Topline
The price of Bitcoin rose past $80,000 late on Monday, leading a continued rise in the price of major cryptocurrencies that began last week amid interest in the so-called “debasement trade” after the Treasury intervention in the bond market.
Bitcoin prices cross the $80,000 mark for the first time since mid-May.
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Key Facts
The price of Bitcoin—the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap—rose to $80,453 early on Tuesday, up more than 25% in the past week.
This is the first time since mid-May that Bitcoin has crossed $80,000—but it is still well below the all-time peak of $126,000 reached last year.
Ether, the second-most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap, rose to $2,503 early Tuesday, up more than 30% from the previous week.
The crypto rally helped boost other major tokens, with Solana’s SOL, Binance’s BNB, XRP and the memecoin DOGE rising 32%, 18.7%, 51.7% and 31.8%, respectively in the past seven days.
What Do We Know About The Debasement Trade?
Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced he would double the Treasury’s buyback of long-dated bonds in a bid to curb rising yields. The move came after the 30-year Treasury yield rose to its highest level since 2007—amid concerns about the war in Iran and the U.S. national debt hitting $40 billion. The move prompted a fresh round of dollar selling, while boosting crypto and gold. In a blog post on Friday, hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio warned of a looming debt crisis and said investors should be “underweighting debt assets like bonds, and overweighting gold and a bit of Bitcoin.” The so-called debasement trade is a strategy that involves moving capital away from fiat currency and sovereign debt toward scarcer assets such as gold and bitcoin. The move is considered a hedge against a potential weakening of the dollar.
Key Background
Last week, President Donald Trump hosted several crypto executives at the White House, giving another boost to the crypto surge. At the event, Trump called on Congress to pass the long-stalled CLARITY Act, which is backed by the crypto industry and will establish legal guidelines on digital assets. The president said: “We need Congress to take the next step by passing the CLARITY Act, a fair version of the CLARITY Act…It’s a very, very powerful structured legislation which will keep us ahead of China, keep us ahead of everyone else.”
further reading
Bitcoin Tops $75,000 For The First Time Since May As Crypto Surge Continues (Forbes)
Gold Price Hits 15-Week High As Late-Summer Rally Extends (Forbes)