Central banks are holding more gold than U.S. Treasuries in their reserve portfolios, reflecting a shift toward physical assets as governments hedge against war, sanctions and financial-system risk.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Gold has moved ahead of U.S. Treasuries in central bank reserve portfolios, marking a major shift in how governments are protecting national wealth during a period of war, sanctions risk and geopolitical uncertainty.
The change does not mean the U.S. dollar has lost its dominant role in global finance. The dollar still accounts for about 42% of global foreign-exchange reserves, making it the world’s leading reserve currency. International trade, commodity markets, global banking and cross-border finance remain heavily tied to the dollar.
What has changed is the way central banks are allocating the assets they hold alongside dollars.
Gold accounted for 27% of global central bank reserve assets at the end of 2025, up from 20% a year earlier, according to data cited by the Financial Times. U.S. Treasuries accounted for about 20% of global central bank reserves, placing them behind gold.
The shift gained momentum after Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. The United States and its allies responded by freezing a large share of Russia’s foreign reserves held inside the Western financial system. In January 2022, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation held about $3.9 billion in U.S. Treasury securities.
Those sanctions underscored the reach of the dollar-based financial system, but they also showed governments that financial assets held inside that system can become inaccessible during geopolitical conflict.
Physical gold is different. Once held inside a nation’s own borders, it cannot be frozen by a foreign government in the same way as Treasury securities, bank deposits or other financial assets. For many central banks, that distinction has become more important as sanctions and military conflicts reshape reserve strategy.
The war in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, U.S.-China rivalry and concerns over future sanctions have all encouraged reserve managers to diversify. European Central Bank research has identified China, Poland, Turkey and India among the major gold buyers in recent years.
Gold’s rally has also magnified the shift. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, gold traded near $1,905 an ounce. By June 2, 2026, it was trading around $4,555 an ounce, a gain of about 139%. Earlier this year, gold reached a record high near $5,400 an ounce on Jan. 28.
The price surge has sharply increased the value of official gold holdings. Central banks collectively own about 36,000 tons of gold, valued at roughly $5.2 trillion at current prices. Foreign official institutions, including central banks and sovereign reserve managers, hold about $3.9 trillion in U.S. Treasuries, according to the latest Treasury Department data.
Private buyers have also joined the move into gold. Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, purchased about 100 tons of gold in 2025, equal to roughly 200,000 pounds and valued at about $14.6 billion at current prices.
The scale of gold accumulation has drawn comparisons to the Bretton Woods era, when gold played a central role in the international monetary system and the U.S. dollar was backed by bullion.
The current shift, however, is not a rejection of the dollar. It reflects a broader hedging strategy by central banks that still rely on the dollar while adding an asset that does not carry the same counterparty risk.
Governments are not abandoning dollar reserves. They are supplementing them with gold.
The dollar remains the center of the global financial system, but gold is increasingly being treated as insurance against sanctions, conflict and financial disruption. That calculation helps explain why central banks are buying bullion at the fastest pace in generations and why gold has now surpassed U.S. Treasuries in official reserve portfolios.
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