Benchmark

2026-06-15 23:39

Benchmark: SEC NMS Reform May Be the Most Critical Crypto Regulatory Variable This Year

research firm Benchmark Equity Research has highlighted that the market structure reform proposal put forward by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 11 could be one of the most far-reaching regulatory actions for the U.S. crypto industry this year. The proposal aims to abolish Rule 611 and Rule 610(e) of Regulation NMS, two core rules that have governed the routing and execution of U.S. stock trades since 2005, which are seen as having long constrained the development of tokenized stocks and on-chain trading.Rule 611 (Order Protection Rule) requires trading venues to avoid executing trades at prices inferior to "protected quotations" on other markets, thereby enforcing the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) system. Rule 610(e) prohibits locked and crossed markets, restricting quotation overlaps and price mismatches.Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer stated that if the rules are repealed, it would remove key legal barriers hindering DeFi trading models, such as automated market makers (AMMs), allowing them to operate without relying on traditional order routing systems. The regulatory changes would directly benefit infrastructure for tokenized stocks and crypto securities trading, with Securitize identified as the most immediate beneficiary. Additionally, Coinbase and Galaxy Digital could also benefit from the expansion of trading, custody, and market-making businesses.However, Benchmark also noted that even with looser rules, critical issues such as exchange registration, clearing and settlement, and custody frameworks remain unresolved. The market is still anticipating the SEC's potential introduction of an "innovation exemption" mechanism. The SEC has opened a 60-day public comment period, and Benchmark expects a final vote could take place in early 2027. (The Block)

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2026-06-15 22:54

Federal Reserve’s New Chair Warsh Set for Debut, Market Expects Benchmark Rate to Hold at 3.50%-3.75%

The global financial market's attention will be focused on Washington this week as newly appointed Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh chairs his first post-confirmation FOMC press conference. This marks not only his transition from a policy commentator to the "world's most powerful banker," but also a critical window for the outside world to observe whether a major shift in Federal Reserve monetary policy is underway.The market widely expects the Fed to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50%-3.75% during this week's meeting. Compared to the specific rate decision, the market is more focused on how Warsh will reshape the Fed's "art of communication." For a long time, former Chair Powell tended to guide market expectations through transparent "forward guidance," but Warsh has previously expressed reservations about this approach publicly, arguing that the Fed should not provide too many interest rate hints to the market.This meeting will also release the latest quarterly Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) and the "dot plot." For Warsh, who has a strong aversion to the dot plot, this is undoubtedly an awkward beginning, as he must find a balance between respecting the Fed's decision-making mechanism and articulating his own policy preferences. (Reuters)

Benchmark Market

2026-06-10 22:05

Securitize merger enters voting stage, Benchmark sets target price at $16

Odaily Benchmark maintains a Buy rating for Securitize, a tokenized infrastructure company, with a price target of $16, based on the company's projected revenue of $178 million for 2027. The SEC has approved the registration statement for the merger of Securitize and Cantor Equity Partners II. Shareholders will vote on June 29. If the merger goes through smoothly, the combined entity will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SECZ.The report states that Securitize has a differentiated advantage through its compliance license framework spanning the U.S. and Europe, including being registered in the U.S. as a broker-dealer, an alternative trading system, a transfer agent, and a fund service provider, while holding trading and settlement licenses under the EU's DLT Pilot Regime. Securitize currently manages approximately $3.4 billion in tokenized assets, and its specific market segment has already exceeded $30 billion. (The Block)

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2026-06-02 20:26

Bitcoin treasury company Strive increased its holdings by 2,500 BTC, bringing total holdings to 19,000 BTC

Strive has acquired 2,500 Bitcoin for approximately $185.2 million, at an average price of $74,092 per coin, bringing its total holdings to 19,000 Bitcoin. This increase occurred during a Bitcoin price correction, following Strive's previous purchases at higher average costs.Strive disclosed that its quarter-to-date BTC yield is 23.0%, and its year-to-date yield is 36.7%. Investment firm Benchmark has initiated coverage on Strive with a Buy rating and a price target of $32. (coindesk)

Benchmark Bitcoin Strive Strive

2026-05-19 19:19

Wall Street analysts upgraded ratings for several crypto companies, believing the market has undervalued their AI infrastructure and capital markets transformation potential.

According to The Block, three Wall Street firms—Benchmark, TD Cowen, and Mizuho—maintained “Buy” ratings on four crypto-related companies—Bitdeer, DeFi Technologies, Strive, and Gemini—on Monday, noting that the market continues to value these platforms, which have pivoted toward AI infrastructure, capital markets tools, and structured financial products, using trading-business valuation multiples. Benchmark analysts reiterated their “Buy” rating on Bitdeer and $27 price target, highlighting its global power asset portfolio of approximately 3.0 GW and the growth of its AI cloud business’s annual recurring revenue—from roughly $10 million at the end of January to approximately $69 million by the end of April. TD Cowen raised its price target for Strive to $30, forecasting a 26.1% Bitcoin yield for the company in 2026. Mizuho maintained its “Outperform” rating on Gemini but lowered its price target from $12 to $10, noting that although Q1 trading volume declined by over 50%, trading revenue remained largely flat—reflecting higher fee rates and an optimized revenue mix.

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2026-05-16 06:24

Analyst: Clarity Act faces legislative hurdles

the U.S. Senate Banking Committee has advanced the crypto market structure bill, the Clarity Act, by a vote of 15 to 9. The bill aims to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for the crypto industry at the federal level for the first time, garnering support from Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks.While the industry generally views the committee's passage as positive progress, analysts believe the bill still faces significant obstacles before becoming law. TD Cowen has raised the bill's passage probability from approximately one-third to 40%, noting that some Democratic lawmakers are showing willingness to find a path to support it, though substantive disagreements have not been fully resolved.Previously, the bill had long been affected by issues such as stablecoin yield arrangements, conflicts of interest, and ethical provisions. Additionally, to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, the bill will need to secure more Democratic support than it currently has. Benchmark analysts also pointed out that the current number of supporting votes is insufficient to ensure its eventual passage. (The Block)

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2026-05-14 21:14

Cerebras IPO Beneficiaries Revealed: Foundation, Benchmark, and OpenAI All Profit

According to The Information, the IPO process of AI chip company Cerebras Systems has once again drawn market attention. Key beneficiaries include Foundation, prominent venture capital firm Benchmark, and OpenAI. Cerebras has long been viewed as a potential competitor to NVIDIA, focusing on developing ultra-large-scale AI chips. However, its commercialization journey has faced numerous setbacks: the company withdrew its IPO prospectus in 2025, temporarily stalling its listing plans. Yet, as the AI infrastructure boom continues to gather momentum, market interest has renewed in Cerebras’ potential listing value and early investors’ returns. Early backers—including Benchmark—and OpenAI, which maintains a collaborative relationship with the company, stand to reap substantial gains from Cerebras’ future public listing.

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2026-05-13 18:00

GPT Ranks 9th, DeepSeek Outperforms Claude, and the Strongest Trading Agent Is the “Outdated” 4.6

The SMART Benchmark—a benchmark evaluation of AI trading agents initiated by Manic.Trade—has officially concluded. A total of 387 evaluations were completed, covering 180 participants, 46 models, and 15+ model families, making it the most comprehensive horizontal evaluation of trading agents to date in terms of model coverage. The evaluation primarily assessed five dimensions: real-time data processing, multi-source intelligence acquisition, market analysis, trading decision-making, and risk control.

Benchmark QnA3

2026-05-13 06:16

Benchmark Maintains Coinbase 'Buy' Rating, Raises Target Price to $270

despite Coinbase's weak first-quarter performance, Benchmark has maintained its 'Buy' rating on the stock and raised its price target from $260 to $270.Coinbase reported a net loss of $394 million in the first quarter, with revenue of $755.8 million falling short of market expectations; Adjusted EBITDA was $303.3 million, a significant decline from $929.9 million in the same period last year. Following the earnings release, its share price briefly fell by about 6%.Benchmark believes Coinbase is transitioning from a crypto exchange reliant on market cycles into a core infrastructure platform for the 'on-chain economy.' Its business layout now spans multiple areas, including stablecoins, crypto derivatives, tokenization, DeFi, payments, prediction markets, and AI-native commerce.Previously, Rosenblatt Securities and Bernstein also maintained positive ratings on Coinbase, indicating that some institutions remain optimistic about its long-term platform transformation.

Benchmark Coinbase Price

2026-05-01 00:00

Benchmark refutes "circular financing" allegations: Strategy STRC bitcoin model is not a Ponzi structure

market分歧 has widened regarding Strategy's financing model of continuously accumulating Bitcoin through its preferred stock STRC. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer stated in his latest report that the interpretation of the STRC model as a "circular financing or Ponzi structure" is a "serious misreading" and emphasized that the mechanism is an "intentionally designed and sustainable capital framework," with the core logic being to convert market demand for yield into long-term Bitcoin exposure.According to an SEC 8-K filing, Strategy raised approximately $3.5 billion in the first three weeks of April, with over 85% coming from STRC issuance. Subsequently, it made three consecutive purchases within the following three weeks, acquiring a total of 51,364 Bitcoins worth approximately $3.9 billion. Strategy's total Bitcoin holdings have now increased to 818,334 BTC, with a market value of around $62.5 billion, and it has recently returned to an unrealized profit of about $700 million.Benchmark believes that this structure does not rely on continuous issuance to sustain itself and could even sell a portion of its Bitcoin to pay preferred stock dividends if necessary. However, significant market skepticism remains, with some arguing that selling financed assets to pay dividends could be perceived as a risk signal, potentially triggering broader market pressure. (The Block)

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2026-04-21 18:00

Manic Collaborates with Sonic SVM to Launch SMART Benchmark—the First Standardized Evaluation Benchmark for AI Trading Agents

AI prediction trading platform Manic has announced the launch of the SMART Benchmark in collaboration with Sonic SVM—the first standardized scoring system for AI trading agents based on trading decisions. It enables quantitative comparison of trading decision differences across various agents and tests the real-world impact of integrating different Skills on agent decision quality. The scoring system covers five dimensions: real-time data, multi-source intelligence, market analysis, trading decisions, and risk control. Currently, the SMART Benchmark has integrated multiple agent and Skill ecosystem partners, including OKX Wallet, Bitget Wallet, Byreal, Donut, Surf, Moss, GoPlus, Blockbeats, and PA News.

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