On May 19, 2026, Wall Street and public pensions seemed to have agreed in advance, as they both placed their chips on the same track on the same day: Benchmark, TD Cowen, and Mizuho collectively rated Bitdeer, DeFi Technologies, Strive, and Gemini as "buy" or maintained equivalent ratings, with reasoning that no longer focused solely on trading volume and fees but was explicitly stated in reports — these companies are transitioning towards AI infrastructure, capital market tools, and digital financial platforms. The existing valuations based on traditional trading business were seen as underestimating the long-term value of this transformation path. On the same day, the New Jersey State Police and Firemen’s Retirement Fund, a public pension known for its conservative risk appetite managing about $33 billion in assets, made its first purchase of crypto-related stock Strive, acquiring 14,077 shares for about $220,000. This position is nearly negligible relative to the overall portfolio but connected this entity — described as a “Bitcoin treasury company” — to a narrow pipeline for achieving indirect exposure to Bitcoin through stock. The timing overlap of sell-side reports and pension fund purchases allowed the narrative of "shifting from speculative tools to infrastructure bets" to be recorded for the first time in both Wall Street research and public pension holdings on the same day.

Wall Street Rewrites Valuation Script: Crypto Companies Treated as AI and Platform Stocks

On the same day, the signals from the sell-side seemed more like public corrections. Benchmark, TD Cowen, and Mizuho collectively rated Bitdeer, DeFi Technologies, Strive, and Gemini as "buy" or maintained equivalent ratings on May 19, but the opening remarks pointed out that market pricing still lingered in the old world: investors were still using traditional trading business valuation multiples to assess these entities, focusing on deal volume and fees as short-term indicators, treating them as companies sensitive to volatility and heavily reliant on trading conditions, rather than platforms reconstructing business boundaries.

From the perspective of these three institutions, these four companies have been placed into a different framework: they are no longer merely "making a living through matchmaking" but are transitioning to AI infrastructure, capital market tools, and a broader digital financial platform. The language of the brief is very direct — Wall Street's focus on the crypto track is shifting from simple trading volume and fees to who can first open up the infrastructure and platform path. Analysts believe that current stock prices do not fully reflect the long-term value space embedded in this transformation line, thus they chose to upgrade or maintain buy equivalent ratings, which essentially is betting on the misalignment of valuation anchors transitioning from "trading company" to "AI and platform stock."

Pension Fund's $220,000 Investment: Symbolic Significance Greater Than Monetary Volume

On the very day when the sell-side collectively included "crypto infrastructure stocks" in their buy lists, the New Jersey State Police and Firemen’s Retirement Fund also quietly took a small step: out of its approximately $33 billion in managed assets, it allocated about $220,000 to purchase 14,077 shares of Strive. This position can almost be ignored in the overall portfolio, but it marks the fund's first entry into crypto-related stocks and serves as a highlighted example in the brief of "public pensions allocating to crypto infrastructure for the first time." Strive is defined as a "Bitcoin treasury company," which packages Bitcoin-related indirect exposure into a compliant stock through holding Bitcoin, allowing institutions that traditionally have a lower risk appetite and a very long investment cycle to attempt a Bitcoin link on paper without having to directly step into the on-chain world.

The real aspect that has been amplified in market discussions is not how much this $220,000 can change the earnings statements but rather the signal it releases: public pensions starting to view “Bitcoin treasury companies” as tools that can be included in their long-term allocation baskets. Although the decision-making background for this transaction was not disclosed in the brief, it objectively provides a discernible sample for other conservative funds — from buying costs to net value fluctuations, and adjustments to risk weights within the overall portfolio, would all be dissected by peers as a case study. Going forward, the public will focus on how this position performs in terms of returns, volatility, and risk control to determine whether this bridge from traditional assets to crypto infrastructure is sufficiently reliable.

Valuation Failure in Trading Business: Infrastructure Premium Yet to Be Realized

Superficially, the stock price fluctuations of Bitdeer, DeFi Technologies, Strive, and Gemini continue to be interpreted by the market as direct feedback on trading volume and fee income, with the valuation model still relying on the old framework of "trading business × some multiple of sales/profit": slightly more daily transactions yield a higher multiple; a slight dip in trading prompts immediate expectation downgrades. Sell-side analysts in the brief stated explicitly that mainstream capital is still pricing these companies from the perspective of "making money on each deal," as if they were merely higher beta brokers, rather than a collective building AI infrastructure while refining capital market tools and digital financial platforms. This perspective inherently overlooks the diversification of future cash flow sources and fails to see the potential thickening of competitive moats that may come once the infrastructure layer stabilizes and the platform network effects and bargaining power come into play.

Thus, on May 19, 2026, when Benchmark, TD Cowen, and Mizuho collectively gave or maintained “buy” equivalent ratings, it was interpreted within the industry as a bet against “valuation misalignment”: not because short-term trading data suddenly appeared impressive, but because in their models, AI infrastructure, capital market tools, and platform services began to occupy a larger weight, while the mainstream market continued to discount purely trading businesses. The difference in between reflects a potential source of future earnings. For these institutions, the rating itself is a transaction — buying the switch in pricing from "valued as a trading company" to "valued as an infrastructure platform," and once the narrative and cash flow structure are accepted by more people, the infrastructure premium being overlooked today will be gradually realized in valuation corrections.

Indirect Bitcoin Exposure: A Safety Cushion for Conservative Funds

For the sell-side, this is a valuation change; for public pensions and other institutions with lower risk appetites and very long investment horizons, it is a defensive battle for their balance sheets. Directly including Bitcoin in the portfolio means facing multiple pressures such as unclear compliance standards, amplified net value fluctuations, and upgrades to custody and internal risk control systems, which will immediately reflect on the earnings records responsible to the public in the event of severe price volatility. In contrast, packaging risk in a single stock allows for managing exposure within existing regulatory, accounting, and risk control frameworks, making it closer to the operational language these institutions are familiar with and easier to explain to trustees and voters.

Strive and similar entities described as “Bitcoin treasury companies” are embedded in traditional stock pools as tools due to this demand. On May 19, 2026, the New Jersey State Police and Firemen’s Retirement Fund allocated about $220,000 to purchase 14,077 shares of Strive within its roughly $33 billion in management, which appears as a very small test amount in absolute terms, but through this stock, it gained indirect exposure to Bitcoin prices. The brief also specifically reminded that investments from such funds should not be simply equated with "government employees directly holding Bitcoin;" instead, it resembles a layer of safety built beneath the surface of traditional equity assets: it neither breaks existing compliance boundaries nor avoids stepping into the new narrative of "from speculative tools to infrastructure bets." If this model is replicated by more public pensions and other conservative institutions, a batch of "bridge type" tools specifically designed to carry this indirect exposure may take shape, and how far they can go will depend on regulatory attitudes, performance outcomes, and trustees' tolerance for this safety cushion.

From Speculative Labels to Infrastructure Assets: Next Step to Watch Who Follows

On the same day, three Wall Street institutions gave or maintained buy equivalent ratings on Bitdeer, DeFi Technologies, Strive, and Gemini while the New Jersey State Police and Firemen’s Retirement Fund made its first purchase of Strive with a small position of about $220,000. This combination of sell-side messaging and buy-side attempts can be equated to rewriting a label in the public market: this is no longer just a speculative ticket of “betting direction,” but is being narrated as an infrastructure asset featuring AI infrastructure and digital financial platform attributes. As of now, the only confirmed public pension action seen in public information remains the single transaction from New Jersey, which doesn't signify a "wave," but it establishes a reference for future observations: whether more public pensions, sovereign funds, or large institutions will adopt this route of "gaining indirect exposure through Bitcoin treasury companies" to enter the market, and whether crypto companies can deliver financial reports supporting this narrative in terms of AI computing power and platform operations will determine if this new story is merely a fleeting moment or genuinely rewrites the asset pricing framework. For the broader crypto market, whether this incrementally defined "infrastructure bets" capital can sustain and how large its scale can grow will directly shape the long-term funding base and price volatility characteristics in the next cycle.

Join our community to discuss and grow stronger together!
Official Telegram community: https://t.me/aicoincn
AiCoin Chinese Twitter: https://x.com/AiCoinzh
OKX Benefits Group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=l61eM4owQ
Binance Benefits Group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=ynr7d1P6Z

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。