People are turning to a trustless asset, Phair says

AI desk brief

Scottsdale Mint’s Josh Phair says gold is increasingly being treated as a “trustless asset” and treasury reserve as confidence in government data and trade weakens, with central banks still the main demand driver. He cited China’s 22 straight months of buying and said some sovereigns are lifting target allocations from 1-3% toward 5-7%, while Poland is aiming for the upper 30%s by year-end.

Phair also argued that volatility in gold and silver is rising as metal is being used more actively, rather than sitting idle for long periods. On supply, he said the key bottleneck is refining, with mining underinvested for more than 20 years and new projects increasingly pushed into higher-risk jurisdictions in South America and Africa, adding geopolitical and permitting risk to future output.