Gold Hits Record Highs: Is It Worth Jumping on the Bandwagon?

Global gold prices have exceeded $5,000 per troy ounce (31.1 grams), setting a new record. Since the start of 2026, the precious metal has already risen by more than 17%, and leading analysts forecast the price per ounce to reach $5,400. Other precious metals are also hitting records. Fontanka explains this global trend and how to get involved.

Why Gold Is Getting More Expensive

Back in September, experts were debating whether the exchange price of gold would break the $4,000 record. In the end, over 2025 it rose by 64%. At the start of 2026, growth accelerated. This is linked to a lack of stability in the world, which is being fostered by the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and the chaotic communication of his administration regarding the country«s trade and foreign policy. Against this backdrop, currency risks associated with the U.S. dollar are growing.

First, central banks around the world have begun reducing dollar assets in their reserves by purchasing gold. At the end of 2024, central banks« gold reserves stood at nearly 36,200 tons, accounting for 18.3% of official reserves compared to 15% a year earlier. Russia maintained fifth place in the world in gold reserves, and the rise in the metal»s price has almost compensated for the losses from frozen assets in the EU in 2022. At that time, gold cost $1,800 per ounce, and since then the price has increased 2.8 times.

Second, large private investors are also buying gold, some in volumes comparable to central banks. For example, Tether, the issuer of the world«s largest cryptocurrency stablecoin USDT, whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar, was purchasing 26–27 tons of gold per quarter at the end of 2025, building reserves to back its tokens.

Additional demand is fueled by retail investors, whose behavior shows speculative sentiment and the FOMO effect. This is the fear of missing out on a good opportunity, such as making a lot of money.

Are We Facing a New Global Crisis?

There is a view that the reasons for gold«s appreciation are much deeper and we are witnessing the harbinger of a global crisis. It was detailed in his Telegram channel by Yaroslav Kabakov, director of strategy at Finam Investment Company and a lecturer at HSE University. In his opinion, the 50% rise in gold prices since August 2025 is an alarming signal of a global debt crisis: investors see gold as a salvation from a system collapse, when governments will be unable to pay their huge debts without stoking inflation, financial repression, or currency devaluation, particularly of the dollar.

Countries with low debts, which the economist includes Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland, now look like «islands of relative stability» to investors. Countries with high debts face problems. «A key example is Japan. For decades, it served as proof that public debt could grow almost indefinitely without immediate consequences. Today, this thesis is beginning to crumble. The volatility of the Japanese debt market has been a reminder: debt sustainability is a matter of trust, not arithmetic,» writes Kabakov.

Even with high rates in the U.S., gold is hitting records because the market does not believe that high nominal yields on government bonds will protect against accelerating inflation and other troubles. In 2026, the dollar has weakened sharply, confirming the scenario of devaluation as a way out of the debt hole.

However, for now, experts interviewed by Fontanka maintain that the main contributors to the rise in gold prices are central banks, the peculiarities of the asset itself, and geopolitical tensions.

«The version about demand from central banks and large investors is supported by data. Central banks have been purchasing over 800 tons of gold for the fourth year in a row. Additional growth factors: the softening of U.S. Federal Reserve policy, a physical supply deficit — reserves in the ground may be exhausted in 17 years — and geopolitical tensions, including trade disputes between the U.S. and Europe over the situation around Greenland,» says Dmitry Vishnevsky, an analyst at Tsifra Broker.

What Will Happen to Gold Prices Next

Analysts believe gold will continue to grow at a rapid pace, but note that growth could stop at any moment and turn into a decline. Demand for the metal is unstable and difficult to predict. It is believed that a correction will occur, but when is unknown.

According to Goldman Sachs estimates, gold will cost $5,400 per ounce at the end of 2026. Leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global Natalia Milchakova believes a level of $5,500–5,600 per ounce by year-end is achievable. The author of the bestseller «Rich Dad Poor Dad» Robert Kiyosaki, who predicted a rise to $5,000 per ounce and was off by a year, now prophesies gold appreciation to $27,000. However, the world-famous business coach did not specify by which year to expect such fantastic figures.

«Gold continues to be perceived by the market as a safe-haven asset amid risks of increasing inflation, a weakening dollar, geopolitical tensions, and fears of deteriorating conditions in the global economy. In the short term, price growth may continue and, given previous rallies in the 1980s and 2010s, quotes could approach $6,000 per troy ounce,» notes Alina PoptSova, stock market analyst at Alfa-Capital Management Company.

However, she says, it is a purely speculative asset whose value is determined by expectations. Large volumes of the metal in circulation and developed investment infrastructure reduce its volatility compared to other precious metals, but do not rule out corrections. Therefore, the analyst believes that in the base scenario, by the end of 2026, quotes will return to $4,400 per ounce.

«At the moment, the asset looks overbought. For an unqualified investor, buying at current peaks carries the risk of running into a technical correction — the expected decline could be 5–10%,» warns Dmitry Vishnevsky. «The optimal strategy is to wait for a price pullback.»

Which Type of Gold Investment to Choose

Even though the price of gold currently looks inflated, the metal is good for diversifying investments, i.e., splitting them across different assets to reduce risks. This provides protection during difficult economic periods.

So, if you really want to, physical gold can be bought in bars or investment coins. To do this, you need to contact banks. To purchase non-physical gold, you need to open an unallocated metal account. This can also be easily done through a bank«s app.

«Of the proposed options, the most optimal, in our opinion, are investments in non-physical gold. Investing in physical gold can reduce the final financial result of such investments due to additional expenses, for example, renting a bank safe deposit box for storage or purchasing an insurance policy for force majeure circumstances, if the investor plans to store the metal at home, of course,» says Nikolay Dudchenko, an analyst at FG Finam.

Non-physical gold carries other risks. Unallocated metal accounts are not insured, so an investor must carefully choose the bank where such an account will be opened to avoid losing their investment. The spreads for buying and selling the metal vary from bank to bank. They are structured so that when selling, part of the income is «eaten up.» The same applies to physical gold.

For example, on January 27 last year, a 1-gram bar could be bought at Sberbank for 10,033 rubles (approximately $110 at current rates). Exactly a year later, the purchase price rose to 13,708 rubles (approximately $150 at current rates), but it is impossible to sell at that price. The price available for selling is 11,693 rubles (approximately $128 at current rates). Thus, despite a 37% increase in price, over a year of owning a gram of gold, the investor could have earned only 1,660 rubles (approximately $18 at current rates) (+17%).

An investor can also buy non-physical gold in the form of exchange instruments: futures, specialized exchange-traded funds, or shares of gold miners. This is a more complex path that requires independent study of a large amount of information about exchange products and their issuers.

«If an investor does not have time to understand the aspects of working with stocks and bonds, then it is indeed better to limit oneself to opening an unallocated metal account,» advises Dudchenko.

Is It Worth Investing in Other Precious Metals

Other precious metals are also hitting price records. Silver rose in price by 141% over 2025 and by 65% since the start of 2026. Recently, it rose to over $117 per ounce, setting a new historical record. Platinum and palladium also updated their historical highs, with their costs reaching $2,925 and $2,180 per ounce, respectively.

Fontanka asked experts whether an unqualified investor (and they are the majority in the country) should consider other precious metals, and received a warning that with them everything is somewhat more complicated. Unlike gold, these metals are used more in industry, and their cost depends on production factors, i.e., supply and demand.

«Silver reached $116–117 per ounce due to colossal demand in solar energy, electric vehicle production, and AI. Platinum is becoming more expensive against a backdrop of structural supply deficit and demand from data centers,» explains Dmitry Vishnevsky. He recommends considering these metals only for long-term diversification and during correction moments when their prices fall, as they fluctuate more strongly than gold.

Increasing one«s investments by adding such metals to the portfolio is a challenging task that is within the power of an advanced investor. »For an investor who is not too interested in the situation in the global economy and industry, perhaps it is worth choosing exclusively gold,« believes Nikolay Dudchenko.