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France pulled off a financial maneuver that turned old gold into billions.
The French central bank sold 129 tonnes of gold it had stored in New York since mid-2025, replacing it with newer, higher-quality bullion held in Paris. Conclusion? Profit of approximately 13 billion euros or 15.1 billion dollars (1).
Bank of France President Francois Villeroy de Galhau stated that the move was “not politically motivated”. But rather than replace the gold the United States held abroad, the bank decided to purchase European bullion to store in Paris.
But France is not the first country to consider such a move, nor is it likely to be the last.
Some European member states, such as Germany, are discussing the repatriation of gold due to increasing geopolitical tensions and changing trust in global institutions (2).
If this trend accelerates, it could signal something bigger: The shift away from the United States, the world’s default financial haven, affecting the dollar, markets, and ordinary investors.
France did not reduce its gold stock in any way. Instead, as prices rose, it replaced old substandard gold bars with new ones that were easier to trade globally.
The strategy worked because of one key factor: timing.
Gold prices have risen in recent years, especially in 2025, due to inflation concerns and rising debt levels. Recent conflicts with Iran have also created market shocks, and in volatile times many investors turn to gold for stability (3). This combination creates the opportunity for institutions to convert their old assets into cash without reducing their reserves.
Today, central banks do not rely on gold to support their currencies. But just like retail investors, they still rely on gold to hedge against instability. When inflation rises, currencies weaken and markets become unpredictable. However, gold tends to maintain and sometimes even increase its value (4).
This was the case in early 2026, when gold reached a high of just under $5,600 per ounce in January.
Read more: I’m almost 50 and have no retirement savings. Is it too late?
France does not act alone. There is increasing pressure across Europe to repatriate gold reserves, particularly those stored in the United States (5).
Economists and politicians in Germany have recently called for the return of more than 1,200 tonnes of gold held in New York, citing concerns about the conflict in Iran and the unpredictability of US policies.
The logic is simple: In times of uncertainty, governments want direct access to their reserves without dependence on foreign institutions. Or in other words, they want control.
If more countries take a similar step, the consequences could extend far beyond gold.
For decades, the United States has been the world’s financial anchor, where countries store reserves, trade and rely on institutions like the Federal Reserve for stability.
But the repatriation of gold is essentially a signal. This suggests that some governments are less comfortable leaving strategic assets under US control. Central banks are increasingly citing geopolitics as the most important risk influencing reserve decisions (6).
This situation also manifested itself in other areas:
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Some countries are reducing their exposure to the US dollar, whose share in global reserves has decreased over time (7).
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Central banks have been diversifying away from US-related assets in favor of gold for years (8).
Taken together, these moves point to a slow but meaningful trend: less dependence on the US-based financial system.
Most investors probably don’t run a central bank, but like that We are exposed to the same driving forces behind banks’ decisions.
When governments begin to rethink where to stash wealth, it’s often not about short-term gains. It’s about risk.
For ordinary investors, this tends to play out in familiar ways. A weakening dollar could increase import costs and inflation. Market volatility can cause stocks and bonds to move unpredictably, and global instability can be reflected in everything from interest rates to housing costs.
If most of your wealth is tied up in a single currency, a single market, or a single asset, you are more vulnerable when conditions change. Countries whose reserves are located in one place are in the same situation.
That’s why many institutions and retail investors are focusing on diversifying not just between stocks and bonds, but across completely different asset classes.
Gold has long been used as a hedge in times of inflation, currency fluctuations and geopolitical tension.
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But gold isn’t the only way investors try to tie their assets to something tangible.
Real estate has historically offered a mix of income and stability, making it a popular alternative at times when public markets are feeling stressed or volatile.
Rental properties have long been a proven source of stable, passive income.
But the time, effort and costs involved in managing and maintaining multiple properties prevent many people from investing. So unless you’re a hedge fund mogul or oil baron, you’re locked out of one of the most profitable corners of the market.
This is where it comes into play. This real estate investment platform offers: partial ownership in premium rental propertiesProviding investors with monthly rental income, real-time appraisals and tax benefits without the need for a large down payment or searching for tenants at 3 in the morning.
Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the giant team selects the top 1% of single-family rental homes across the country for you. Simply put, you can invest in enterprise-quality offerings at a fraction of the normal cost.
Each property goes through a review process that requires a minimum return of 12%, even in adverse scenarios. Overall, the platform has an average annual IRR of 18.8%; Meanwhile, cash returns average between 10% and 12% annually. Offers usually sell out in under three hoursInvestments typically range from $15,000 to $40,000 per property.
Getting started is quick and easy. You can sign up for an account and then browse available properties. Once you verify your information with their team, you can invest like an emperor in just a few clicks.
For those who want to go a step further in real estate, some platforms offer access to larger, institutional-level deals.
Owning rental property sounds great until something goes wrong. With a bad check, your rental income is lost.
However, institutional investors do not face this problem. Their portfolios are diversified into hundreds, sometimes thousands, of units.
Now accredited investors can benefit from the same approach through platforms such as: Lightstone DIRECTIt gives you access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate with a minimum investment of $100,000.
Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest private real estate investment companies in the United States, with more than $12 billion in assets under management.
Over nearly four decades, their teams have demonstrated strong, risk-adjusted performance across multiple market cycles, including a historical net IRR of 27.6% and a historical net equity multiple of 2.54x on investments placed since 2004.
Via Lightstone DIRECT Gain access to the same multifamily and industrial deals Lightstone pursues with its own capital.
Here’s the kicker: Lightstone is at least investing 20% of own capital in each transaction — roughly four times the industry average. Thanks to its skin in the game, the company ensures that its interests are directly aligned with the interests of its investors.
Institutional investors have long used large-scale real estate portfolios to smooth returns, and individual investors are now beginning to access similar strategies.
For investors looking even further beyond traditional markets, some are turning to assets that don’t track real estate or stocks at all. When markets become unpredictable, diversification sometimes means looking beyond financial assets altogether, especially in categories that have historically low correlations with stocks.
In 1999, the S&P 500 peaked and took 14 long years to fully recover.
Today? Goldman Sachs projects annual returns of just 3% from 2024 to 2034. That sounds bleak, but it’s not surprising: The S&P is trading at its highest price-to-earnings ratio since the dot-com boom. Vanguard isn’t too far off, predicting around 5%.
In fact, almost everything seems to be priced near all-time highs; stocks, gold, crypto, you name it.
That’s why billionaires have long built up part of their portfolios in an asset class (post-war and contemporary art) with low market correlation and strong recovery potential.
It may sound surprising, but more than 70,000 investors have followed suit since 2019. masterpieces. You can now own partial shares of works by Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso and more.
Masterworks has sold 27 works of art so far and achieved net returns of 14.6%, 17.6% and 17.8% on an annualized basis.
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Remember that past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. See important Regulation A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd.
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We rely only on vetted sources and reliable third-party reports. For details, see editorial ethics and guidelines.
Reuters (1), (6), (8); Guardian (2), (7); Makara Financial (3); World Gold Council (4); American Alternative Assets (5)
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