Russia’s Banking Sector Doubles Down on Gold & Gems - Portfolio Skyrockets in 2025
Russian banks ditch digital dreams for tangible treasures, betting big on bullion and jewels.
The Great Pivot: From Bytes to Bullion
While global finance flirts with blockchain, Russia's banking heavyweights execute a stark reversal. They're channeling capital into the ancient stores of value—gold and gemstones—seeing them as the ultimate geopolitical hedge. The strategy isn't just a dip; it's a full-scale plunge.
Doubling Down on the Physical
The numbers tell the story of a sector-wide conviction. Forget tokenized assets; the real vaults are filling up. This aggressive reallocation speaks to a deeper calculus about sovereignty, stability, and what holds value when digital ledgers flicker. It’s a move that bypasses algorithmic volatility for geological certainty.
A Cynical Take on Safe Havens
In a world chasing the next algorithmic stablecoin, Russia’s play looks almost quaint—or brutally pragmatic. It’s the ultimate 'show me the asset' strategy, a bet that when chips are down, humans still crave the shiny, heavy, and real. One financier's diversification is another's admission that sometimes, the best innovation is a few billion years old. The closing argument? While tech evangelists preach decentralization, traditional power is quietly consolidating around the most centralized asset class of all: what you can literally hold in your hand. A sobering reminder that in finance, the 'next big thing' is often the oldest one they never let go of.
Banks in Russia rush to buy gold and gems
The volume of money invested by Russian banks in precious metals and gemstones saw an almost two-fold increase in 2025, exceeding 600 billion rubles as of early December.
The daily Izvestia published and analyzed the figures provided by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) in an article on Monday.
According to the official stats, physical gold held by Russian financial institutions also nearly doubled last year, to more than six metric tons.
The asset increase came amid rising prices and high demand from clients, the publication noted in the report, trying to establish if investor interest will continue to grow this year.
The CBR’s numbers show that bank holdings of precious metals and stones jumped to 607 billion rubles (well over $7.9 billion) between January 1 and December 1, a 1.9-fold increase.
Industry watchers say the main reason for the upward trend was the sharp rise in prices, mainly those of gold, which went up 65% in 2025, but also silver rates, which increased by 150%.
This boosted the value of precious metals kept by Russian banks, even without the increase in physical volumes, noted Nikolay Dudchenko, an analyst at the FG Finam investment firm.
Last year, gold appreciated from around $2,600 to $4,300. Ahead of the weekend, spot market prices reached $4,940 per ounce. On Monday, gold surged past $5,100, another record high.
Precious metals retain their status as key safe-haven assets in the face of geopolitical and economic uncertainties, according to another Russian investment company.
That’s the main reason why Russian banks turn to gold and similar commodities when they are looking to diversify their portfolios, Cifra Broker told Izvestia.
Customer demand pushes gold too
Investor demand has been another major factor. According to the state-owned PSB, formerly Promsvyazbank, the volume of gold on the balance sheets of banks increased in line with growing public interest.
“Thus, amid intensifying sanctions pressure, the volume of precious metals in the banking system, measured in gold equivalent, increased from 1.1 tonnes in 2020 to 2.8 tonnes in 2024,” noted Dmitry Gritskevich, who heads Banking and Financial Markets Analysis at the PSB.
“2025 brought a new impetus – over 11 months, the volume of precious metals in the banking system doubled to 6.3 tonnes,” added the analyst, whose institution is among those affected by Western financial restrictions over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Another sanctioned Russian bank, VTB, confirmed the trend, admitting it actively purchased precious metals on the domestic market, bumping its volumes by 20% last year. Its press service attributed the increase mainly to rising customer demand.
Rosselkhozbank and Sberbank saw strong client interest as well. Ruble-denominated investments in metal accounts at Sber, Russia’s largest bank by assets, increased by 20%.
The positive price dynamic has turned precious metals into some of the most profitable safe-haven assets on offer, helping investors diversify their portfolios.
The trend is actually global and not limited to commercial banks alone, as the monetary authorities of a number of nations have also sought to top up their gold reserves, making it more stable.
According to the forecasts of the World Gold Council (WGC), central banks are preparing to purchase approximately 755 tons of the precious metal in 2026.
While the figure is lower than the volumes registered in the 2024 – 2025 period, when they exceeded 1,000 tons, it’s nevertheless significant, commented Andrey Smirnov, a stock market expert at BCS bank.
While many analysts think future returns on gold will primarily depend on the macroeconomic situation, BSC believes the main returns for Russian investors in 2026, likely in the 35 – 40% range, will stem from the expected weakening of the ruble.
At the same time, Finam projects gold prices reaching $5,400 per ounce, although Russian market watchers are not yet convinced this year will repeat the 2025 growth.
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