The Bitcoin was, by far, the best-performing asset among the major markets tracked in August. Between 31 July and last Friday (28), the world's largest cryptocurrency had gained 26.21%, outperforming silver, gold, US stock indices, oil and Brazil's Ibovespa.
The survey compares eight assets and indices. After Bitcoin, silver ranks second, up 20.97%, followed by gold, which advanced 13.12% over the period.
The gap widens from there. The Nasdaq Composite had gained 5.03%, while the S&P 500 rose 3.67% and the dollar strengthened 2.8%.
At the bottom of the list, Brent crude oil fell 0.80%, while the Ibovespa posted the worst performance, down 2.21%.
Bitcoin's rally
Much of Bitcoin's lead was built in just over a week. On 19 August, the cryptocurrency closed at around US$69,400, after breaking above US$69,000 for the first time in roughly two months.
From there, the move accelerated. By early Friday afternoon, with Bitcoin trading around US$79,400, the gain accumulated since the 19 August close reached approximately 14.4%. Overnight on Friday, the cryptocurrency touched US$81,280, an advance of more than 17% relative to the 19 August level.
The start of the rally coincided with a combination of factors favourable to the crypto market. Among them was the US Treasury's decision to expand buybacks of long-term bonds, a move that helped ease pressure in the Treasury market and increased liquidity as perceived by investors. Over the same period, a new SEC proposal on crypto asset offerings also helped lift sentiment in the sector.
In the following days, the move gained strength alongside dollar weakness and a fresh wave of concern about the erosion of traditional currencies amid US government intervention in the debt market — the so-called "debasement trade" thesis, which also favoured assets such as gold and silver. On 25 August, Bitcoin briefly surpassed US$80,000 for the first time since May.
Another driver came from US spot Bitcoin ETFs. As of Friday, the products had recorded eight consecutive sessions of inflows, with approximately US$2.8 billion gathered over that stretch. Net inflows for August already exceeded US$3 billion, making the month the best of 2026 for the ETFs so far.
Bitcoin also leaves stock indices behind
The comparison shows that Bitcoin managed to decouple even from markets that posted positive performance in August.
The Nasdaq, an index with heavy weighting in technology companies and normally more sensitive to investors' risk appetite, advanced just over 5% over the period — less than a fifth of Bitcoin's gain. The S&P 500 lagged even further behind, up 3.67%.
Even precious metals, which shared some of the same tailwinds that lifted Bitcoin, could not keep pace with the cryptocurrency. Silver had a particularly strong month, gaining close to 21%, but still trailed BTC by about five percentage points. Gold gained just over 13%.
The performance underscores how the move that began in the second half of August quickly changed the picture for the cryptocurrency. Through 18 August, Bitcoin was just above US$64,000 and had booked a relatively modest gain for the month. In just three trading sessions, between 19 and 21 August, it jumped from around US$69,000 to more than US$78,000.
The environment, however, remained subject to US monetary policy. On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reiterated at Jackson Hole the central bank's concern about inflation and the need to bring it back to the 2% target. The remarks increased bets on a possible rate hike in September, strengthened the dollar, and put pressure on Bitcoin and gold after the speech.
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