Bitcoin has beaten stocks and gold over six months. Now it's crossed the $80,000 mark.

By Christine IdzelisNora Redmond3 charts that highlight bitcoin's recent momentumBitcoin prices have seen a big jump in August.Bitcoin rose Tuesday above the $80,000 level that it last touched in May, extending the cryptocurrency rally since last week on the Treasury Department's plans to double its buy back of longer-dated Treasurys.Bitcoin - which took a sharp turn higher following an extended rough patch after the buyback announcement renewed the dollar-debasement trade - is now outperforming both gold (GC00) and U.S stocks gauged by the S&P 500 SPX over a rolling six-month period, according to Dow Jones Market Data.The cryptocurrency was hovering around the $79,800 mark early Tuesday, having earlier reached $80,600, according to the CoinDesk index (BTCUSD).Investors turned to bitcoin and gold last week as the U.S. dollar weakened and Treasury yields climbed.The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT, the largest exchange-traded fund tracking spot prices of the cryptocurrency, on Friday saw its biggest daily inflow since January as investors added about $1 billion to it last week, FactSet data show.The Treasury Department announced on Aug. 19 that it planned to at least double its buy back of longer-dated Treasurys starting Sept. 9, and although yields on such securities initially fell on the plans, their reversal the following day kept investors on edge about rising borrowing costs against the backdrop of fiscal deficits and $40 trillion of U.S. debt."Treasury changed the market conversation even if it did not change monetary policy," said Stephen Innes, global strategist at Quintex Intel, in a note emailed Monday. "The larger buybacks remain small relative to the Treasury market and are officially intended to support liquidity, but traders now know Washington is prepared to respond when the long end becomes sufficiently uncomfortable."Exchange-traded funds have made it easier for conventional investors to express "the debasement narrative," with bitcoin becoming the "higher beta sibling" of gold for the same macro trade, according to Innes.The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which attracted $503 million from investors on Friday, posted a climb of more than 2% in overnight trading on Tuesday after surging almost 23% last week.Following the Treasury Department's announcement of bigger buybacks, both the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and SPDR Gold Shares GLD rose into overbought territory based on the relative strength index over a 14-day period, according to Dow Jones Market Data. An RSI level above 70 is traditionally viewed as overbought, with a reading exceeding 80 indicating heavily overbought territory.Even after its recent surge, bitcoin, which is highly volatile, remains down so far in 2026. Gold prices (GC00) edged slightly lower Tuesday, but the yellow metal is up over 8% this year and more than 14% just this month.Long-term Treasury yields BX:TMUBMUSD10Y BX:TMUBMUSD30Y have retreated from their climb last week, while the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY was recovering a portion of its losses but was still down in August.Major U.S. stock benchmarks rose in premarket trading Tuesday, with futures linked to the S&P 500 (ES00) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM00) both up about 0.2%, while Nasdaq futures (NQ00) advanced 0.5%.-Christine Idzelis -Nora RedmondThis content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.