Goldmaggedon: From Shanghai With Love

From Shanghai with love

China’s gold demand is largely domestic and increasingly anchored to Shanghai’s SWIFT alternative, CIPS, now used by roughly 30 countries. This system underpins what David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors calls the “Shanghai gold hoard,” where gold warrants represent direct claims on physical metal rather than paper exposure.

The latest leg higher in gold has coincided with a surge in these warrants. The broader shift reflects U.S. policy pushing participants away from Western infrastructure and toward Shanghai, where gold exposure sidesteps futures markets, tokenized claims, Western exchanges, and geopolitical scrutiny. (h/t John Authers).