This episode was recorded live via X Spaces - audio quality varies in places.

In the fourth CF Benchmarks live X Space, recorded Friday May 8, 2026, Head of Content Ken Odeluga is joined by Head of Research Gabe Selby, CFA, Research Analyst Mark Pilipczuk, Kraken Chief Economist Thomas Perfumo, CFA and CF Benchmarks Senior Product Manager James Flamant - with special guest Ryan Rasmussen, Head of Research at Bitwise.

A red-hot NFP print, Michael Saylor's signal that Bitcoin sales aren't off the table, Circle's 20% pop on stablecoin-rewards optimism, and a forensic walk-through of the Kelp DAO ~$300M cross-chain exploit. From AI concentration risk and chipmaker earnings to the Clarity Act markup expected within days, the team unpacks the cross-currents shaping crypto right now.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro & Team Welcome

01:21 – NFP Shocker: 115K Print Smashes the 65K Estimate

04:36 – Household vs. Employer Survey: The Revisions Question

06:42 – AI, Crypto & the Decade-Long Productivity Boom

07:31 – Cross-Asset Reaction: NQ Bid, Bitcoin Offered

08:38 – The K-Shaped Equity Market & Mark-to-Market EPS

12:13 – Chipmakers in Focus: Intel's Comeback, AMD's GPU Push

15:19 – AI Concentration Risk: What Happens If Momentum Fades?

17:50 – Bitcoin Decoupling from Tech: Finding the Next Catalyst

20:46 – Crypto Equities & Miners Steal the Show

23:27 – Coinbase Earnings: The Institutional Pivot Accelerates

25:56 – Strategy's $12.5B Loss & Saylor's Capital-Structure Pivot

30:26 – The Signal Heard Round Crypto: Strategy May Sell Bitcoin

35:04 – ETF Flows vs. MicroStrategy: Who's Really Driving Price?

38:09 – Is Strategy Coming In From the Cold?

41:00 – Bitcoin's Volatility as a Feature: Tax-Loss Harvesting

44:30 – The Clarity Act: Where Market Structure Stands Right Now

47:39 – Circle Pops 20%: Stablecoin Rewards in the Spotlight

50:32 – Deep Dive: The Kelp DAO $300M Cross-Chain Exploit

55:28 – Safeguards, Sandboxes & the Innovation Exemption

58:25 – Architecture After Kelp: Hunting the Weakest Link

01:00:11 – Week Ahead: Inflation, the Warsh Vote & the Clarity Markup

01:04:18 – Rethinking On-Chain Risk-Free Rates

01:05:16 – Closing Remarks