Eric Sepanek
SBC Founder
Eric Sepanek is the founder of Scottsdale Bullion & Coin, established in 2011. With extensive experience in the precious metals industry, he is dedicated to educating Americans on the wealth preservation power of gold and silver.
Todd Graf
Precious Metals Advisor
Todd Graf is a seasoned Precious Metals Advisor at Scottsdale Bullion & Coin. He has a decade-long career in finance, previously at Morgan Stanley and Vanguard. He is Series 7 licensed and has extensive experience in traditional and defensive assets, providing clients with solid investment strategies.
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Gold’s record-setting price surge and subsequent sideways movement have stolen the headlines, but the real changes are happening behind the scenes. The yellow metal has quietly surpassed the USD and euro in foreign reserves, central bank and institutional demand remains strong, and gold’s reclassified status in the banking system recentralizes the metal’s economic role.
In this week’s The Gold Spot, Scottsdale Bullion & Coin Founder Eric Sepanek and Precious Metals Advisor Todd Graf discuss these ground-breaking shifts, cover newly revealed gold price predictions, and reveal how much gold investors should hold for optimal performance.
Gold Overtakes the Dollar & Euro in Foreign Reserves
Earlier this week, the European Central Bank (ECB) released a report titled “The international role of the euro.” Although the report focused on the block’s currency, the multinational banking agency acknowledged gold’s leading role in foreign reserves. More specifically, the ECB revealed that gold’s share of official foreign reserves surged to 27% by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasuries slumped to 22%, and the euro followed behind at 15%.
This momentous growth in the yellow metal is attributable to both persistent official demand and last year’s stellar bull run. In 2024 and 2025 alone, gold prices roughly doubled.
Nominally, this places gold at the top of the leaderboard among the valuations of the main foreign reserve assets. When adjusting for this disproportionate growth, gold’s share falls in line with that of the Euro at 16%. U.S. Treasuries remain the ringleader at 26% following this adjustment.
Central Banks Keep Loading Up Their Reserves
Central bank demand has been the primary catalyst for gold’s dramatic rise in value and its share of foreign reserves over the past few years. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, governments were net sellers of physical gold bullion, but the tides began to shift in the 2010s. In the wake of the global financial crisis, countries began shifting their attention away from the increasingly volatile dollar and toward gold as a safe-haven asset.
This trend took off in 2022 when the West weaponized the dollar against Russia in the form of sanctions and other financial penalties following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. This sparked a gold-buying spree, especially in emerging economies. At once, the dollar was viewed as a liability, while physical precious metals were viewed as a neutral, inherently valuable rock upon which to base an economy and domestic fiat currency.
Between 2022 and 2024, central banks purchased over 1,000 tonnes of physical gold. In 2025, that figure reached 863 tonnes. In Q1 2026, official purchases topped out at 243.7 tonnes, putting governments on pace for another 1,000-tonne year. This sustained appetite for physical gold is reflected in de-dollarization efforts, as countries seek to limit their exposure to the USD, which is seen as riskier than it is worth.
“This isn't a trade; it's a strategic exit from the dollar, and it accelerated hard after 2022. When Washington froze Russia's dollar reserves following the invasion of Ukraine, every central bank on Earth learned the same lesson. Dollar reserves can be switched off. Gold can't.” ”
Todd Graf
Precious Metals Advisor
A New Class of Gold Buyers Emerges
Official sources remain the dominant player in the gold demand landscape, but other forces are starting to emerge. Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, purchased 100 tonnes of gold in 2025 — more than any government on the planet. These purchases continue, with Tether scooping up another 6.
As of this reporting, Tether Gold Reserve Reports1 indicate that the company holds approximately $19.8 billion in gold. Overall, this adds up to about 154 tonnes. Reuters points out that this stockpile makes the stablecoin giant among the top 20 gold holders in the world.
While Tether dominates gold accumulation within the crypto sector, other digital asset firms are also contributing to demand. PAX Gold (PAXG)2, which allows investors to own physical gold through blockchain-based tokens, is backed by approximately 15 tonnes of gold bullion, creating another avenue for institutional and retail gold buying.
“When a crypto company is out buying sovereign nations for gold, the old map of who holds the metal is being redrawn.”
Todd Graf
Precious Metals Advisor
Demand is Up Across the Board
The unfolding story of escalating gold demand isn’t restricted to the largest players in the market. In fact, global gold demand reached an all-time high of 5,000 tonnes in 2025, including official, institutional, and retail buying. During this period, investment demand, especially for gold bars and coins, leapt by 84%.
Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recovered from net outflows the year before, with positive inflows of 800 tonnes. Throughout the year, gold buying remained robust even as the yellow metal charted 53 different all-time highs, showing that higher valuations didn’t shake out demand.
Gold Upgraded to a Tier 1 Asset
Perhaps the most influential change in the gold market — with long-lasting, far-reaching consequences that many investors overlook — is gold’s status as a Tier 1 asset. In 2021, Basel III, a global framework of banking regulations, reclassified physical gold as a Tier 1 asset, placing it alongside U.S. Treasuries and fiat currencies. As a result, banks can now treat physical gold as a first-rate asset for certain balance-sheet and capital purposes. This behind-the-scenes shift significantly altered gold’s role in the global financial system almost overnight.
“Basically, gold went from a speculative commodity the banks tolerated to a core financial asset the banks rely on.”
Eric Sepanek
SBC Founder
SUGGESTED READINGGoodbye 60/40, Hello 60/20/20 Portfolio
With gold entering a renaissance period in demand, institutional legitimacy, and price growth, investors are increasingly wondering how their investments should shift accordingly. For decades, the answer to this crucial question was the 60/40 portfolio split, wherein the dominant chunk would be put into stocks, and the remaining would be split between U.S. Treasuries and gold. Typically, physical metal only received a 5% or 10% allocation.
Now, major banks are recommending a 60/20/20 portfolio. The 60% in stocks remains unchanged, but the conventional 40% is split evenly between U.S. Treasuries and physical gold. Some institutions, such as Bank of America, even go as far as to suggest that 40% be directly exposed to gold. This mainstream shift mirrors a foundational view of the decreasing reliability of government-backed assets and the increasing legitimacy of gold.
How High Can Gold Prices Go?
Gold prices have been in a holding pattern since reaching an all-time high in January 2026. With official and institutional demand trending upwards, the global banking sector celebrating the yellow metal’s central role in the economy, and mainstream investment recommendations embracing more physical gold, many people wonder when price action will respond in kind. In reality, gold price predictions for 2026 remain robust, with some even increasing.
Wells Fargo recently unveiled a bullish forecast of $8,000/oz by 2027 in its best-case scenario. Although the bank’s bear case keeps gold around $4,000/oz, not far from its current level, analysts place most of their faith in a baseline projection of $6,000/oz to $6,300/oz. Wells Fargo argues that the dollar is in the midst of its fourth debasement cycle since the 1930s. More revealingly, the bank indicates that the economy is only a few years into this phase, which typically lasts 8.5 years.
Interestingly, Deutsche Bank landed at the same gold price forecast of $8,000/oz, but through different calculations. The German-based institution highlights that since 2008, central banks have added more than 225 million ounces of gold while reducing the dollar’s share of global reserves from over 60% to roughly 40%. The bank estimates that if gold’s share of global reserves rises from about 30% to 40%, prices could approach $8,000/oz within five years. Right now, gold is merely taking a breather. The path toward $6,000/oz or higher remains open.
If you’re eager to learn how to put yourself in the best position to benefit from gold’s transformative role in the global economy and the bullish price forecasts, claim your FREE copy of our Rookie Mistakes Guide. It covers everything you need to know about investing in precious metals, helping you avoid costly mishaps and missteps.
Don’t Sleep on Silver
Once again, gold is the front-and-center concern for many precious metals investors, but silver shouldn’t be overlooked. The price of silver climbed to a new high of $121.62/oz on January 29, 2026, after skyrocketing by around 300% within a year.
Recently, Scottsdale Bullion & Coin put together an updated report on everything happening in the silver market. Silver: The Awoken Giant offers an in-depth look into silver investments and trends to help you capitalize on this opportunity.
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