Bitcoin Nears Record Highs Amid 'Debasement Trade' Momentum

Bitcoin headed for its third straight winning week, as traders searched for refuge amid volatile moves in equities, currencies and bond markets.

The token is also up 4.6% week to date and hit a high of $82,272.31 overnight. That marks its highest level since May 11, when bitcoin peaked at $82,499.99. It last traded at $81,151.10.

Bitcoin had been in the doldrums for much of this year, trading roughly within the range of $60,000 to $70,000 since early June. However, the digital asset broke above $70,000 in late August, and it has continued to climb since then as the so-called debasement trade — a strategy in which traders move away from dollars into assets such as crypto or gold — regained momentum.

"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," Dominika Nestarcova, Goldman Sachs executive director of digital assets, said in a note Thursday.

Other cryptocurrencies are also rising. Ether hit a high of $2,545.62 on Friday, or its most elevated level since August 27. Solana jumped to as much as about $105.70, marking its highest price since August 31.