What has been driving the Crypto space higher recently... and does it still belong in your portfolio?
Crypto doesn’t have a place in every client’s portfolio, but most of clients will at least know something about the space. Bitcoin specifically doesn’t earn featured articles in the daily equity report quite often (for those of you that are interested, check out our weekly cryptocurrency review video linked here) but every once in a while price action does dictate a larger review of the space as a whole. Most recently, crypto has journeyed higher alongside other risk on assets to close July/open August, with Bitcoin breaking to new all-time chart highs as it brushed up against $125,000 for the first time ever on 8/14. While price action has cooled off over the last few days, $BTC is up just over 25% this year and the technical picture for the space remains largely constructive. Diving deeper into the technical picture for representative IBIT below, the fund maintains a strong 5.83 fund score. While some near-term resistance looks to be present around $69, the middle of the trading band at $64 also offers some localized support above levels bulls ran out of steam at previously in 2025.
Bitcoin hasn’t been the only currency to advance quite notably so far this year. In fact, $BTC reversed back down into O’s on its 3.25% relative strength chart against the Nasdaq Crypto Index (.NCI), suggesting that it has shown some near-term weakness against other members of the crypto space. While the “crypto-king” Bitcoin maintains a pair of buy signals on this chart, the upside action from other members, particularly Ethereum ($ETH) is certainly notable. $ETH is testing all-time highs on its default chart dating back to 2021, and while it is extended around current levels bulls should look towards the $4,000 mark as a potential point of support on pullbacks.
While it might not be suitable for every client to pick up pure crypto exposure within their portfolio, there are a handful of crypto-adjacent firms that are technically acceptable by NDW standards. COIN is technically a 3/5 attribute name, and it poses an interesting technical picture at the time of this writing. A $5 chart below reveals that the name is still trading in a positive trend and is above what looks to be quite a relevant support level around $295. On the other hand, it now trades well off 2025 highs and recent action leaves plenty of resistance baked in just above current levels. Keep this in mind with exposure… while it remains technically actionable by NDW standards recent action does warrant a watchful eye.
