Equities update | April 17th, 2026

This week saw further de-escalation between the US and Iran, with peace talks expected this Sunday and Iran signalling that commercial shipping can continue to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This easing of geopolitical risk supported a strong risk-on move, with major equity indices reaching all-time highs and Bitcoin trading up to US$76,500, while spot Brent and WTI crude fell 6% and 10% respectively, though still above pre-war levels. On the corporate front, payment and financial services firms continued to expand their crypto offerings, reinforcing the view that large institutions are building through the cycle despite weaker spot market conditions. At the same time, AI infrastructure names led the rally, driven by strong semiconductor earnings, further validating that the capex cycle underpinning the AI buildout still has momentum.

Week 16 key developments in Blockchain Equities:

• Index Performance: This week, the Index rose 8.8%, outperforming Bitcoin, which gained 3.4%. On the geopolitical front, tensions eased following a temporary de-escalation in the US–Iran situation, with ongoing ceasefire discussions reducing immediate tail risks and driving a sharp rebound in equities. On the macro side, US PPI came in softer than expected (0.5% vs. 1.1% MoM forecast), reflecting cooling input costs across goods and moderating services inflation, with no clear inflationary impact from the US–Iran conflict evident yet.

• Block Index Key Movers: 7-day top performers: Keel Infrastructure (+30.5%), Oracle (+29.4%), Iren (+28.7) 7-day worst performers: Nextera Energy (-2.8%), CME Group (-0.9%), ASML (-0.4%)

• This week, a number of positive developments across the brokerage/exchange complex reinforced blockchain equity fundamentals - Index constituent eToro announced its first post-IPO acquisition, acquiring Israeli self-custody wallet provider Zengo for US$70m, aiming to provide a regulated-to-DeFi gateway for use cases such as tokenised equities, prediction markets, perpetuals, staking and yield, without introducing custody liability under the MiCA framework. eToro also relaunched its AI companion “Tori” with real-time sentiment integration via Grok 4.2 and agent-driven portfolios, further deepening its integration with X (formerly Twitter). We view this as a step toward eToro becoming a potential embedded trading layer within X, as the platform advances toward Elon Musk’s “everything app” vision. On the regulatory side, the SEC approved FINRA’s removal of the Pattern Day Trader rule and the US$25k minimum equity requirement, replacing it with a risk-based intraday margin framework. This drove an immediate re-rating across retail broker equities and represents a structural tailwind to volumes, take-rates, and operating leverage, particularly for index beneficiaries Robinhood and eToro.

• Earnings Recap – Key Holdings:

  • Taiwan Semiconductor Corporation, Citigroup, BlackRock - Positive

  • ASML – Mixed

• Other news - Strategy Inc bought 13,927 BTC at US$71,902 average between 6–12 April, funded entirely by Stretch (STRC) perpetual preferred stock bringing total Bitcoin holdings to 780,897. Deutsche Börse has invested US$200m in Kraken at a US$13.3bn valuation, as the company confidentially filed with the SEC this week, reviving its IPO plans. Dunamu and Naver Financial are planning an IPO following a share swap, targeting a five-year timeline with a potential two-year extension if delays arise. The proposed integration of Upbit and Naver Pay could create a dominant platform controlling over 70% of South Korea’s crypto trading. Goldman Sachs has filed to launch a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, intensifying competition among Wall Street’s largest banks.