Something interesting happened in the money world this month, and it's worth talking about.

Back on August 19, the US Treasury made a big move. They said they would double the size of a program that helps buy back long-term government debt, going from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation. This came right after bond yields hit a 19-year high, with the 30-year Treasury touching 5.34%.

Once that news hit, everything went wild. Bond yields cooled off a bit. And two things that people usually run to when they're worried about money gold and bitcoin shot up fast.

Gold jumped from around $4,360 an ounce to $4,530 in just a few hours. It kept climbing after that and hit $4,700 an ounce by August 25. That was gold's best price in over three months.

Bitcoin did even better. It had been stuck below $65,000 for weeks, feeling kind of stuck and boring. Then all of a sudden it broke out and rocketed all the way up to $81,500.

People started calling this the "debasement trade." Basically, the idea is that the dollar is getting weaker while US debt keeps piling up, so people rush into things like gold and bitcoin to protect their money.

Then things flipped.

Last Friday, the new Fed Chairman, Kevin Warsh, gave a speech at Jackson Hole. He didn't come right out and say it, but his tone sounded pretty hawkish. Markets took that as a hint that rate hikes could be coming.

After that speech, the mood changed fast.

Gold got rejected hard right at that $4,700 level. It then dropped all the way down to $4,300. That means gold didn't just lose its August gains — it actually fell below where it started. It's now down more than 8.5% from its peak.

Bitcoin, though, held up a lot better. It slipped from that $81,500 high down to around $77,000. Yeah, it lost some ground, but it's still sitting about 20% higher than the $64,000 level where this whole rally started.

But bitcoin isn't totally in the clear either

There are a few warning signs starting to show up for BTC too. Besides the whole rate hike worry, spot bitcoin ETFs have been seeing more money leave than come in over the past couple of days. The early excitement seems to be fading a bit, and traders are watching closely to see if bitcoin starts following gold's dip or keeps holding its ground.

For now, bitcoin looks like the stronger of the two safe-haven trades. But the next few weeks could tell a very different story depending on what the Fed does next.

Disclaimer: Above content is meant to be informational in nature and should not be interpreted as investment advice. Trading, buying or selling cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk investment and every reader is advised to do their own research before making any decisions.