Gold prices have repeatedly hit record highs in recent years, but this does not signal a return to the old monetary order. Instead, it reflects the seismic shifts in the global economic and political landscape. According to a research report, what we are witnessing is not a revival of the gold standard but the gradual erosion of the US dollar's dominance and the emergence of a multipolar currency system.
Gold is undergoing a repricing phase, yet a full return to the gold standard remains unlikely due to its inherent limitations and the vastly transformed global economy. While gold retains its role as a store of value and safe-haven asset in a multipolar world, it cannot replace fiat currencies in critical functions such as interest rate adjustments, liquidity provision, and asset pricing. Moreover, it fails to meet the structural demand for safe assets in modern financial systems.
Historically, gold served as the cornerstone of the international monetary system, underpinning global trade and economic prosperity under the gold standard. However, after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the US dollar ascended as the linchpin of global finance, backed by deep markets, strong sovereign credit, and institutional safeguards. Gold was relegated to a niche commodity with risk-diversification properties.
Recent years, however, have seen cracks in the dollar's credibility due to America's declining economic supremacy and mounting debt burdens. Geopolitical shocks—such as the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict and the 2025 Trump-era "reciprocal tariffs"—have further prompted global investors to reassess the safety of dollar-denominated assets, accelerating the fragmentation and diversification of the international monetary system.
Amid this turbulence, gold has naturally regained attention as a hedge, undergoing a notable revaluation and decoupling from US Treasury yields. Yet, its limitations prevent it from fully supplanting the dollar's role in the global financial architecture.
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