Goldman Sachs Snubs Crypto in 2026 Playbook, Bets on Asian Stocks and Metals

Goldman Sachs has published a second-half 2026 strategy note that recommends overweight positions in North Asian equities and diversification into copper and gold, while making no mention of digital assets, according to Crypto Briefing. The omission, coming from one of Wall Street’s most influential banks, is being read as a signal that crypto still has not made it into the core portfolio-construction advice that drives large institutional capital flows.

The note, dated June 29, lays out Goldman’s playbook for navigating what the bank describes as a more geopolitically complicated environment. Rather than pointing clients toward digital assets as a hedge, Goldman doubled down on traditional commodities as its preferred inflation and risk-management tool, per the report.

Asia overweight and specific commodity targets

Goldman’s bullish thesis centers on North Asia, with the bank maintaining overweight positions in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China’s domestic A-share market, Crypto Briefing reports. The preferred sectors named in the note are technology hardware, capital goods and banking.

On commodities, Goldman gave concrete price targets. The bank projects copper reaching $13,735 per ton by the end of 2026, driven by tightening supply meeting demand from power grids, AI infrastructure and defense applications, according to the note. Gold received a $4,900-per-ounce target for the same period, with the bank framing the metal as its preferred safe-haven asset.

Why crypto was left out

Goldman characterized copper as its top industrial-metal pick, citing demand from electrification, AI data centers and military spending, while gold was singled out for its safe-haven role, Crypto Briefing notes. Digital assets received no mention at all in the strategic outlook.

Because institutional clients tend to follow guidance from a bank of Goldman’s standing, capital that might otherwise flow into digital asset allocations could instead be directed toward resource-focused investments, commodity ETFs and mining equities, according to the report.

What it signals for institutional adoption

The report frames Goldman’s stance as effectively favoring the “physical layer” of the artificial intelligence buildout — commodities like copper and gold — over the digital layer represented by crypto assets. Even as institutional adoption of crypto continues to progress through spot ETFs and custody solutions, the absence of digital assets from Goldman’s strategic allocation note suggests that crypto has yet to be treated as a core portfolio component by some of the largest asset managers.

For crypto investors watching institutional flows, the note is a reminder that traditional finance’s biggest players are not yet uniformly integrating digital assets into their macro playbooks, even as they lean into other inflation hedges such as gold and industrial metals.

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