China’s Central Bank Extends Gold-Buying Spree to 15 Months Straight, Adding 40,000 Troy Ounces in January
Central banks keep stacking gold while quietly questioning the dollar's future.
The 15-Month Signal
For over a year now, China's monetary authority has been a relentless buyer in the gold market. January marked the fifteenth consecutive month of accumulation, with another 40,000 troy ounces added to the national coffers. This isn't a trade; it's a strategic repositioning.
Decoding the Move
Why the persistent appetite for a shiny, inert metal? It's the ultimate hedge against systemic uncertainty. Gold represents a form of monetary sovereignty—an asset outside the traditional banking and currency systems that central banks themselves oversee. When the guardians of fiat currency stockpile a non-yielding asset, it sends a clearer message than any press release.
The Bigger Picture
This sustained buying spree fits a global pattern of de-dollarization. Nations are subtly diversifying reserves away from an over-reliance on any single currency. Gold provides a historical, politically neutral anchor in that shift. It's the original hard asset, and its appeal only grows as digital and traditional finance blur.
A Provocative Parallel
Think of it as the analog version of a crypto whale accumulating Bitcoin—a long-term bet on a fundamental store of value, executed with bureaucratic patience. While speculators chase the next meme coin, the world's largest financial institutions are executing a century-spanning strategy with physical bullion. Sometimes the most disruptive moves happen at a glacial pace, right under the noses of high-frequency traders.
So, while Wall Street analysts debate quarterly earnings, the People's Bank of China is playing a different game entirely. They're building a golden lifeboat, one cautious, methodical purchase at a time—proving that sometimes the smartest money avoids the market's noise altogether and just buys the bedrock.
US hedge funds cut positions as traders get wiped out
As the crash unfolded, speculators ran for the exit. Hedge funds and big traders dumped gold fast. Bullish positions were cut by 23% in just one week.
That left net-long positions at 93,438 contracts, the lowest in over three months, based on U.S. trading data through February 3. That was the biggest drop since October.
While traders were dumping gold, central banks were still stacking. Global official purchases reached over 860 tons in 2025. That’s down from the 1,000-ton pace seen in each of the last three years, but it’s still a heavy total.
The World Gold Council expects more steady buying this year, with China clearly leading the charge.
Back on the mainland, things weren’t much calmer. Gold-backed ETFs in China saw their worst day ever for withdrawals.
On Tuesday, the four biggest ETFs (Huaan Yifu, Bosera, E Fund, and Guotai) lost about 6.8 billion yuan, which is close to $980 million. It was their second day in a row of big outflows, right after taking in record inflows earlier that same week.
As retail buyers panicked, Chinese banks started putting new rules in place. On Friday, China Construction Bank said it WOULD raise the minimum deposit on its gold savings accounts starting Monday. The bank also told customers to be more careful and think about risk before throwing money at gold.
At the same time, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rolled out quota limits for its Ruyi Gold Savings program, especially during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays.
Exchanges are also stepping in, introducing new limits and restrictions aimed at cooling off the wild price swings across metal markets, not just in gold.
Still, there’s no real panic yet. In Shuibei, a major silver trading hub, dealers said more people were selling than buying over the weekend, but not in a panic. Prices for silver there are still trading above the official exchange levels, which means there’s still demand.
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