from SATA’s 13%, daily dividend and cleaner debt-free structure have pushed investors to demand a higher yield. Concerns were reinforced by STRC ranking behind US$6.7bn of convertible debt and STRF, alongside Strategy’s earlier sale of 32 Bitcoin to fund preferred distributions. However, Strategy can mitigate the pressure by raising STRC’s variable dividend, rebuilding reserves, retiring senior debt through MSTR issuance or increasing payment frequency. The move is not yet a major balance-sheet threat, but it signals a higher marginal cost of funding future Bitcoin accumulation.

Other news - Index constituents:

• Cipher Digital strengthened its Texas grid positioning as regulators approved ERCOT’s “Batch Zero” framework. The new process will assess large-load applications in groups rather than sequentially, providing a clearer pathway for Cipher’s 2.0GW McLennan, Colchis and Mikeska pipeline, which the company expects to be included in Batch Zero, although capacity is not guaranteed amid ERCOT’s 438GW queue. Cipher also appointed former ERCOT Director of Grid Coordination Bill Blevins as Head of Grid Strategies to lead power sourcing and interconnection, strengthening execution as access to grid capacity becomes the principal constraint on its data-centre pipeline.

• HIVE Digital advanced its AI infrastructure strategy through a US$220m sovereign AI contract and the acquisition of its 32MW Big Boden data centre. The three-year Bell Canada/Cohere agreement covers 2,304 NVIDIA GB200 GPUs, is expected to go live in late 2026 or early 2027 and implies roughly US$70m of annualised revenue, funded partly from HIVE’s April US$115m convertible issuance. Separately, acquiring Big Boden moves HIVE from tenant to owner, increasing control over a renewable-powered site that can support both Bitcoin mining and higher-value AI/HPC workloads.

• CME Group announced that Terry Duffy will transition from CEO to Executive Chairman in March 2027. President and CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick will become CEO, providing continuity as CME expands its crypto-derivatives franchise and faces growing competition from regulated perpetual-futures platforms and crypto-native exchanges.

• eToro is exploring two acquisitions and a potential expansion into payments and banking with management assessing wealth-technology targets in the US and internationally, alongside potentially applying for a banking licence or acquiring a bank.

• Robinhood announced a 10% workforce reduction, affecting approximately 290 roles. The company expects around US$28m of Q2 restructuring charges and said the cuts are intended to flatten management layers and accelerate product development.

Other news – Non - Index constituents:

• State Street launched a GENIUS Act-aligned money-market fund for stablecoin issuers. The fund offers daily liquidity and exposure to eligible reserve assets, allowing issuers to outsource reserve management to a regulated institution. The launch creates additional asset-management, custody and servicing opportunities for State Street as stablecoin supply grows.

• Blockworks acquired crypto market-intelligence platform Messari for more than US$10m. The deal combines Blockworks’ institutional research and issuer services with Messari’s digital-asset data platform, strengthening its subscription offering.