For the first time since 1996, the world’s central banks hold more gold than U.S. Treasuries as a share of their reserves. The institutions managing entire countries’ savings now hold more of a metal that pays no interest than of the bonds that do.
China has led the trend for years, reducing its U.S. Treasury holdings while buying gold. Its gold reserves now exceed 74m ounces, according to its central bank.
Gold has also become a yardstick for the rest of the market. In dollar terms, the U.S. stock market continues to set record highs. But measured in gold rather than dollars, the S&P 500 has not made a new high since 2000. Measuring financial assets against gold helps strip out the effects of monetary expansion because policymakers cannot create more gold.
Gold’s rise has also been matched by the other precious metals. The last comparable cycle came in the late 1970s, a decade that ended with 20% interest rates and a monetary policy reset.
But the forces moving each metal are different.
Gold is being treated as a hedge against uncertainty. Silver spiked above $100 per ounce in January, sending manufacturers racing to redesign their products around a cheaper metal. Platinum and palladium are shaped more by industrial demand, emissions rules, and the shift to electric vehicles.
But those forces only explain part of the story. Each metal has a different constraint that determines how far prices can move and what happens next. That is why we created this primer to map what drives each one and what its price may be signaling.
Inside our 82-page primer, you will find:
- What function do Precious metals serve in the modern global system
- How do supply, scarcity, and demand regimes differ across metals
- How are Precious metals interpreted in portfolio construction and risk frameworks
- Which central banks are buying gold, what they are selling, and why
- Why silver prices barely influence how much silver gets mined
- How gold-backed digital tokens and BRICS fit into the dollar system
If you want to learn with me, read the deep dive on my Substack:
