Central banks are nonetheless accumulating gold at one of many quickest charges seen lately, at the same time as costs stay traditionally elevated on a broader scale.
The pattern continued past the third quarter of 2026, strengthening the case that sovereign establishments nonetheless overwhelmingly want the standard safe-haven asset when diversifying their reserves.
Nonetheless Shopping for Gold
In response to information shared by the analysts from the Kobeissi Letter, international central banks acquired 321 tonnes of gold throughout Q3 2026, the biggest quarterly quantity in virtually two years and the fifth-largest on file. Purchases elevated 8% from 296 tonnes in Q2 and surged from simply 58 tonnes in Q1. For comparability, the five-year quarterly common stands at round 227 tonnes. Yr-to-date demand reached 675 tonnes, 6% greater than the identical interval in 2025.
The 2 standout consumers are China and Poland. They’ve added 63 tonnes and 40 tonnes, respectively, whereas Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan every purchased one other 14 tonnes. The Czech Republic continued its multi-year accumulation spree as nicely.
And the shopping for didn’t finish in September, as additional reviews famous. Reuters, for instance, mentioned the Individuals’s Financial institution of China added one other 25.8 tonnes in October, which turned its largest month-to-month buy in three years. Poland purchased one other 27 tonnes that month, taking its reserves to its beforehand introduced goal of 700 tonnes. Governor Adam Glapinski subsequently mentioned he noticed no purpose for the nation to cease accumulating the dear metallic.
The World Gold Council argued that reserve diversification and threat administration stay key motivations for central banks, whereas Q3 gold ETF demand additionally rebounded strongly, including 211 tonnes.
Gold Beats Bitcoin Once more
The event turns into notably fascinating when gold is measured not in opposition to the greenback, however in opposition to bitcoin. The XAU/BTC ratio has risen from roughly 0.047 in early October to virtually 0.057 now, a surge of roughly 20%. Put merely, an oz. of gold now buys significantly extra BTC than it did simply over a month in the past.
This displays the sharp divergence between the 2 supposed “arduous cash” property. BTC traded nicely above $80,000 throughout most of October however has since suffered a brutal correction to $65,000. The valuable metallic has additionally misplaced some floor in opposition to the dollar, closing on Friday at round $3,900/oz. Nevertheless, its losses have been considerably much less painful than bitcoin’s.
The comparability doesn’t essentially undermine BTC’s longer-term shortage thesis. Central banks function underneath very totally different constraints from personal buyers, and gold already has centuries of historical past to help its narrative.
Bitcoin has struggled amid deleveraging, ETF outflows, and broader risk-off strain, whereas central banks have been aggressively accumulating its oldest and maybe closest rival. The present XAU/BTC chart from under means that the standard safe-haven asset is profitable this spherical.
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