[Chart] Gold vs Bitcoin

Weighing up "Old Coin" vs "New Coin" as risks and sentiment shift +thoughts on global equities, Korea, US small caps, and space sector stocks...

Aug 11, 2026

Note: this is a new series for free subscribers and is intended to give an insight into the work that goes on at Topdown Charts (+deliver some useful and timely takeaways).

Chart: Old Coin vs New Coin

In absolute terms, Bitcoin’s maximum drawdown this cycle (so far) is -53%. But when priced in Gold, Bitcoin was down -70% earlier this year (the chart below shows the relative decline in Bitcoin vs Gold).

That’s a major downturn, and on par with the 3 previous big down cycles in Bitcoin. And it’s about at the point where you start looking for opportunities.

In weighing up Old Coin (Gold) vs New Coin (Bitcoin) we can see both coins were riding the same waves of liquidity and debasement from 2023 all the way up until 2025 —when Bitcoin peaked first (followed by gold this year).

As things stand now, gold is staging a strong rally off support after a -25% correction.

Meanwhile Bitcoin is stuck in the range; glued to support after a -50% bear market.

While I can see the bull case for Gold (inflation risk, aversion for treasuries, central bank buying, (geo)political risk, fiscal concerns), when I look at my indicator set I see valuations are still very expensive, sentiment is still consensus bullish, positioning is crowded net-long, and despite the rally —a number of major topping signals lit up this year. I’d say a lot needs to go right for gold to break out to new highs and beyond.

For Bitcoin it’s not much better, the technicals still look tenuous: it’s broken the long-term uptrend line, but still clinging to support. Monetary policy is turning to tightening and Bitcoin has decoupled from growth stocks (in a bad way). But on the upside, sentiment has been thoroughly washed out, and seasonality turns up for Bitcoin in October (which is when the 4-year cycle is due to bottom, and buyers likely return). So I’d say it’s probably still a waiting game for Bitcoin.

In weighing the two up, Bitcoin has clearly had the bigger reset in price and sentiment —while gold is still a consensus bullish trade.

Sentiment is not the be all and end all, but the way I look at it is this: sentiment tells you how many minds can change given the right reason. In that respect, there are more minds that can change from bullish (to bearish) on gold, and more minds that can change from bearish (to bullish) on Bitcoin.

From a practical standpoint I am waiting and watching (and will update!)

New Coin vs Old Coin — What do you think?

(which is likely to be the best performing asset over the next 12-months)

Semi-Annual Asset Allocation Survey results…

Since 2017 I have been running a semi-annual survey on Twitter/LinkedIn asking my followers whether they allocate to Bitcoin in their portfolios and whether they are individual or institutional investors (and the same for Gold). The recent results for individual investors are particularly revealing.

71% of individual investors reported allocating to Gold, matching the record high from August 2025.

36% reported allocating to Bitcoin/Crypto — matching the level seen in early-2020, and down significantly off the high of 60% in August 2025.

As I said, it’s very understandable to see these results, but again: it is very clear where the most minds could change, and how that could influence prices and risks…

And now onto the usual weekly report highlights — be sure to provide feedback further below if you have any, and check out the freshly updated track record section.

Weekly Report Notes

Here’s the topics & takeaways from my latest report —it should give a good sense of what I tend to cover in the Topdown Pro service as well as providing some high-level insights into how I am currently seeing Macro & Markets:

1. Global ex-US Equities: remain bullish global ex-US equities (mostly on an absolute basis) given cheap valuations, bullish technicals, and supportive macro-fundamentals.

2. Korean Equities: Korean equities have managed to stabilize after a major correction, but some risks remain (macro headwinds, sentiment still excess greed, valuations still expensive).

3. US Small Caps: remain bullish on US small caps given cheap valuations (vs history, vs large caps, vs bonds), supportive macro/fundamentals, contrarian bullish sentiment, bullish technicals.

4. Space Stocks: bullish space sector stocks given significantly improved technicals, major reset in valuations, light allocations/positioning, and strong long-term thematic outlook.

5. Bitcoin: remain neutral on Bitcoin for now as upsides (e.g. sentiment) are outweighed by downside risks (seasonality, cycles), and technicals remain inconclusive at this stage.

Thanks for reading! Reply to this email if you have any questions.

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Best wishes,
Callum Thomas
Head of Research at Topdown Charts

Connect: LinkedIn | Twitter/X | Substack

p.s. What do you reckon?

Please provide feedback below (reply by email if you had any specific points)

Also, in case you missed it: be sure to check out the previous note — in this post you will find more macro market musings + a key chart on CRE & REITs [and last week’s survey results!!]

[Chart] Commercial Real Estate

Callum Thomas

Aug 3

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Topdown Charts Track Record [Updated] —> this post shares stats and details on the Track Record of ideas/views provided to Topdown Charts Professional clients —it provides a good insight into what ideas and timeframes we cover, and accuracy + performance of research calls: