Bitcoin Is Heading For Its Third Straight Winning Week. A Strong Jobs Report Complicated The Rally.

Bitcoin was on course for a third consecutive weekly gain Friday after climbing above $82,000 overnight, extending a rebound that began when the cryptocurrency broke out of the $60,000-to-$70,000 range that had held for much of the summer.

The world's largest cryptocurrency topped $82,000 and reached its highest level since May 11, before falling more than 2% at 1:36 p.m. ET.

Bitcoin's latest advance followed a sharp change in momentum during the second half of August, when the cryptocurrency moved above $70,000 and later reclaimed $80,000. The rally coincided with renewed interest in the so-called debasement trade, in which investors shift money toward assets such as Bitcoin and gold when concerns about currencies, government debt or monetary policy increase.

The U.S. Treasury helped trigger that trade last month after announcing plans to increase purchases of longer-dated government bonds in an effort to contain borrowing costs. The move pushed long-term yields lower and weakened the dollar at the time, while Bitcoin and gold climbed.

That backdrop changed Friday after the Labor Department reported a much stronger-than-expected increase in U.S. employment. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 162,000 in August after an upwardly revised gain of 21,000 in July, while economists surveyed by Reuters had expected an increase of 56,000. The unemployment rate remained at 4.1% even as the labor force expanded by 683,000.