Gold Overtakes US Treasuries: What It Means for Tokenized Gold
Gold just reclaimed its place at the top of global reserves. Tokenized gold is emerging as the infrastructure layer that follows.
Gold now represents a larger share of global official reserves than U.S. Treasury holdings, according to the ECB’s latest report on the international monetary system. The numbers are not subtle. The ECB’s June 2, 2026 report, “The International Role of the Euro,” shows the share of gold in total official foreign reserves rising to 27% at the end of 2025, up from 20% a year earlier, surpassing both U.S. Treasuries at 22% and the euro at 15%. For anyone paying attention to the future of tokenized gold, this is not a footnote. It is the headline.
What the ECB Data Actually Shows About Gold’s Rise in Global Reserves
The ECB is careful about the mechanics. Much of the shift reflects valuation effects rather than a wholesale restructuring of central bank portfolios. Gold prices rose roughly 30% in 2024 and approximately 60% in 2025, which mechanically lifted gold’s market-value share relative to fixed-income holdings priced in nominal terms. That distinction matters for analytical honesty, but it does not diminish the broader signal.
Central bank buying has been sustained at historically elevated levels. Official-sector purchases reached approximately 850 tonnes in 2025, below the record pace of more than 1,000 tonnes annually from 2022 through 2024, but still high by any recent standard. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, China has acquired more than 350 tonnes, Poland 320 tonnes, Turkey 220 tonnes, and India 130 tonnes. The ECB links this accumulation directly to geopolitical risk and the desire to hold assets outside the reach of dollar-denominated sanctions. ECB President Christine Lagarde wrote plainly in the report: “Geopolitical tensions continue to drive strong central bank demand for gold.”
One data point worth flagging: stablecoin issuer Tether purchased more than 100 tonnes of gold in 2025, making it one of the largest single buyers globally that year. The ECB flagged this directly, noting that stablecoin growth could carry broader macroeconomic implications. Its inclusion in a central bank reserve report highlights how digital asset infrastructure is becoming increasingly relevant to global precious metals markets.
One important nuance: dollar-denominated assets still represented the largest share of global reserves at 42%. This is a re-ranking of individual …
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