On Wednesday, gold prices broke through the historical high of $4,200 per ounce, driven by retail consumers purchasing physical gold and central banks around the world using gold as a hedge against currency inflation.
According to local media Nightly News, on Thursday, customers were seen queuing outside the ABC Bullion store in Sydney, Australia.
By noon, the queue was nearly 200 feet long, with several people in line stating that macroeconomic uncertainty, the declining value of the dollar, and distrust in financial institutions were reasons for their choice to hold physical gold.
Yahoo Finance data (source: Yahoo Finance) shows that gold prices have risen approximately 61% year-to-date.
Economist Mohamed El-Erian noted that in August of this year, gold's share in global central bank reserves surpassed that of U.S. Treasury bonds for the first time since 1996, now accounting for over 25% of total global central bank reserves.
This trend highlights the market's preference for safe-haven assets. Market analysis firm The Kobeissi Letter pointed out:
The Kobeissi Letter stated that the dollar is experiencing its weakest year since 1973, while Bitcoin and gold have reached all-time highs. Currency devaluation and declining trust in traditional institutions typically serve as positive drivers for holding assets, value-storing assets, and hard currency assets.
Bitcoin is a limited-supply and censorship-resistant currency, possessing value-storing characteristics similar to gold. However, with a market capitalization of about $2.2 trillion, it is significantly lower than gold's approximately $2.9 trillion, resulting in higher price volatility.
A lower market capitalization means asset prices are more susceptible to sharp fluctuations, with insufficient liquidity making it difficult to withstand large transaction impacts. In contrast, a higher market capitalization provides more price stability, effectively cushioning against sudden declines.
After a historic market crash on Friday, Bitcoin prices fell by about 8.8%, with some altcoins dropping more than 95% within 24 hours.
Some market analysts and investors believe that Bitcoin's relatively small decline compared to altcoins demonstrates its resilience; while others point out that the divergence in price trends between Bitcoin and gold indicates that Bitcoin has yet to realize its value-storing properties.
Economist and investor Peter Schiff is one of Bitcoin's most vocal critics. He stated that Bitcoin's price has dropped from a historical high of over $125,000 to its current level, while gold has reached new highs, indicating that the Bitcoin bull market has ended.
Related: Opinion: The Maturity of Cryptocurrency Requires Systematic Discipline, Not Speculation
Original: “Gold Mania? Precious Metal Prices Hit All-Time Highs, Bank Run-like Queues at Stores”
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
