Key Takeaways
- Central banks purchased a record 483 tonnes of gold in H1 2024.
- Poland, India, and Turkey were the biggest buyers of gold.
- Bitcoin outperformed gold with a 37% YTD increase despite a recent decline.
Central banks globally have ramped up their gold reserves in 2024, with a record 483 tonnes purchased in the first half of the year, according to a report by the Kobeissi Letter.
This marks a 5% increase over the previous record of 460 tonnes set in the same period last year.
Biggest buyers of gold
Key contributors to the surge include the National Bank of Poland, the Reserve Bank of India, and the Central Bank of Turkey.
Poland’s central bank president, Adam Glapinski, announced plans to continue gold purchases, aiming for the metal to constitute 20% of its reserves.
Rise of gold
Gold’s popularity is partly driven by concerns over the reliability of Western reserve assets.
Tolou Capital Management’s Spencer Hakimian noted that countries like China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia are increasingly favoring gold as a stable reserve asset.
Gold vs Bitcoin
Despite gold’s strong performance, up 23% year-to-date, Bitcoin has outperformed it with a 37% increase, even though it has dropped 22% from its March high.
Gold reached a record price of $2,525 per ounce on August 27, but Bitcoin remains the superior investment so far in 2024.
Meanwhile, Peter Schiff, a known Bitcoin critic, emphasized that Bitcoin’s gains were limited to the early months of 2024, while gold continues its upward trend.
