Charlie Garcia

Thu, May 15, 2025, 3:59 PM6 min read

Something suspicious is happening with gold. Not the kind of suspicion when your neighbor suddenly buys a Ferrari. I mean the kind when a guy in dark glasses unloads mysterious crates at 2 a.m.

In the first two months of 2025, America quietly imported more than 600 tons of gold from London and Switzerland, according to World Gold Council data — enough to make King Midas blush. Officially, economists at many major banks waved it away as a statistical oddity. “Relax,” they said. “It’s just bullion banks hoarding gold ahead of tariffs.” Sure. And a fleet of black helicopters landing at your neighbor’s barbecue is just the local weather guy testing his equipment.

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Maybe it’s nothing — but let’s walk through it slowly.

The world’s central banks — think of them as the world’s biggest piggy banks — picked up 1,062 tons of gold last year, their third straight year on a buying binge. Countries haven’t moved on gold GC00 this aggressively since the 1950s, back when Elvis was king and TVs were furniture. So here’s a question: What exactly do they know that we don’t?

Russia and China — America’s two biggest geopolitical headaches — have spent the past two decades stockpiling gold at an unprecedented rate. Makes you wonder if they’re anticipating trouble, or planning to cause it. Meanwhile, America’s official gold reserves have sat at roughly 8,133 tons in total for years, according to the World Gold Council. There’s about 4,603 tons of gold in Fort Knox alone.

And speaking of geopolitical heartburn, last week China flashed its poker hand, allowing local firms holding foreign currency (think U.S. dollars DX00) to buy gold. That’s right, China — which was sitting on around $784 billion in U.S. Treasurys as of February — suddenly gave companies permission to swap greenbacks for gold bars. Exchanging just 10% of those dollars into gold would equal roughly 8% of America’s official gold holdings at Fort Knox. Coincidence? Sure, if you believe Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa are living together in Boca Raton.