When the world is shaken by crises, currencies fluctuate, and markets panic, one asset consistently attracts capital and trust: gold. This is not a coincidence, but the result of a unique combination of properties that makes it a universal 'anchor' for millennia.
🔬 Science of Reliability: four immutable properties
1. Physical eternity. Gold does not rust, oxidize, or deteriorate over time. A coin from the Roman Empire, buried in the ground, will be the same today as it was two thousand years ago. Unlike paper money, which can decay, or digital records, which can disappear, gold is a material eternity in your hands.
2. Universal recognition. Gold is the only 'language' understood by all cultures, peoples, and governments without translation. Its value is recognized anywhere on the planet. This makes it an ideal means of international settlement when trust in a particular currency is lost.
3. Limited supply. All the gold ever mined by humanity would fit into three and a half Olympic swimming pools. New volumes are mined with difficulty and at great cost. This fundamental impossibility of 'printing' gold like dollars or euros protects it from inflation and devaluation by the will of politicians.
4. Value without promises. The price of gold does not depend on anyone's promise or the economy of a single country. A bond is a promise from the government to repay a debt. A stock is a share in a business that can go bankrupt. Currency is trust in the government. Gold, however, is valuable in and of itself. It doesn't need to be presented to anyone for redemption.
🏛️ Why do central banks buy gold in a crisis? A three-step strategy
When central banks massively increase their gold reserves, it's not speculation but a strategic maneuver of national scale.
1. Diversification away from the dollar. Holding reserves primarily in U.S. government bonds (as has been the case for decades) creates strategic dependence. Buying gold is a way to reduce this dependence and protect reserves from the risks of U.S. policy, sanctions, or dollar weakening. China, which has been increasing its gold reserves for 14 consecutive months and selling American bonds, is a prime example of this strategy.
2. Strengthening sovereignty and trust. The gold reserves of a country are the foundation of trust in its own currency. It is a 'safety cushion' demonstrating that the state has a liquid and universal asset to support the economy in an emergency. This enhances the status of the national currency on the global stage.
3. Protection against 'paper' risks. In crises, governments and central banks activate the 'printing press' to save the economy. This leads to the risk of hyperinflation and devaluation of paper currencies. Gold, which cannot be quickly increased in volume, becomes a natural protection against this risk — a safe haven in a stormy sea of paper money.
💎 Conclusion: why does this matter to every investor?
For the private investor, gold serves the same role as it does for the central bank, but on a smaller scale: it is a means of preservation, not multiplication of capital.
Insurance against crisis: When everything falls, gold typically retains its value or increases.
Counterweight to stocks: It often moves contrary to the stock market, smoothing out portfolio volatility.
Protection against inflation: In the long term, gold retains purchasing power, while cash loses it.
Conclusion: Gold is not a way to get rich quickly. It is a conservative, centuries-old answer to humanity's need for security and stability. In a world full of digital promises and political risks, physical gold remains one of the few assets whose value does not need explanation. It is a silent witness of history that will outlast any current crisis.
$XAU
