Why The World Is Taking Payment In Gold

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Trey Reik argues gold is increasingly being used as a settlement asset by US trading partners, pointing to a sharp jump in non-monetary gold exports: $34bn in 2024, $83bn in 2025, and an annualized pace near $150bn in 2026. On his numbers, gold accounted for 3.7% of the US trade deficit in 2024, 9.3% in 2025, and roughly 20% so far in 2026 — a pattern he says has not appeared in at least two decades of data. The conversation frames this as “re-monetization” rather than retail cash usage: sovereigns and reserve managers are increasingly choosing gold as a reserve and settlement asset. Reik links the trend to anti-dollar sentiment, the US deficit, and declining Fed credibility, with the 2022 Russian reserve freeze cited as a key catalyst for the shift away from dollar-centric settlement. For metals traders, the read-through is structurally bullish for gold if the trend persists, because it implies official-sector and cross-border demand is broadening beyond traditional jewelry/investment channels. Near-term focus stays on whether export flows and reserve allocation data continue to confirm the thesis, especially as the story intersects with dollar trust, sanctions risk, and any further deterioration in US fiscal optics.