Benchmark, TD Cowen, Mizuho Maintain Buy Ratings on Four Crypto Firms; Revalue as AI Infrastructure Platforms

According to BlockBeats, on May 19, Benchmark, TD Cowen, and Mizuho maintained buy ratings on Bitdeer, DeFi Technologies, Strive, and Gemini, citing a fundamental shift in how these companies should be valued. Rather than traditional cryptocurrency trading platforms, the firms are increasingly functioning as AI infrastructure providers and capital markets tools.

Benchmark highlighted Bitdeer's 3-gigawatt global power portfolio across the U.S., Norway, and Bhutan as a key asset in the AI data center era. The firm's Tydal project in Norway is expected to deliver approximately 180 megawatts of AI computing hosting capacity. Bitdeer's annualized recurring revenue from its AI cloud business surged from approximately $10 million in January to $69 million by late April. TD Cowen raised Strive's target price to $30, while Mizuho noted Gemini is transitioning from a crypto brokerage to a diversified financial platform, with transaction volume down over 50% but revenue remaining stable as business shifts toward credit card services and prediction markets.