Amid risks such as currency debasement and military conflicts, bitcoin (BTC) has become "an alternative to physical gold," notes investment firm Grayscale.

"The recent increase in its price likely reflects the growing demand for bitcoin's properties as digital gold," the company said in a report.

The price of bitcoin reached USD 35,000 last week, its highest level in 17 months, a price that remains to this day.

Grayscale, one of 12 companies applying for bitcoin ETFs in the United States, highlights as a virtue of the digital currency, that it benefits from its use as "a non-sovereign monetary system and a digital alternative to gold."

The increase in the price of bitcoin caused this week to reach its highest daily correlation with gold in seven months, since the beginning of the banking crisis in the United States. The last time these assets had been as correlated as they are now was when Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed last March. This can be interpreted as investors fleeing the stock market to commodities such as bitcoin and gold.

Precisely, Grayscale's report highlights a breakdown in the correlation between bitcoin and stock indices that looks set to continue. "October marked the third consecutive month of losses for both the equity and bond markets," he said. In the image below you can see how bitcoin has outperformed gold and the Nasdaq 100 between July and October of this year.