Everyone’s buying gold.
The boomer rock blasted past $3,600 this week to mark a fresh all-time high and draw investors far and wide into its glittery orbit. So why is the gold price surging? It’s the result of a perfect storm: a cooling labor market in the U.S., expectations of rate cuts, relentless geopolitical jitters, and central banks diversifying away from the dollar.
Just look around: El Salvador’s buying gold, BRIC countries are buying gold, central banks are buying gold, Aunt Mildred is buying gold; everyone’s buying gold. Should you?
El Salvador’s golden hedge
El Salvador lit up Crypto Twitter this week with a decision to buy $50 million worth of gold, a move that had the Bitcoin crowd asking, “Since when does the world’s first Bitcoin country need shiny metals as a backup?”
El Salvador’s mega gold buy marks the country’s first gold purchase in 35 years, increasing its holdings by nearly a third, in an attempt to diversify its international reserves and enhance financial stability, especially given its heavy Bitcoin exposure.
By holding both Bitcoin and gold, El Salvador seeks to reassure international partners and signal prudent risk management to global institutions like the IMF.
Despite the plausible logic, El Salvador’s gold purchase went down like $50 million worth of gold bars among the Bitcoin community. Self-proclaimed Bitcoin Chief HODLer Carl B Menger commented:
“I shall strip the El Salvador flag from my name. Once a beacon of hope for a better future, it has become a shadow of disappointment.”
After President Bukele made Bitcoin legal tender, buying gold looks like hedging on a legacy safe haven, calling the nation’s Bitcoin conviction into question, and backtracking on the “digital gold” narrative.
Everyone’s buying gold; should you?
Beyond El Salvador, the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are ramping up their purchases to historic levels, and Poland’s central bank governor plans to increase its target for gold as part of the country’s reserves from 20% to 30%.
Central bankers around the world, in fact, have demonstrated a significant sentiment shift lately away from the dollar and toward gold. As Balaji Srinivasan commented:
“Central bankers expect to buy more gold.”
While gold is certainly having a moment, does it make for a better investment than Bitcoin? Peter Schiff, economist and perma-gold bull, certainly thinks so, coming out once again to dance prematurely on Bitcoin’s grave this week.
“Priced in gold, since hitting a high of about 37.2 ounces on Aug. 12, Bitcoin is down 18%, just 2% above official bear market territory…. How do you square this dismal performance with all the hype?”
Yet, the fact remains, Bitcoin has qualities that leave gold in the dust. It’s easy to transfer, hard to seize, provably scarce, and global at the speed of light. And, its historic upside return makes gold’s victory look silly. As crypto trader borovik reminded us:
“Gold just hit a new ATH of $3600, up almost 4x from its price in 2009. Bitcoin on the other hand is up 11,000,000x since 2009. Choose wisely”
Gold’s run is impressive, but Bitcoin’s performance since inception is the stuff of legends, far outstripping the returns of any shiny metal.
So, yes, everyone’s buying gold, banks, governments, even El Salvador, and certainly, Peter Schiff. But gold’s not the only refuge in a stormy world.
Bitcoin offers portability, privacy, and a price chart that’s more exponential than golden. With both assets hitting new highs, the choice is sharper and more controversial than ever: choose wisely.