• Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Doesn’t the US literally have the vast majority of the world’s original gold reserves from the bretton woods agreement before Nixon abolished the gold standard?

    • barsoap@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      possession /= property. During Bretton-woods everyone deposited their gold in the US.

      The US own around 8.1k tonnes, EU member states 11.7k, Switzerland another 1000.

      Germany has the 2nd largest reserves by country (after the US), 3300 tons, and has been bringing gold physically home, completely emptying Paris’ vault, moving 500t from New York to Frankfurt, London stayed about stable.

      You now might be asking yourself “how the fuck do they transport 500t gold across the Atlantic” and the answer is: Nobody knows. The Bundesbank isn’t saying a thing short of that the gold went to Switzerland to be analysed and re-melted. It’s not much volume-wise though, about 9m3. My best bet is submarine to Germany’s north coast, then an inconspicuous train to Switzerland (it’s not like German subs can’t operate in shallow water but the Rhine, nope).

      • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Could have also used a transport barge, they’re apparently the most efficient means of shipping materials over long distances, granted this is primarily over river conditions.

  • Hol@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    China is also the land of dragons. Coincidence?

  • wahming@monyet.cc
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    1 year ago

    From the article:

    Its gold reserves are estimated to be 2,113 tonnes as of July—the fifth largest behind the Federal Reserve’s 8,133

    • Hereforpron2@lemmynsfw.com
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      1 year ago

      But when money fails (hyperinflation, sanctions, digital collapse, bank failures, violent revolution, etc.), countries who already have gold reserves will be the only ones with anything of value.

      Beyond that, just by virtue of the fear of any of those events or general international turmoil rising, the value of gold rises, too, as one of very few stores of wealth that can survive any such event. Investing in gold is a great low-risk move for guaranteed returns on huge reserves.

      Edit: I don’t know why people are downvoting this lol. Talk to literally anyone in finance.

  • No_Eponym@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    The world’s gold you say? Seems to me that once someone owns it the gold is no longer the property of “the world.”

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Despite China being the largest producer of gold in the world, its central bank has been at the forefront of a surge in purchases of the precious metal on the international market as it seeks to reduce its reliance on the dollar.

    While the full extent of China’s holdings and purchases are opaque to international observers, experts say the increase in interest in gold is part of a broader move away from dollar-based assets that has been taking place for a while, at a time of financial and geopolitical volatility.

    Rather than seeking to influence the U.S. economy, they say, China’s gold rush could be an attempt to shore up its fiscal position with a stable and highly saleable asset as bond markets suffer and its relations with Western nations sour.

    Since the spy balloon incident, questions have been raised of land purchases near U.S. Air Force bases, while it has been accused of stealing American agricultural technology and intellectual property.

    In order to combat post-pandemic inflation, many central banks have raised interest rates, which have in turn affected government bond yields that drive down the return on such investments.

    “Contrary to widespread perception, if China buys fewer U.S. assets, this will not hurt the U.S.,” Michael Pettis, a professor of finance at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management, told Newsweek.


    The original article contains 1,027 words, the summary contains 221 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • atk007@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    China is hoarding the world’s gold

    the fifth largest behind the Federal Reserve’s

    Guess who they learned from?