Benchmark's rejection of the 'doom' narrative surrounding microstrategy (mstr) and its reiteration of a buy rating with a strong long-term bitcoin price target ($225,000 by 2026) aims to instill confidence during a market pullback. this positive sentiment from a reputable financial institution can help stabilize bitcoin's price and counter bearish narratives, even if immediate price action is down.
The analysis comes from benchmark, a wall street broker, with a specific analyst (mark palmer) providing detailed financial reasoning based on microstrategy's balance sheet and bitcoin reserves. this is a professional financial assessment.
Benchmark maintains a bullish stance on bitcoin long-term, evidenced by its $225,000 price assumption for 2026. it dismisses current pullbacks as temporary 'noise' and views microstrategy as a premier, robust proxy for gaining asymmetric exposure to bitcoin's upside.
The analyst's price target for bitcoin is set for 2026, indicating a long-term perspective. the article focuses on rejecting short-term market fears in favor of a sustained, future-oriented bullish outlook.
Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Strategy Still the Premier Bitcoin Proxy, Benchmark Says, Rejecting ‘Doom’ Narrative The broker said fears over Strategy’s solvency are misplaced and the stock remains the strongest asymmetric bet on bitcoin. By Will Canny , AI Boost | Edited by Sheldon Reback Dec 1, 2025, 2:02 p.m. Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy. (CoinDesk) What to know : Benchmark said Strategy’s share-price pullback has revived an unfounded doom narrative that ignores its bitcoin reserves and capital structure. The broker argued that MSTR’s perpetual preferred stock and low-cost convertibles give it unmatched bitcoin leverage with limited solvency risk. Analyst Mark Palmer reiterated his buy rating on the stock and $705 price target. In this article DOT DOT $ 2.0264 ◢ 11.49 % Wall Street broker Benchmark said bitcoin’s BTC $ 86,046.73 price pullback has revived the usual alarms about the survival of bitcoin treasury company Strategy (MSTR), concerns it dismisses as noise that surfaces whenever the cryptocurrency falls. In a report published Monday, analyst Mark Palmer argued that critics are confusing short-term moves with genuine solvency risk, overlooking a balance sheet built to maximize bitcoin leverage. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . With about 649,870 BTC ($55.8 billion) against $8.2 billion in ultra-low-cost convertibles and $7.6 billion in perpetual preferreds, Palmer said that Strategy’s obligations are manageable and its structure far sturdier than detractors claim. Access to perpetual preferreds, permanent capital with no refinancing cliff, is a core competitive edge that other digital-asset-treasury firms can’t match, the report said. On the recurring question of distress levels, Benchmark said bitcoin would need to fall below roughly $12,700 and stay there, an 86% drop it views as highly unlikely in today’s institution-driven market. Palmer reiterated his buy rating on the shares and $705 target, anchored to a 2026 bitcoin assumption of $225,000, and said the recent pullback doesn’t alter that view. The shares were 4.7% lower in early trading, at $168.82. Bitcoin was 6% lower at publication time, around $86,000. With the digital asset treasury (DAT) sector navigating volatility, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flow chop and liquidity stress, the broker sees Strategy as the clear standout — scalable, yield-generating and structurally advantaged — and said it expects the company to lead a rebound as liquidity and regulatory clarity improve. The company announced the formation of $1.44 billion U.S. dollar reserve on Monday. The reserve was funded via the sales last week of common stock, and Strategy initially intends to keep enough money in the reserve to fund at least 12 months of dividends, according to a press release . Read more: Strategy CEO: Equity and Debt Flexibility Power Long-Term Bitcoin Accumulation Plan Strategy Bitcoin Treasury Reserve Asset Benchmark AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy . More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You Strategy Establishes $1.44B Cash Reserve, Slashes 2025 Profit, BTC Yield Targets By Stephen Alpher 26 minutes ago Led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the company also added to its bitcoin holdings last week, bringing its total stack to 650,000 BTC. What to know : Strategy (MSTR) has sold common stock to fund a $1.44 billion cash reserve to fund dividends on its preferred stock. The company sizably cut its full-year profit and BTC yield targets given the sharp recent declines in bitcoin's price. The company added modestly to bitcoin holdings last week, bringing its total stack to 650,000 coins. 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