Gold Overtakes US Treasuries in $12T Global Reserves Shift

- Central banks hold more gold than US Treasuries for the first time - Geopolitical tensions and sanctions risk drive diversification of reserves For the first time in history, global central bank gold holdings have surpassed US Treasury bonds as the top official reserve asset, according to a European Central Bank (ECB) report released on 2026-06-02. By the end of 2025, gold accounted for 27% of global central bank reserves, while US Treasuries fell to 22%. This shift reflects escalating geopolitical tensions and the increased risk of asset freezes, as central banks—especially in China, India, Turkey, and Poland—have moved away from dollar-denominated assets after Russian reserves were frozen following the Ukraine war. On June 2, 2026, CoinDesk reported that the share of gold in global reserves had risen to 27% at the close of 2025, up from 20% a year earlier. Over the same period, CoinDesk reported that US Treasuries dropped from 25% to 22%. On June 2, 2026, ECB President Christine Lagarde said during a press briefing in Frankfurt, “Central banks are increasingly seeking a store of value not subject to unilateral restrictions,” and she noted that gold’s appeal lies in being effectively immune to foreign asset freezes and sanctions. Despite this substantial shift in reserve allocation, the ECB report confirmed that demand for the dollar in global trade and finance remains stable. In addition, the euro’s share in global reserves also stayed unchanged at 15%, indicating that, while central banks are diversifying away from US Treasuries, they are not broadly abandoning major reserve currencies.