Gold

Gold-Backed Tokens Outperform as ‘Bond King’ Gundlach Sees Precious Metal Hit $4,000

Published

16 hours ago

March 17, 2025

Gold has been on a strong run, surpassing $3,000 for the first time last week, and now there are calls for even more upside for the precious metal prices.

Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital and colloquially known as the “Bond King” for his expertise in fixed-income markets, believes the rally is far from over and could see the precious metal top $4,000.

Speaking during a macroeconomic outlook presentation titled “Not in My Neighborhood,” Gundlach highlighted gold’s sustained price momentum alongside other commodities. Cryptocurrencies backed by the precious metal, including PAXG and XAUT, have been benefiting from its historic price rise.

“I think gold will make it to $4,000. I’m not sure that’ll happen this year, but I feel like that’s the measured move anticipated by the long consolidation at around $1,800 on gold,” Gundlach said.

Gold-backed cryptocurrencies have been outperforming the wider cryptocurrency market so far this year. While PAXG and XAUT are up roughly 14% year-to-date, bitcoin dropped 11.4% over the same period, and the broader CoinDesk20 Index retreated by over 25% in the same period. Gold ETFs last week have surpassed bitcoin ETFs in assets under management.

His prediction is rooted in shifting central bank strategies. Global central banks have been increasing their gold reserves, reversing a period in which their holdings were dwindling. The total amount of gold held globally, according to IMF data Gundlach presented, has climbed from a low of around 34 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDR) in 2010 to 40.9 billion SDR, reaching levels last seen between 1975 and 1980.

Special Drawing Rights are an international reserve asset the IMF created back in 1969, defined through a basket of currencies.

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Bitcoin ETF

Gold ETFs Inflow Takes Over BTC ETFs Amid Historic Rally

Published

2 days ago

March 16, 2025

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Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have overtaken bitcoin ETFs in assets under management as investors shift toward the traditional safe-haven asset as BTC price tumbled more than 19% over the past three months, while the precious metal climbed 12.5%.

Bitcoin ETFs, which saw significant inflows following their U.S. launch in January last year, have experienced major outflows, losing about $3.8 billion since Feb. 24 of this year, according to Farside Investors data. Meanwhile, gold ETFs recorded their highest monthly inflows since March 2022 last month, according to the World Gold Council.

Gold ETF flows and gold's price. (World Gold Council)

These flows have meant that gold ETFs have now “reclaimed the asset crown over bitcoin ETFs,” as Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on social media.

The Empire Strikes Back: Gold ETFs have reclaimed the asset crown over bitcoin ETFs thanks to 12% gain this year. https://t.co/ls67z5sIs5
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) March 14, 2025

Spot bitcoin ETFs listed in the U.S. first surpassed gold ETFs in assets under management in December 2024 as the cryptocurrency market surged after Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections.

Meanwhile, gold has been seeing a significant run. This Friday, it exceeded the $3,000 per ounce mark for the first time ever, with gold futures for April delivery breaking through the same level earlier in the week.

Market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty have been helping the price of the precious metal rise as demand for a safe haven continues to grow.
Read more: Gold’s Historic Rally Leaves Bitcoin Behind, But the Trend May Reverse

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Bitcoin

If gold isn’t there, we’re gonna be very upset

Published

4 weeks ago

February 20, 2025

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Elon Musk raised concerns about whether Fort Knox is still holding $425 billion worth of gold. The posts reignited an old conspiracy theory about gone gold and sparked discussion about the advantages of Bitcoin. Donald Trump said he will audit “the fabled Fort Knox.”

As a head of the Department of Government Efficiency Musk has been busy scrutinizing the government institutions lately. Fort Knox was another target for his daring eyes as Musk published an X post saying that “it would be cool to do a live video walkthrough of Fort Knox.”

Sen. Mike Lee fueled the discussion when he replied to Musk that despite being a senator, he was denied access to Fort Knox on multiple occasions without a proper cause. Musk replied that the American public was the true owner of gold stored in Fort Knox and asked if someone could confirm the gold was there.

Who is confirming that gold wasn’t stolen from Fort Knox?
Maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not.
That gold is owned by the American public! We want to know if it’s still there. https://t.co/aEBXK1CfD6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2025

The discussion continued with many expressing support for the idea of a public audit of the biggest gold reserve in the U.S. The Fort Knox reserve holds 147 troy ounces of gold, more than any other storage in the country.

Missing Fort Knox gold is an old conspiracy theory, infused by the extremely low level of the reserve’s transparency. It is hard to enter this storage even by the military base standards.

The inability to make sure gold is present in the depository raises questions about accountability and transparency standards revision.

Does Fort Knox undergo regular audits?

Regular audits take place. The U.S. government issues monthly reports that specify the amount of gold stored in every storage. The proponents of the missing gold theory don’t buy these reports and want to get evidence. However, the restrictive policies that don’t allow visitors to Fort Knox only make people more suspicious.

Probably, you saw a striking statement that Fort Knox hasn’t been audited for 50 years. That’s not far from the truth.

Indeed, the last public audit of Fort Knox took place on Sept. 24, 1974, when several congressmen and journalists were allowed in the depository. They entered the storage, inspected the gold, and took photos. The previous tone when Fort Knox had such an audit took place in 1943.

The press release dedicated to the 1974 visitation proclaimed that the event marked a change in the long-standing no-visitors policy. According to it, the Congressional inspection adhered to President Ford’s new policy of open doors. However, as we know today, the Fort Knox doors were closed shortly after the visit for the next 40+ years.

During the previous Donald Trump presidency, in 2017, then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin managed to obtain permission to visit the bullion depository accompanied by Kentucky elected officials. Unlike the 1974 inspection, this event was pretty private, with no media present.

Mnuchin received backlash for the inappropriate use of military aircraft to travel to Fort Knox, spending an additional $9k of the taxpayers’ money.

The fact that the visitation took place on the very day of the total solar eclipse, which Mnuchin observed from the roof of Fort Knox, which is situated close to the Path of Totality, one of the best points to look at the eclipse, raised additional criticism. The photos of him and his peers in front of golden bricks were published in 2018. This tour to Fort Knox hardly adheres to the criteria for audit.

The is no evidence that any portion of the Fort Knox gold is missing. However, the lack of transparency and clear accountability set a good climate for speculations and alternative solutions.

Bitcoin enters the discussion

Gold is often compared to Bitcoin, especially now, when national gold reserves are not such a hot topic as Bitcoin reserves. No wonder the inability to verify the consistency of the gold reserves draws discussions in the crypto community.

Whether Fort Knox gold is safe or not, Bitcoin is an asset that would not have raised any of these concerns, Bitcoin proponents say.

More and more experts claim Bitcoin is better than gold. In light of the Fort Knox case, Bitcoin showcases higher transparency and ease of user and transportation. It’s much easier to cross the border with $5 million worth of Bitcoin than gold or cash. More than that, the ownership of Bitcoin is verifiable by any person with a device connected to the Internet. The Fort Knox situation reminds us that we don’t have such a possibility with gold.

More than that, more traditional assets like Bitcoin ETFs or ETPs are as transparent as Bitcoin. Bradley Duke of Bitwise took to X to remind everyone why Bitcoin is much more trustworthy than gold. He said why trust when you can verify?

Don’t trust, verify.
For decades there hasn’t been an independent audit of the gold bullion kept at Fort Knox – the largest treasure ever amassed. Should the American people, who nominally own this treasure, just trust their successive governments?
At Bitwise, we believe that… pic.twitter.com/8DKSaY676n
— Bradley Duke (@BradleyDukeBTC) February 18, 2025

Bernstein analytics say the U.S. will need gold to buy Bitcoin

One of the reasons why Bitcoin maxis may be concerned by the possible lack of gold in the bullion depository is that at some point, the American government will start selling gold to acquire more Bitcoin.

According to Gautam Chhugani, an analyst from Bernstein, if a Strategic Bitcoin reserve is established, the Federal Reserve will have to search for funds to purchase Bitcoin. It may issue debt (which is opposite to the proclaimed goal of setting the Strategic Bitcoin reserve) or sell some of the gold reserves.

Musk’s concerns didn’t go unnoticed by the POTUS. On Feb. 20, Musk posted a clip with Trump saying they are going to inspect “the fabled Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there.” “If the gold isn’t there, we’re gonna be very upset,” Trump added, smiling.

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Altcoin

XRP Set To Outshine Gold? Analyst Predicts 1,000% Surge

Published

4 weeks ago

February 17, 2025

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Este artículo también está disponible en español.

A well-known analyst made an intriguing assumption about the rise of XRP, saying that it could potentially outdo the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index.

Egrag Crypto predicted that XRP could rise by 1,000% against the gold and silver index as the analyst sees the crypto replicating a run it made in 2017.

A Looming Crypto Run

In a post, market analyst Egrag Crypto noted that indicators are showing that the altcoin could potentially make a bull run similar to what it did in 2017, saying that it could have a big run that would allow it to outperform the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index.

“XRP / XAU: 1000% Possible Candle?” the prominent analyst said in his X account.

#XRP / #XAU: 1000% Possible Candle?
Not many analyze the #XRP / #XAU pair, but the chart looks primed for a bounce! Let’s break it down:
Understanding the Pair
This analysis focuses on #XRP / #XAU, not against the US Dollar.
If #XAU decreases in #USD terms, the… pic.twitter.com/5bgkp2G64U
— EGRAG CRYPTO (@egragcrypto) February 10, 2025

Egrag analyzed the performance of XRP against the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index by showing the XRP/XAU pair, which represents the coin’s market capitalization, versus the index.

“If XAU decreases in #USD terms, the price of XRP in terms of #XAU will increase, impacting its dollar value directly,” the market analyst explained.

Current Setup Mirrors 2017 Rally

Egrag added that the current XRP’s condition might be similar to that of its 2017 run.

“I theorize that the three green candles we saw in 2017 have been replicated, albeit with a different degree of growth. We are currently in a ranging mode; the arrow chart suggests we may stay in this range if current price action aligns,” the analyst noted.

For clarity, the gold and silver index is being traded on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, which tracks the stocks of 30 precious metal mining firms. Moreover, this index trades with the ticker XAU, which is the same ticker for gold ounces.

XRP market cap currently at $155 billion. Chart: TradingView.com

XRP Could Hit $28.5

Egrag said in its previous run in 2017, the pattern allowed XRP to soar by 1,000% in the XRP/XAU pair, saying that at the moment, the pair is being traded at $893.9 million.

The figure was obtained by dividing the altcoin’s current market capitalization of $149.64 billion by the current price of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index of $167.39.

The market analyst believed that if XRP would repeat the 1,000% spike while $167.39 is the price of the index, it would push the price of the XRP/XAU pair to $9.83 billion.

With such value, the XRP market capitalization would be at $1.64 trillion, supposing the index remains at $167.39, leading to XRP being traded at $28.5.

Altcoin Bounces Off

Egrag noted that XRP price versus XAU seems to have bounced beyond the equilibrium phase, recovering from a massive collapse this month that saw XRP slide to $1.7.

“Nice Bounce: #XRP / #XAU has bounced forcefully from the equilibrium stage. A similar bounce occurred at the 7 EMA (Exponential Moving Average), indicating bullish momentum,” the market analyst said in a post.

Featured image from Gistly, chart from TradingView

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