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Wall Street’s flagship equity gauge, the S&P 500, hovers near all-time peaks, yet the underlying components show signs of weakness. By contrast, the digital asset market exhibits a healthier appearance.
Market internals here are measured through breadth, defined as the proportion of constituent equities trading above a specific threshold—in this instance, the 200-day moving average, which serves as a widely monitored indicator for long-term momentum. As CNBC noted recently, an increasing proportion of equities dropping below this threshold can point toward fading strength within the headline index.
As of Wednesday, 257 out of the 500 equities were changing hands beneath their 200-day moving averages, pointing to a bearish breadth reading.
In contrast, the cryptocurrency landscape appears much stronger. Out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by capitalization, 88—including both bitcoin and ether—are sitting above their 200-day simple moving averages. The majority also trade above their 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day averages, creating a distinctly bullish setup. (The analysis is restricted to the top 100 because smaller-cap coins frequently suffer from limited liquidity and erratic price fluctuations.)
Additionally, bitcoin, ether, XRP, SOL, and several others remain considerably lower than their historical peak prices, meaning they continue to look economical relative to equities.
This positive market breadth aligns with an optimistic perspective among analysts, who foresee additional upward movement supported by institutional inflows via exchange-traded funds.
“Sustained momentum across majors and select altcoins has catalyzed growing interest in covered call writing among investors who held through the bear market and are now targeting attractive yields at profitable exit levels,” noted Dick Lo, founder and chief executive officer of quantitative trading shop TDX Strategies, in a written commentary.
“Technically, the $90k psychological level remains the immediate test, with the 2026 high of $97.9k standing as the intermediate target,
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/daybook-us/2026/09/23/the-s-and-p-500-has-a-breadth-problem-crypto-doesn-t.
