Russia has been crazily dumping its gold reserves this year, and the ruble is in free fall. Turkey sold off $50 billion worth of gold this year, and the lira has collapsed. Gold for foreign exchange, foreign exchange to save the exchange rate, exchange rate to save the economy. Once this chain breaks, everything falls apart. The country's credit can't hold up anymore. No matter how much gold you sell, you can't fill the bottomless pit of your own currency. What’s truly valuable has never been the bricks in the vault, but the market's trust in the country.