Gold overtakes US Treasuries as top global reserve asset: ECB

The European Central Bank just made it official: gold has passed US Treasuries as the world's largest central bank reserve asset. Gold accounted for 27% of global central bank reserve assets at the end of 2025, up from 20% a year earlier, while the share of US Treasuries fell to 22% from 25% over the same period.

What the ECB actually said

For the first time since the Bretton Woods era, gold has displaced US government bonds as the world's most widely held reserve asset, confirmed in the ECB's annual report on the international role of the euro.

“Geopolitical tensions continue to drive strong central bank demand for gold,” wrote ECB president Christine Lagarde in the report. The ECB said central banks now hold more than 36,000 tonnes of gold.

Price did most of the work

The ECB said higher gold prices drove the shift more than new central bank buying, with central banks holding about 36,000 tons of gold, valued near $4.5 trillion. Official holdings of US Treasuries were estimated near $3.5 trillion.

Gold prices climbed above $3,500 an ounce, supporting a rise of about 35% during the year, during a period marked by concerns over inflation, US fiscal conditions, Federal Reserve independence and geopolitical instability.

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Why central banks are piling in

The ECB said the acceleration in official gold buying began after the 2022 freezing of Russian reserve assets, a development that prompted many countries to reassess the balance between sovereign debt holdings and reserve assets free from counterparty risk.

China, Poland, Turkey, and India were identified as the largest sovereign accumulators of gold since 2022. The report also highlighted stablecoin issuer Tether as the largest single buyer in 2025, purchasing more than 100 tonnes of bullion.

The dollar is not dethroned, yet

Despite gold's rise, dollar-denominated assets still represented the largest share of global reserves at 42%. The dollar has not been displaced as the world's reserve currency. What has been displaced is the specific instrument, US Treasuries, that was the default store of value for central banks managing exchange rate stability and liquidity.

The ECB notes gold's volatility, lack of interest, storage costs, and inelastic supply limit its sustainability as a top reserve asset. The takeaway for traders: the marginal buyer of long-duration Treasuries is structurally weaker, and the marginal buyer of gold is structurally stronger.

Options market and stocks to watch

A structural shift in reserve preference toward bullion changes the demand picture for miners, ETFs, and long bonds. Watch for:

• GLD: the largest physical gold ETF, a direct read on bullion flows as central banks and private allocators rotate in.
• GDX: gold miner ETF, higher beta to sustained bullion prices above $3,500/oz.
• NEM: Newmont, the largest US-listed miner, sensitive to any continuation of the reserve-driven bid.
• TLT: long-duration Treasury ETF, watch for whether reduced central bank appetite pressures the long end.
• UUP: dollar index proxy, still the reserve currency but with a weaker Treasury bid behind it.

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