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Ahead of Jackson Hole, Central Banks Are Rebuilding Reserves Around Gold

Gold has overtaken U.S. Treasuries as the largest single asset in global official reserves for the first time since 1996. The shift reflects a growing premium on an asset with no issuer or credit counterparty and exposes how little infrastructure exists to use gold as modern monetary collateral.

This week, central bankers gather in Jackson Hole to debate the future of money: the mechanics of policy, the promise of financial innovation, the architecture of a faster, more digital system. It is worth noting what the world’s most conservative investors are doing while that conversation unfolds. Central bank reserve managers, those who steward the savings of nations, have just made the oldest possible choice. In 2025, gold overtook U.S. Treasuries as the largest single asset in global official reserves for the first time since 1996.

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That fact is usually filed under the safe-haven story: gold rises when investors are frightened. That framing misses what is actually happening. Strip away the crisis narrative, and what remains is a question of monetary power and financial infrastructure. The distinction at its heart is simple: a U.S. Treasury is a promise. It is the liability of the U.S. government, recorded in an account that can, under certain circumstances, be frozen. Gold sitting in your own vault is no one’s liability. No issuer, no credit........

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