Banyan Gold Corp. (TSXV: BYN, OTCQB: BYAGF)
The New Yukon Gold Rush - TARGETING 5 MILLION OZ. AT 1+ G/T
Global central banks are turning to the oldest hedge in history. Over the past four years, sovereign institutions have absorbed an average of roughly 1,000 tonnes of gold annually—a pace that has carried straight through into 2026. In 2025 alone, official buyers added a net 1,237 tonnes, marking the third straight year above the 1,000-tonne threshold.
The driving force is the expanded BRICS+ grouping. According to a new report from EBC Financial Group, the bloc now holds an estimated 6,000 tonnes of gold, representing 17.4% of total global central bank reserves—a steep rise from just 11.2% in 2019. Russia tops the list with 2,336 tonnes, China follows at 2,298 tonnes, and India holds 880 tonnes. Combined, Moscow and Beijing account for nearly three-quarters of the bloc’s total. Between 2020 and 2024, BRICS+ members accounted for more than half of all gold purchased by central banks worldwide.
This is not a speculative trade. It is a deliberate rewiring of national balance sheets.
The turning point is clear. In 2022, Western governments froze approximately $300 billion in Russian foreign reserves. The message to every central bank was unambiguous: dollar assets held in another nation’s financial system carry sovereign risk.
The reaction was swift. Before 2022, annual central bank gold purchases averaged around 500 tonnes. In the three years since, the figure has consistently topped 1,000 tonnes. EBC describes this as a “structural shift” in reserve management. Gold may offer no yield, but it provides a security the dollar cannot match: bullion stored in a domestic vault is immune to SWIFT exclusion and executive seizure.
Gold’s ascent is mirrored by the dollar’s retreat. IMF COFER data shows the greenback’s share of global foreign reserves has dropped from 71% in 1999 to roughly 57% by the end of 2025—its lowest level since 1994. EBC notes that foreign central bank holdings of dollar-denominated assets have stayed essentially flat since 2014. The share is shrinking not because of outright sales but because new reserves are increasingly directed toward euros, yen, gold, and a growing mix of non-traditional currencies.
Expectations are feeding on themselves. The World Gold Council’s 2025 survey found that 73% of central bankers expect the dollar’s reserve share to fall further over the next five years, while 43% plan to boost their gold allocations—both record highs. Meanwhile, gold’s weight in official reserve assets has more than doubled, from below 10% in 2015 to over 23% today. Higher prices explain part of the rise, but the direction is unmistakable: central banks are systematically elevating gold’s role.
The market’s most potent unknown is not in Moscow or Beijing, but in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia, with over $500 billion in reserves, holds roughly 323 tonnes of gold—just 2.6% of its total. For a major economy seeking reserve diversification, that figure is conspicuously low.
EBC’s report does the math: a modest increase to a 5% gold allocation would require purchases equivalent to total projected central bank demand for all of 2026. One buyer could absorb the entire year’s incremental supply. Though Riyadh has made no public commitment, its BRICS+ membership, involvement in the mBridge cross-border payment trial, and deepening ties with Beijing all point toward a logical pivot. Should that trigger be pulled, the price impact would be immediate and substantial.
As of early April 2026, gold trades near $4,660 per ounce, having surged more than 60% in 2025. Deutsche Bank sees $6,000, JPMorgan forecasts $6,300, Goldman Sachs targets $5,400, and Société Générale calls $6,000 a conservative baseline.
The World Gold Council expects central banks to purchase between 750 and 850 tonnes in 2026—still well above historical norms and equal to roughly 20% of annual global mine supply. Crucially, this sovereign demand is largely price-agnostic. Whether gold sits at $4,000 or $5,000, official buyers keep absorbing supply. That structural bid is creating a progressively firmer floor, making each price correction shallower than the last.
BRICS+ central banks piling into gold may not signal the imminent end of dollar dominance. But it does confirm a quiet transformation: in the calculus of reserve managers worldwide, gold is migrating from a peripheral insurance policy back to a foundational pillar.
