Geopolitical tensions are sharpening debates over which asset best preserves a nation’s financial sovereignty: gold or Bitcoin. Gold has long been viewed as a safe haven, but concerns over physical storage and political risk have resurfaced. Germany, the world’s second-largest gold holder, stores roughly 1,236 tonnes, valued at about €164 billion, largely in U.S. vaults.
Bitcoin offers characteristics that traditional gold cannot match in crisis conditions: portability, easy cross-border transfer, and resilience to arbitrary seizures when self-custodied. A JPMorgan analysis found Bitcoin outranked gold on seven of eight key value-storage dimensions, with ‘history’ as the only area where gold retained an edge. Experts say self-custody is essential to protect financial sovereignty from state power when external custody is involved.
Historical episodes underscore the risk of third-party custody: in 2019, Venezuela’s attempt to withdraw gold from the Bank of England was blocked amid geopolitical pressure. Some governments are evaluating alternative vaults beyond Western centers, including ideas centered on the Shanghai Gold Exchange to reduce dollar dependence. Bitcoin’s non-custodial model offers resilience when conventional systems falter, though it raises questions about traceability and enforcement.
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