Newsletter

CCM Blockchain Newsletter (February 10, 2025)

Markets were iffy last week on tariff fears, while gold hit yet another high.

Christian Lopez

10 Feb 2025 — 5 min read

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

CCM Digital Weekly Market Update (2025.02.07)

CCM Digital Weekly Market Update (2025.02.07).pdf

3 MB

Bitcoin Market Update and News

Bitcoin rises slightly after brief surge to start week: Bitcoin rose briefly above $100,000 last Monday, and while it receded from this price point throughout the week, it still closed in the green. At the time of publication, bitcoin is trading at ~$97,000.
Trump signs executive order to establish a sovereign wealth fund, sparks speculation of BTC inclusion: President Trump signed an executive order last week to establish a sovereign wealth fund within the next year. Sovereign Wealth funds are typically popular with commodity-rich jurisdictions, wherein a government will invest excess cash into equities, commodities, real estate, and other vehicles. The move has led some commentators to speculate that the fund may hold bitcoin, fulfilling one of Trump’s campaign promises to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve.
Trump Administration Crypto Czar touts stablecoins as tool for dollar dominance: David Sacks, the chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said last week that he is committed to working with Congress to prioritize laws that bring regulatory clarity to digital assets broadly and stablecoins specifically. Stablecoins like USDT and USDC are backed by dollar and dollar-adjacent instruments and have prices that are pegged at $1. They are predominantly used for trading liquidity in crypto markets and as digital dollar substitutes abroad in economies with weak local currencies. In his remarks, Sacks expressed interest in focusing on stablecoins as a way to strengthen dollar dominance. Notably, according to the most recent attestation from USDT issuer Tether, the company holds $94.4 billion in T-bills, making it the 6th largest foreign holder behind the United Kingdom.

Interesting Reads and Videos

Bitcoin Mining Market News and Trends

Bitdeer purchases rights to 101 MW power plant for $21 million: Bitdeer has purchased the land and license for a 101 MW power plant in Alberta, Canada for $29 million. The rights entitle Bitdeer to a 99 MW interconnect with the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO). The company plans to begin construction in Q2 of this year, with an estimated completion in Q4-2026 and a projected cost of $90 million.
Cleanspark beats expectations for Q4-2024 earnings: Cleanspark released its Q4-2024 (FY Q1-2025) earnings last week, beating revenue and earnings expectations. The miner earned $162.3 million in revenue in Q4, which makes for $467.49 million for the whole of 2024. Cleanspark reported an adjusted EBITDA of $321.65 million for Q4, but when you subtract out gain in fair value of bitcoin over the quarter ($218.2 million), realized gain on its bitcoin collateral for a loan with Coinbase ($42.5 million), and dividends ($5.1 million), Cleanspark’s quarterly EBITDA comes out to $55.8 million.

Market Overview

Equities take a beating on tariff fears: Stocks opened to a beating last week , and while the major indices recovered somewhat by Friday, they closed marginally in the red. Certain sectors were worse off than others as Wall Street frets over an incipient global trade war, even as Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are on pause for at least a month. With the exception of Nvidia and Meta, the Magnificent 7 tech stocks fell last week on lackluster earnings.
- S&P 500: 6,025.99 (-0.2%)
- Dow: 44,303.40 (-0.5%)
- Nasdaq: 19,523.40 (-0.5%)
- Russell 2000: 2,279.71 (-0.3%)

Earnings continue to outgrow expectations: With 62% of S&P 500 companies having shared their Q4-2024 earnings, FactSet reports that 77% have reported positive earnings per share, which is exactly in line with the 5-year average and above the 10-year average. FactSet is now estimating a 16.4% year-over-year increase in 2024 earnings, with Financials, Communication Services, and Consumer Discretionary sectors spearheading this growth. The 16.4% forecast beats FactSet’s previous estimate of 11.8%, and if it holds, it will be the largest YoY increase since Q4-2021 and the sixth consecutive quarter of YoY growth.

Oil, natural gas slump:
- U.S. oil prices fell slightly last week for the third week in a row. WTI Crude closed the week down 0.9% to $71.57/barrel on Friday.
- As of the EIA’s Wednesday update, Henry Hub also fell last week by 2% to $3.22/MMBtu.
Gold’s at it again, hits another high: Gold hit an all-time high for the second week in a row last week, rising just above $2,900/oz on Friday. Gold entered 2025 at ~$2,600 and was ~$2,000 a year ago.
10-year, 5-year Treasuries fall while 2-year rises: Medium and long-term Treasury notes continue to cool off. The 10-year fell 9 bps to 4.49% last week, down from their yearly high of 4.79% on January 13; the 5-year dipped slightly by 1 bp to 4.34%, but the 2-year surged 7 bps to 4.29%.
U.S. trade policy uncertainty spikes to highest level since pre-pandemic: Tariffs are obviously top of mind for investors, industry professionals, and consumers. The initial targets of Trump’s tariff policies – Canada, Mexico, and China– collectively account for 42% of U.S. trade, according to Edward Jones. Per FactSet, of the roughly 62% of S&P 500 companies that have reported Q4-2024 earnings as of February 6, 146 firms mentioned tariffs in their Q4 earnings calls. This tariff anxiety has led to a spike in the U.S. trade policy uncertainty index to its highest level in over 5 years.