While bitcoin (BTC) proponents commonly view the largest cryptocurrency as a digital version of gold, a new report from global bank Standard Chartered argued investors should see it more like a tech stock with some extra benefits.

Led by Geoff Kendrick, the StanChart team said bitcoin’s correlation with the Nasdaq has «almost always» been stronger than with gold, the old-school safe haven asset. While BTC may have a role as a place to hide in instances of financial instability like the 2023 regional banking crisis or what might be the unsustainable U.S. debt trajectory, the report said, the reality is that there’s rarely a need for such hedges, thus its increasing behavior as more like a traditional tech stock.

«Investors can view BTC as both a hedge against traditional finance and as part of their tech allocation,» said Kendrick. But, at least «in the short term, BTC may be better viewed as a tech stock than as a hedge against TradFi issues,» he added.

Playing with the idea of bitcoin as part of a tech portfolio, the report proposed a remodel of the index of the so-called Magnificent 7 (Mag 7) stocks — the mega-cap tech names that have driven overall market returns of late, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta and Tesla (TSLA). This new «Mag 7B» would swap out Tesla for bitcoin.

The result? The Mag7B produced consistently higher risk-adjusted returns than the original group over the past seven years, reinforcing BTC’s role in a tech-focused portfolio, said Kendrick. The Mag7B outperformed the Mag7 on average by around 1% with nearly 2% lower volatility on an annual basis, a key benefit to institutional investors and large asset allocators, he continued.

«BTC should be seen as serving multiple purposes in investor portfolios. This would open up the possibility of even more institutional buying,» Kendrick noted.

Asset managers have been advocating for including bitcoin in investment portfolios for diversification purposes. For example, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, recommended considering an up to 2% BTC allocation in traditional stock and bond portfolios. Meanwhile, asset managers like 21Shares and Bitwise have launched exchange-traded funds (ETFs) combining gold and bitcoin as complementary assets.

The correction in stocks could be over based on a key technical indicator and that might be good news for bitcoin (BTC), which has also breached similar resistance.

Ahead 1.7% on Monday to follow up on last week’s gains, the S&P 500 has moved above its 200-day moving average (200 DMA), after correcting as much as 10% in recent months. This 200 DMA is calculated by taking the mean of the closing prices over the past 200 trading days and is often used to assess broader market trends and potential turning points.

The S&P 500 last crossed that gauge on March 10, and — though declining a bit shortly after — resumed an uptrend which has continued through today.

Bitcoin (BTC) has moved in step, now trading above $88,000 after decisively breaking through its own 200 DMA of $85,046 over the weekend. The next major resistance level is at $93,245, which corresponds to the short-term holder realized price — i.e., the average on-chain acquisition cost of coins held outside exchange reserves and moved within the last 155 days. These coins are considered the most likely to be spent at any given time.

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Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the UAE capital’s international financial center, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chainlink to collaborate on compliant frameworks for tokenized assets.

The agreement will give ADGM access to Chainlink’s suite of blockchain tools, including data feeds and interoperability services, as it works to foster blockchain innovation under its Registration Authority, according to a press release.

Chainlink has said that its tools have already enabled over $20 trillion in transaction value enabled globally, and are used by major financial market institutions.

Under the memorandum there will also be regulatory discussions around blockchain, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, as well as a series of events aimed at educating the UAE’s financial ecosystem. Topics will include tokenization, proof of reserves and cross-chain infrastructure—core components of regulated digital asset markets.

“By collaborating with Chainlink, we are aiming to set a global benchmark that spearheads transparency, security, and trust across the blockchain space,” said Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei, CEO of ADGM’s Registration Authority.