Massive volumes of gold are being moved from Western countries, to vaults outside the SWIFT system and Western regulation.

Even for the world's top gold mining countries, such as China and Kazakhstan, their central banks are buying, instead of selling, despite record high gold prices.

It is possible that countries are depositing gold into vaults located in friendly countries, as a form of "mutual hostage-taking". In so doing, the gold on deposit can collateralize hundreds of billions of dollars in real goods trading, and thereby replace Treasury bonds and dollars in that role.

Western sanctions against Russia have supercharged other governments' urgency to build an alternative trading system, free of political coercion and foreign oversight.

((CORRECTION: I should not have said that millions of new investors are trading Shanghai gold futures, but rather that millions of new contract volumes are being traded. Apologies. The Substack transcript is correct, for users there.))

Closing scene, Tonanri Waterfall, Hainan

Resources and links:

Shanghai Gold Exchange launches first offshore vault in Hong Kong
https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3315978/shanghai-gold-exchange-launches-first-offshore-vault-hong-kong

The BRICS 2025 Dedollarization Endgame
https://vblgoldfix.substack.com/p/brics-2025-summit-gold-and-the-dedollarization

China Produced the Most Gold in 2023
https://www.voronoiapp.com/natural%20resources/China-Produced-the-Most-Gold-in-2023--1085

Central Bankers Are Still Buying Gold After Record Bull Run
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-03/gold-market-s-record-breaking-rally-powered-by-central-bank-buying

The New Gold Hub? Here’s Why Singapore Storage Is Rising
https://talkmarkets.com/content/global-markets/the-new-gold-hub-heres-why-singapore-storage-is-rising?post=506540

Gold Keeps Setting New Record Prices. So Where Are the Investors?
https://www.usfunds.com/resource/gold-keeps-setting-new-record-prices-so-where-are-the-investors/