Equities update | April 13th, 2026

Week 15 saw a temporary easing in geopolitical tensions, with the US and Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with further peace talks scheduled for Friday. The CBOE Volatility Index declined ~20% on the week to below 20, driving a broad risk-on rally across growth equities and cryptocurrencies, which continue to trade in line with higher-beta risk assets. From a macro perspective, data surprised to the downside, particularly inflation and GDP, providing near-term relief on Federal Reserve rate hike expectations. On the corporate front, AI infrastructure showcased a key area of momentum, with continued evidence of strong underlying demand despite the geopolitical backdrop. In parallel, the blockchain payments ecosystem saw further product expansion and partnership activity, reinforcing the longer-term adoption narrative.

Week 15 key developments in Blockchain Equities:

• Index performance: This week the Index appreciated by 7.3%, with Bitcoin up 7.5%, as markets snapped back into risk-on mode following a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran. US March CPI released today came in slightly below expectations at 3.3% YoY versus 3.4% consensus, with core CPI MoM at 0.2% versus 0.3%, suggesting the Iran-driven energy shock has not yet bled into core components. However, the ceasefire remains fragile whilst the Strait of Hormuz reopening is not yet fully implemented meaning markets may be pricing in a best-case scenario yet to be confirmed on the ground.

• Block Index key movers: 7-day top performers: Hut-8 (+31.8%), RIOT Platforms (29.8%), Cipher Digital (+27.6%) 7-day worst performers: Circle Internet Group (-5.7%), Oracle (-5.5%), Mercari (-2.3%)

• AI-focused Bitcoin miners led this week’s rally, reinforcing the infrastructure thesis: Amid the broader market relief rally, AI-exposed Bitcoin miners outperformed in the Index, rising 20% on average across the peer group as incremental developments in the AI arms race continued to validate sustained demand for compute. The strongest read-through came from CoreWeave,  a key counterparty to miners including Core Scientific and Galaxy Digital  which announced a US$21bn extension with Meta Platforms through 2032, taking total contracted value between the two to US$35bn. CoreWeave also deepened its relationship with Anthropic, highlighting a clear shift toward a multi-tenant customer base. Alongside Meta’s continued AI rollout (including its latest model stack), the broader signal is that the LLM race is accelerating, not slowing, and remains fundamentally compute-constrained. The implication for Bitcoin miners is increasingly clear: operators able to secure power and deploy GPU capacity are being re-rated as AI infrastructure providers.

• This week, Index constituent Circle ramped up its products and services offerings: The company launched CPN Managed Payments, a full-stack managed service that lets banks, PSPs, fintechs and enterprises use stablecoin settlement without directly handling wallets, blockchain infrastructure or digital-asset compliance. They also expanded its Payouts API to Circle Mint Singapore, extending automated third-party USDC payouts into Asia. Alongside this, Circle unveiled cirBTC, a forthcoming 1:1 BTC-backed wrapped bitcoin product designed for institutional trading, collateral and lending use cases across Ethereum and Arc, further broadening the product stack around USDC, Mint and Arc. Strategically, these moves matter because they build higher-value software, orchestration and transaction layers on top of Circle’s existing stablecoin base at a time when the company is still heavily dependent on reserve income which is subject to development in the CLARITY Act.

•  Other news: Strategy purchased 4,871 BTC for US$329.9 million at an average price of US$67,718, funded entirely through equity, bringing total holdings to 766,970 BTC despite sitting on a US$14.46 billion unrealized Q1 loss with spot prices well below its US$75,644 average cost basis. Galaxy Digital was appointed as an approved validator for BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB), which holds over US$435 million in AUM with US$339 million in staked ETH. Morgan Stanley became the first US bank to issue its own spot Bitcoin ETF (MSBT), launching with a market-low 0.14% fee that undercuts BlackRock's IBIT by 11 basis points. Hong Kong's Monetary Authority granted its inaugural stablecoin issuer licences to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial (a Standard Chartered–Animoca Brands joint venture), selected from 36 applicants to issue HKD-pegged stablecoins.