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Bitcoin is largely uncorrelated with any major asset class, and has often been referred to as “digital gold.”
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Gold stablecoins are pegged 1:1 to the price of gold, and should move higher if tech stocks falter.
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Small niche altcoins, such as privacy coins, could soar in value, regardless of what’s happening with tech.
If you’re looking to diversify a tech-heavy portfolio with cryptocurrency, you need to be careful. Historically, cryptocurrency — as a classic “risk-on” asset — tends to be positively correlated with the tech market. In other words, as tech goes, so goes crypto (most of the time).
But there are a number of notable exceptions. A handful of top cryptocurrencies could provide remarkable diversification benefits, as long as you’re willing to keep a close eye on correlations between different asset classes.
The favorite choice of hedge fund managers and large institutional investors is Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). While there are brief periods of time when Bitcoin trades like a tech stock, more often, it does not. In fact, most of the time, Bitcoin is completely uncorrelated with any major asset class. For that reason, Bitcoin has earned the moniker “digital gold.”
According to a March 2024 study from WisdomTree (NYSE: WT), Bitcoin is neither positively nor negatively correlated with the stock market. It tends to march to the beat of its own drummer, which is what makes it so valuable. It can zig when other assets zag. In the period from 2012 to 2023, Bitcoin’s correlation with the stock market primarily stayed in a range between 0.2 and -0.1.
Gold is arguably still the best hedge against the stock market declining in value, and for that reason, gold stablecoins deserve a closer look. The two biggest gold stablecoins are Pax Gold (CRYPTO: PAXG) and Tether Gold (CRYPTO: XAUT), both of which now have market caps in excess of $1.6 billion.
These stablecoins, rather than being pegged to the U.S. dollar, are instead pegged to the price of gold. Thus, as gold moves higher, so will these stablecoins. In 2025, gold prices rose nearly 70%, and gold stablecoins followed suit, becoming some of the top-performing cryptocurrencies in the process.
While no cryptocurrencies are fully negatively correlated with tech stocks (meaning they move up when tech stocks move down), there are some smaller, niche altcoins that clearly follow their own path. Their price behavior is much more based on tech upgrades, new product features, or technical factors, rather than what’s happening in the broader market.
