Amid the global market uncertainty, Bitcoin has given subpar returns during the last quarter and so, while Gold has seen a steady ascent.
Amid the global market uncertainty, central banks have been aggressively piling up the stock of gold reserves as a store of value, there taking it to record levels this year in 2024. In its recent post on Monday, September 2, popular macro outlet Kobeissi Letter reported that during the first half of 2024, the global net gold purchases by central banks skyrocketed to 483 tonnes.
This figure is 5% higher than the previous record of 460 tonnes, set last year in the first half of 2023. During the second quarter of this year, the central banks accumulated a staggering 183 tonnes of gold, surging by 6% year over year.
BREAKING: Global net gold purchases by central banks reached 483 tonnes in the first half of 2024, the most on record.
This is 5% higher than the previous record of 460 tonnes set in the first half of 2023.
In Q2 2024, central banks bought 183 tonnes of gold, marking a 6%… pic.twitter.com/dtu2YoWFJv
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) September 1, 2024
Among the global central banks, the National Bank of Poland, the Central Bank of Turkey, and the Reserve Bank of India are leading the gold accumulation. In late August, the president of the National Bank of Poland, Adam Glapinski, announced that the bank would continue purchasing gold with the goal of increasing its share to 20% of the country’s reserves.
On the other hand, this gold accumulation could also be part of the strategic de-dollarization. Spencer Hakimian, the founder of Tolou Capital Management, remarked that China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia “no longer trust holding Western reserve assets”, emphasizing that “gold is the only neutral and stable reserve asset”.
BRICS Working on a Gold-Backed Stablecoin
The BRICS nations bloc is already working on its stablecoin with previous reports suggesting that it could be backed by the yellow metal Gold. Along with the original members of the BRICS bloc, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates have also shown interest in this project. Thus, growing participants can lead to increased demand for the asset. Popular entrepreneur Kim Dotcom predicted the collapse of the USD adding:
“When the BRICS gold-backed stablecoin comes out trade in USD will drop hard, central banks will exit USD and the US money printing Ponzi scheme will burn. 14% of global GDP will shift from the US to other nations by 2030. The most rapid economic collapse of any empire in history.”
As a result of this massive accumulation, yellow metal Gold has witnessed the best runs in history gaining 23% since the beginning of 2024 so far. However, Bitcoin is still beating Gold with a 37% surge in the same period.
We are now eight months into 2024, and all of Bitcoin's gains for the year occurred during the first two months. Since the end of Feb., despite the launch of 11 Bitcoin ETFs, #Bitcoin is down 8%. Over the same six months, the price of #gold is up 23%. The momentum has turned.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) September 1, 2024
Amid the global market uncertainty, Bitcoin has given subpar returns during the last quarter and so, while Gold has seen a steady ascent.
next