Gold Takes Over as Global Reserve Currency

Author and economist Nassim Taleb believes the global financial system has shifted—quietly but firmly. In a recent Bloomberg interview, Taleb shared his view that gold has replaced the US dollar as the true reserve asset around the world. While global trade still relies on the dollar, he argues that more countries are converting back into gold behind the scenes.

Good to know

• Taleb spoke with Bloomberg and said gold has taken over as the world’s reserve.
• He links the shift to US-led sanctions that froze Russian-linked assets.
• Countries now appear to convert trade profits into gold instead of holding dollars.

In the interview, Taleb explained that the turning point came after the US and its allies froze accounts tied to Russian individuals during the early stages of the Ukraine conflict. He said, “It started with Biden when he froze the accounts of people connected to Putin… people not connected to Putin decided to stay away from the euro and the dollar.”

That move, according to Taleb, damaged the dollar’s credibility. He explained that what began as a strategy against Russia made others around the world nervous. They started to rethink whether holding assets in US dollars or euros was safe in the long run.

“You can see the accumulation of gold in the reserves and the behavior of gold over the past 12 months,” he said. “Gold is effectively now the reserve currency.” He clarified that transactions still take place in dollars, but nations and institutions often convert back into gold once deals are done.

Taleb also touched on how this loss of confidence shows up in investment behavior. “There’s a second risk,” he noted. “The first one is the deficit, the second one is effectively that the dollar is losing its status as a reserve currency.” He added that many investors now prefer to move into stocks or alternative assets, instead of holding cash that steadily loses value.

While Bitcoin often gets mentioned in discussions about alternatives to the dollar, Taleb made no mention of it here. His focus remains on gold, which has held steady during inflation, rate changes, and geopolitical stress.

You can watch the full Bloomberg interview with Nassim Taleb below.