Editor’s note
- Gold is no longer safe: Several countries release their gold reserves
- Turkish central bank releases 60 tons of gold
- War requires emergency cash
Gold is no longer safe: Several countries release their gold reserves
Gold is no longer safe. War changes everything. For thousands of years, one rule has remained unchanged: when the world is in chaos, buy gold.
But this time, that rule has just been broken. The war between the US and Iran began on February 28, 2026, and threw the world into panic; everyone should have fled to gold.
But the opposite happened. The price of gold reached a record high of 5,602 dollars per troy ounce in January 2026, only to fall by nearly 25% to 4,100 dollars within a month.
This was the largest drop in the gold price in a single month since 2008. It was not just ordinary investors who sold; Even the central banks of major countries began releasing their gold reserves, an unprecedented step in the history of modern conflicts.
Turkish central bank releases 60 tons of gold
Who is selling? Turkey is the biggest seller. In the first two weeks of the conflict, the Turkish central bank released approximately 60 tons of gold worth more than 8 billion dollars.
The governor of the Turkish central bank openly admitted that the gold was sold to support the value of the weakening lira.
Meanwhile, Russia has been steadily selling gold since 2025 to cover the budget deficit caused by the ever-increasing costs of the war, totaling approximately 2.4 billion dollars.
Poland, which was the world’s largest gold buyer for the past two years, is now considering selling its reserves to finance defense spending.
This signal alone is enough to shake up the market. Dubai, the global center for gold trading, saw gold stuck in warehouses due to flight shutdowns and forced to sell at a significant discount on the local market because it could not be shipped abroad.
There is an old saying in the financial world: if people worry about the future, they buy gold. If they worry about the present, they sell it.
War requires cash for emergencies
This war forces countries to need cash now to pay for energy, weapons, and necessities.
Gold is the most liquid asset and can be converted quickly. Moreover, rising oil prices are driving global inflation, and the US central bank will likely raise interest rates in response.
High interest rates make gold, which offers no return, less attractive than bonds. But don’t get me wrong, this does not mean that gold will lose its value forever.
Goldman Sachs still predicts that the price of gold will return to $5,400 by the end of 2026. JP Morgan is even aiming for $6,300 if the Fed starts lowering interest rates.
But for now, the world proves otherwise. In a major war, even gold cannot save you if you do not need long-term protection, but cash to survive today. ***aitik
