China is draining London’s gold market, pressuring the dollar system. The shift is quiet but seismic. The world’s financial battlefield is turning golden.
Macroeconomic strategist Luke Gromen says China is using the dollar’s oldest weakness — the unallocated gold market in London. For decades, London balanced gold demand by expanding paper claims instead of releasing real gold. But that era is ending fast. China is now settling global trade in yuan and gold, not dollars, and physically pulling bullion out of London’s vaults.
Central banks are buying gold at record pace. The World Gold Council says 2024 and 2025 saw the biggest official gold purchases in over 60 years. The United States still holds around 8,133 tonnes of gold, about 76% of its reserves. China officially declares 2,298 tonnes but experts believe its true holdings may exceed 10,000 or even 15,000 tonnes when…
