Bitcoin is surging toward its third winning week as the debasement trade returns

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The token is up 4.6% this week and hit its highest price since May, as traders move away from dollars into crypto and gold

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

Bitcoin climbed toward its third consecutive winning week on Friday, rising to its highest price in nearly four months as traders sought alternatives to the dollar amid volatility across equities, currencies, and bond markets.

Overnight trading saw the token reach $82,272.31 before settling back to $81,151.10. The last time bitcoin traded that high was May 11, when it topped out at $82,499.99. The token is up 4.6% for the week.

The rally reflects a revival of the so-called debasement trade, in which investors rotate out of dollars and into assets such as cryptocurrency and gold. For much of the year since early June, bitcoin had been stuck in the $60,000-to-$70,000 corridor, a stagnation that ended when the asset pushed through that ceiling in late August.

Dominika Nestarcova, Goldman Sachs $GS executive director of digital assets, pointed to a specific catalyst in a note Thursday. "The price breakout came towards the [end of August] with the re-emergence of the debasement trade re-igniting investor interest in BTC — the U.S. Treasury announced it would increase purchases of longer-dated Treasuries, long yields fell, the dollar weakened, and BTC and gold moved higher," Nestarcova said, according to CNBC.

Altcoins joined the advance. Ether touched $2,545.62 on Friday, a price not seen since August 27, and Solana pushed as high as roughly $105.70, a level last reached on August 31.

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