Crypto Market Lacks a Single Benchmark Like S&P 500
The S&P 500 has long been Wall Street's benchmark for measuring market performance. However, crypto traders do not have a comparable index to rely on.
Instead of one clear benchmark, traders use several indicators that often tell different stories. The S&P 500 is trading near record highs, but beneath the surface, the picture is weaker.
A total of 257 out of 500 companies in the S&P 500 are trading below their 200-day moving averages, a widely used indicator of long-term price trends. This measure shows market breadth and indicates that more than half of stocks are not participating in the overall move.
The situation is different for cryptocurrencies. Of the 100 tokens with the highest market capitalization, 88, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, are trading above their 200-day moving averages.
Several competing benchmarks exist to measure the crypto market, but they differ significantly in their approaches. The CoinDesk 20 includes 20 large and liquid digital assets, while the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index covers nearly 200 assets and weights them by market capitalization.