Bitcoin-Gold Correlation Hits Highest Level in Six Years

Bitcoin’s correlation with gold has climbed to a six-year high as more investors turn to hedges against currency debasement.

That is the conclusion of a new report from Bitwise, which noted this week that the metal and the largest cryptocurrency are trading in step because the U.S. government has “materially intervened in the macro picture.”

Bitcoin began climbing last month after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would more than double its purchases of government debt. The coin then recorded its strongest performance in three years and its third-best August on record.

“The last time it was this high was 2020, after the Covid stimulus.” — Bitcoin Magazine, September 3, 2026

Bitwise’s European Head of Research, André Dragosch, wrote: “The last time the bitcoin-gold correlation was that high was in 2020, following the rounds of fiscal and monetary stimulus during the Covid crisis.”

He also said bitcoin’s correlation with the stock market had fallen to a one-year low, “implying some kind of decoupling between hard assets and the stock market.”

Bitcoin has long been marketed as “digital gold,” but it has also traded like a “risk-on” asset alongside tech stocks.

The “debasement trade” — buying an asset to hedge against a currency losing value — was a much-discussed strategy last year and now looks to be making a comeback.

The reason lies in government intervention in markets, Dragosch argued. When the Treasury said it would try to rein in long-term borrowing costs, the dollar weakened and investors poured back into gold and bitcoin.

In the same week, the Treasury said U.S. public debt had surpassed $40 trillion for the first time. A heavy debt load also erodes confidence in the dollar.

“Investors are no longer asking whether to hedge currency debasement with gold or bitcoin. They’re simply hedging with both,” the report added.

“Bitcoin spent its first fifteen years being priced as a risk asset. If this correlation trend with gold holds, the next fifteen may look very different.”

The leading cryptocurrency rallied again this week and was recently trading near $81,438 after jumping nearly 6% in a 24-hour period.