Spot gold reached $4,696.18 an ounce on August 25, 2026, while copper settled at a record $6.71 per pound on Comex and bitcoin touched $81,265.30 on August 24, its highest level since mid-May, before trading near $79,100-$80,300. Bitcoin rebounded more than 25% from about $64,100 on August 19 and gained 23.78% during the latest week, putting it on track for its third-best August ever according to provisional CoinGlass data. XRP rose 40%, Ethereum gained 31.48% and gold advanced 5.45%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.37%, the Russell 2000 declined 1.68% and the Nasdaq dropped 2.41%. The rally followed a weaker dollar, the U.S. Treasury’s plan to at least double longer-dated bond buybacks from $2 billion to a minimum of $4 billion per operation from September 9 through November 4, about $2.4 billion in August spot bitcoin ETF inflows, short covering and optimism over the Clarity Act. The simultaneous strength in metals and crypto reflected the debasement trade, in which investors rotate into scarce assets amid concerns about fiat-currency value. CoinGlass recorded $2.7 billion in bitcoin short liquidations during the move from $63,000 to $79,000. Bitcoin ETFs drew $1.92 billion during the latest week, including $1.33 billion for BlackRock’s IBIT, while Ethereum ETFs attracted $693 million. Analysts identified $80,000, $82,800 and roughly $83,000 as key technical levels, while Fairlead Strategies’ Katie Stockton said bitcoin was not yet overbought but required immediate follow-through. Wintermute remained constructive but said negative weekly ETF flows combined with a close below $67,000 would suggest a leverage-driven advance rather than sustained demand.