Newsletter

CCM Blockchain Newsletter (August 25, 2025)

Bitcoin took a tumble after a brief surge following Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech.

Christian Lopez

25 Aug 2025 — 6 min read

Happy Monday everyone, and welcome back to this week’s market newsletter. Please see below this week’s market data.

CCM Digital Weekly Market Update (2025.08.22)

CCM Digital Weekly Market Update (2025.08.22).pdf

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Bitcoin Market Update and News

Bitcoin surges on Powell’s Jackson Hole remarks, tumbles over the weekend: Bitcoin surged to $116,000 from $112,000 on Friday following Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, only to revisit $112,000 over the weekend. At the time of publication, Bitcoin is down 6.1% week-over-week to $109,500.
Ethereum has dramatically outperformed Bitcoin in the last month: Ethereum is playing catch up after lagging for most of 2025’s bullish crypto price action. At the time of writing, the second largest cryptocurrency is up 31.4% over the last month, versus Bitcoin which is down 4.4%. Year-over-year, Bitcoin and Ethereum are neck-and-neck for returns at 77.3% and 72.4%, respectively. JPMorgan analysts attribute the outperformance to ETH treasury company purchases, plus staking regulatory clarity and other factors.

Interesting Reads and Videos

Bitcoin Treasury Company News and Updates

Strategy makes third Bitcoin buy in August, updates stock issuance guidance: Strategy announced that it acquired 430 BTC for $51.4 million on August 18, upping its treasury to 629,376 BTC. The company also updated its MSTR common stock guidance, reversing an announcement two weeks prior that said Strategy will only issue MSTR stock below a 2.5x mNAV when it needs to pay dividends on its preferred shares. Now, Strategy clarifies that it may issue new MSTR even when the stock’s mNAV is below 2.5x “when otherwise deemed advantageous.”
Nakamoto makes first Bitcoin purchase following KindlyMD merger: Nakamoto Holdings, successfully merged with KindlyMD (NASDAQ: NAKA), announced its inaugural Bitcoin purchase last week. The company has purchased 5,764.91 BTC for $679 million at an average price of $118,204.88/coin.
Ethereum treasury companies now hold $17 billion ETH: According to data from StrategicETH Reserve cited by The Block, 69 companies now hold more than 4.1 million Ethereum worth roughly $17.6 billion. The largest among them, bitcoin miner-turned ETH treasury company BitMine, holds 1.5 million Ethereum (~$6.6 billion).

Market Overview

Stocks fall, then surge following Fed’s Jackson Hole summit: Stocks slipped for the better part of last week, only to rise aggressively following Jerome Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole summit and end the week on a high note.
- S&P 500: 6,466.91 (+0.3%)
- Nasdaq: 21,496.54 (-0.6%)
- Dow: 45,631.74 (+1.5%)
- Russell 2000: 2,361.95 (+3.3%)
Technology, Information Services lag market: Equities in the Technology and Information Services markets fell last week, while Real Estate, Energy, Materials, Financials, and Industrials led gains on the S&P 500’s rally.

Data: FactSet | Chart Source: Edward Jones

Powell cites stagflation risk, hints at September rate cut in Jackson Hole address: Fed Chair Jerome Powell struck a cautiously dovish tone during his keynote at the Kansas City Federal Reserve’s annual event in Jackson Hole last week. Powell said that the Fed faces a “challenging situation” with tariffs adding to inflation pressures and a weakening labor market. Powell did not commit to a rate cut next month, but he did intimate that the Fed is open to it (CME’s FedWatch now rates the likelihood of a 0.25% cut in September at 84%, up from 75% before the speech). “Monetary policy is not on a preset course… decisions [will be] based on their assessment of the data and its implications,” Powell remarked.

*Data: Bloomberg | Chart Source: Edward Jones*

Housing starts surge in July as existing-home sales rise: Housing starts rose 5.2% from June to July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.428 million units, the strongest growth in five months. Single-family starts increased 2.8% and the average 30-year mortgage in July was 6.58%, the lowest since October 2024. Existing home sales also rose in July by 2% MoM and 0.8% YoY to 4.01 million units. The median home prices was $422,000 in July (+0.2% YoY and the 25th consecutive month of annual gains), and inventory rose to 1.55 million homes, a 4.6 month supply that is the highest since May 2020. 27.4% of existing homes reduced their prices in July, the highest for the month since 2018 when tracking began. Homes sales increased MoM in the northeast, south, and west but fell in the Midwest.
Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index falls in July: The Leading Economic Index (LEI) fell 0.1% in July to 98.7 (the index’s benchmark is 2016’s average of 100), a slight improvement from the –0.3% decline in June but which still signals ongoing weakness. Over the six months ending in July, the LEI declined by 2.7%, a steeper contraction than the 1.0% drop in the prior six‑month period. The index’s six-month growth rate remains negative, and the diffusion index, which indicates how many LEI components are contributing to growth, remains weak at 65, an improvement over June’s 45 but still below the 100 threshold that indicates growth across 10 economic indicators. Given the results, The Conference Board is waving a recession signal under The Conference Board’s "3Ds" rule (duration, depth, diffusion).
US Treasury yields fall following Jackson Hole: US Treasury bond yields fell following Jerome Powell’s remarks at Jackson Hole. Yields across all bond durations fell as traders priced a higher likelihood of a September rate cut.
- 30-Year: 4.88% (-0.04%)
- 10-Year: 4.26% (-0.07%)
- 5-Year: 3.76% (-0.10%)
- 2-year: 3.68% (-0.11%)
Canada to lift 25% tariff on US goods, keep duties on auto and metals: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on Friday that Canada would lift 25% retaliatory tariffs previously introduced in March on most U.S. goods starting September 1, 2025. The reprieve benefits grocery goods, alcohol, appliances, motorcycles, and other goods, but Canada will retain 25% duties on autos, steel, and aluminum.
Oil rises slightly: Oil prices bounced back from an extended selloff last week, with both Brent and WTI Crude rising over the week.
- WTI Crude: $63.66/bbl (+0.9%)
- Brent Crude: $67.73/bbl (+2%)
Weekly unemployment claims rise: Initial (first-time) jobless claims rose to 235,000 last week, an increase of 11,000 from the prior week’s 224,000. This marks the largest weekly increase since late May, above economists’ expectations. The 4-week moving average for initial claims climbed to 226,250, up by 4,500 from the prior week’s 221,750. Continuing claims (the number of people still receiving benefits after their initial week) increased by 30,000 to 1.972 million, the highest level since November 2021.

The week ahead in data:

U.S. Census Bureau New home sales report (Monday)
S&P Case Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index (Tuesday)
U.S. Census Bureau Durable Goods Orders (Tuesday)
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Q2 GDP estimate (Thursday)
National Association of Realtors pending home sales report (Thursday)
U.S. Department of Labor weekly unemployment claims (Thursday)
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (Friday)
University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment (Friday)

Notable corporate earnings this week: