Why Gold has been allowed to run (incentive-based analysis)
Gold can satisfy the public's "store-of-value" impulse without granting a parallel, censorship-resistant payments rail.
Why Gold has been allowed to run (incentive-based analysis)
As of October 14th 2025, Gold has risen 58.41% YTD and 55.81% on the 1 year.
Gold’s market cap is $28.055T, so it is by far the largest asset by market cap in the world.
Letting gold run while containing Bitcoin fits the State’s incentives.
Gold can satisfy the public’s “store-of-value” impulse without granting a parallel, censorship-resistant payments rail; it trades in surveilled, gate-kept markets (London OTC/COMEX, custodian oligopolies).
Central banks themselves are heavy buyers, and its price can be influenced via regulated derivatives and custody choke-points.
Bitcoin, by contrast, threatens monetary sovereignty if it spreads as money.
Executive Summary
Why gold’s being allowed to run: It absorbs inflation/sovereignty angst into a non-transactional, surveilled hedge. It recapitalizes Central Bank balance sheets optically, broadens collateral in stress, and crowds out Bitcoin self-custody while programmable rails (stablecoins/CBDCs) normalize.
Regime goal: Contain BTC-as-Medium-of-Exchange in a vol-managed corridor; let gold carry the “sound money” banner.
Revaluation hopium: A dramatic $6k–$10k/oz repricing is unlikely absent crisis. It’s mostly accounting optics unless monetized, which is politically charged and inflationary.
Base macro: Financial repression (3–4% headline-style inflation), short shocks, fast patches; no prolonged crisis while consent is scarce.
Trade: Long gold on policy/credit wobble, add when Bitcoin containment tightens and CBDC/stablecoin rails get policy carrots. Keep a Bitcoin self-custody tail hedge for regime breaks.
1) Why Gold Is “Allowed to Run” (Incentive Map)
A. Controlled safety valve (store-of-value without rails)
Satisfies Store-of-Value instincts without enabling parallel payments.
Gold is heavy, slow, taxable, traceable at on/off-ramps; custody concentrated; choke-points abound (COMEX/LBMA, customs, export, windfall tax).
B. Balance-sheet optics (quiet recap)
Higher price lifts revaluation reserves for Central Banks/sovereigns marking to market (ECB-style), without explicit QE headlines.
C. Collateral optionality (plumbing)
With duration supply/term premium wobbles, a firmer gold price broadens “good collateral” narratives in cross-border finance while leaving USD rails central.
D. Narrative management
A rising gold tape lets authorities say: “sound money is tolerated”. Legitimacy bought cheaply while programmable money UX hardens.
E. Diversion/crowding-out vs Bitcoin
Gold soaks hedge demand from retail/institutions who prefer ETF/IRA-friendly exposure over key management. That’s deliberate crowding-out of Bitcoin as Medium of Exchange.
Bottom line: Gold stabilizes optics & balance sheets and siphons dissent — perfect for a regime moving to identity-bound, programmable money.
2) Revaluation: What It Really Does (Numbers & Limits)
US gold (alleged): ~261.5M oz.
Book: $42.22/oz → ~$11B.
Mark-to-$6,000/oz: ~$1.57T; $10,000/oz: ~$2.62T.
Delta is an equity/revaluation reserve — not automatic debt reduction.
Why it’s a limited debt cure
Even $10k/oz (~$2.62T) is <10% of US federal debt (~$38T). Optics improve; liabilities persist.
When it actually moves cash/debt
Monetize the gain:
Sell gold and redeem Treasuries; or
Pledge gold certificates to Fed → Treasury credited → retire debt.
That creates base money unless fully sterilized (Fed sells assets/uses RRP). Otherwise inflationary or forces offsetting tightening.
Politics
Explicit reprice = devaluation signal (winners: gold holders; losers: cash/bond holders). This is used only in crisis to justify a narrative shift.
Conclusion: Revaluation hopium = overstated. Accounting boost ≠ regime fix. Monetization is inflationary/charged; size vs debt stock is small.
3) Why Let Gold Run Now (Timing Fit)
Low Gross Consent Product (consent scarce) → avoid long recessions; prefer short shocks + fast patches.
Programmable rails (stablecoins → CBDCs) need adoption carrots; Bitcoin must be contained (paperization, regulation, Medium-of-Exchange friction).
Gold bull provides a pressure valve and legitimacy theater while the real control stack is built.
4) Signals That Gold’s “Allowed Run” Continues (Buy/Add Triggers)
Bitcoin containment escalates: wallet KYC tightening, pool policy clients, app-store Acceptable Use Policies shifts.
Stablecoin/CBDC carrots: tax credits, cashbacks, benefits via ID-bound wallets.
Collateral stress hints: term premium rising, Treasury shifts issuance to bills vs coupons (duration indigestion).
Policy verb cluster: attest, provenance, revoke, rollback in standards/RFPs (Policy Synchronization Coefficient/Legibility Pressure Index up).
Central Bank reserve behavior: steady net buying; fewer gold-leasing headlines.
Trim/hedge on:
“Gold revaluation” political trial balloons with sterilization promise (buy rumor/sell clarity), or
Aggressive global disinflation + dollar rip + MOVE>120 without crisis narrative (unlikely).
5) Disconfirmers (What Would Break This Thesis)
Coordinated hard ban on private crypto + aggressive gold export controls/windfall taxes (signals broad monetary war; volatility everywhere).
Unambiguous, sustained 2% CPI with rising real rates and clean deficit shrink — low probability in low-consent regime.
Clear Bitcoin-as-Medium of Exchange success with state acquiescence (stablecoin/CBDC pilots fail) → gold loses some crowd-out function (unlikely).
TL;DR
Function: Gold is the authorized safety valve — soaks inflation angst, recaps optics, broadens collateral, and crowds out Bitcoin-Medium-of-Exchange during programmable-money rollout.
Revaluation: Mostly accounting unless monetized (then inflationary). Size vs debt: too small to be a cure.
Macro backdrop: Financial repression (3–4% CPI), short shocks, facility patches; consent too scarce for long austerity.
Signals to buy: Bitcoin containment, CBDC carrots, duration stress, Policy Synchronization Coefficient/Legibility Pressure Index verbs, Central Banks net buying.
Structures: Core gold + call spreads; pair with state-embedded software (PLTR > MSFT > PANW).
Edge: You’re trading revealed preference — valve up, rails normalize, Bitcoin contained — not fairy tales.
My current outlook: PLTR > Bitcoin > Gold > MSFT > PANW.
None of this should be considered investment advice.
Other articles I’ve written on investing:
How people and systems handle complexity (investment implications)
What inflation/real-rate band maximizes system stability with minimal consent drawdown
Why Mainstream Media is pushing the debasement trade (Gold, Bitcoin)
What the financial system is designed to do (First Principles)
Constrained Efficient Market Hypothesis (how Prices get made)
Other articles I’ve written on Bitcoin & Gold:
Why Mainstream Media is pushing the debasement trade (Gold, Bitcoin)
Permissionless technology ≠ permissionless adoption (implications for Bitcoin)
Game Theory: How Governments could delegitimize Bitcoin Maximalism
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