5 min readWeek 43 key developments in blockchain equities
In Week 43, U.S. inflation data came in below expectations, lending support to equities alongside optimism over a potential U.S. China trade meeting next week. S&P 500 corporate earnings continue to surpass forecasts, marking the strongest earnings season in four years. Within digital infrastructure, bitcoin miners remain in focus as institutional demand builds, highlighted by Jane Street’s newly disclosed stakes across major miners, and further validated by new computing partnerships between Google and Anthropic and Applied Digital’s landmark hyperscaler agreement, underscoring the accelerating demand for power, data center capacity, and high-performance infrastructure.
Index performance: The Index gained 0.94% this week, as risk-on equities paused early on before rebounding on positive US–China trade developments, while Bitcoin rallied 3.6% in the week. US CPI came in below expectations at 0.3% MoM versus 0.4% expected, with Fed fund futures now pricing in two additional rate cuts before year-end. Combined with strong corporate earnings, both macro and fundamental tailwinds remain supportive for equities into year-end.
Block index key movers: 7-day top performers: Nu Holdings (+7.9%), PayPal (+5.5%), Block Inc (+5.4%) 7-day worst performers: Bitfarms (-21.9%), Hut-8 (-16.7%), CleanSpark (-11.6%)
Jane Street discloses stakes in Cipher Mining, Hut 8, and Bitfarms — all index constituents. The firm quietly filed passive (Schedule 13G) positions across the bitcoin-miner complex, taking approximately 5% stakes in Cipher Mining, Bitfarms, and Hut 8, signalling broad exposure rather than activism. The near-term impact points to improved liquidity and tighter spreads as a major market-maker becomes a top holder and actively hedges or lends around its positions. More broadly, institutional participation in bitcoin miners continues to grow, reflecting their increasing appeal as power and infrastructure plays pivoting into high-performance computing.
Earnings recap – key holdings:
CME Group, Galaxy Digital – Positive
Other news: Coinbase agreed to acquire Echo for roughly US$375 million, integrating its on-chain fundraising tools into the broader Coinbase stack. CEO Brian Armstrong also said Base will introduce optional private transactions, building on the Iron Fish team acquisition completed in March 2025. Robinhood expanded its European tokenised-stock offering to nearly 500 U.S. stocks and ETFs, adding extended trading hours. Applied Digital announced a US$5 billion, 15-year hyperscaler lease covering 200 MW at its North Dakota campus, with expansion options. Meanwhile, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) advised shareholders of index constituent Core Scientific to vote against the proposed all-stock merger with CoreWeave, citing a flawed process, undervaluation, and insufficient downside protection. Finally, J.P. Morgan plans to allow institutional clients to post Bitcoin and Ether as loan collateral by the end of the year.
