Central Banks Flock to Gold as Trust in System's Plumbing Erodes

The world's most conservative investors, central bank reserve managers, have made a significant shift in their assets. In 2025, gold overtook U.S. Treasuries as the largest single asset in global official reserves for the first time since 1996.

This is not just a safe-haven story; it's about monetary power and financial infrastructure. Gold sitting in vaults is no one's liability, no issuer, no credit counterparty, and no sovereign that can default on it.

The European Central Bank notes that much of the crossover reflects gold's rising price. However, the purchase orders tell you what reserve managers intend, and those have pointed in the same direction for four straight years.

Central banks bought roughly 863 tonnes of gold in 2025, led by Poland for a second consecutive year, with Kazakhstan, Brazil, and China also adding to their reserves. In fact, nearly three-quarters of reserve managers expect the dollar's share of global reserves to fall over the next five years.

The real story here is not about the gold price but about trust in the system's plumbing. Reserve managers are rebuilding their balance sheets around an asset that cannot be sanctioned or frozen by another country's decisions.