Cryptocurrency assets experienced a significant decline over the weekend, resulting in the crypto economy dropping to $2.3 trillion, a decrease of more than 5%. Precious metals also saw declines, although not as severe as the digital currency sector. Despite ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, gold fell by 1.18% in the last day, but it has appreciated against the U.S. dollar over the past week, unlike bitcoin. Recent survey data indicates that investors hold an optimistic view of gold for the coming week.
Gold remains steady amid geopolitical tensions, with a recent survey highlighting ongoing bullish sentiment. On Saturday, tensions escalated when Iran conducted a drone airstrike against Israel, causing the value of the crypto market to decrease by over $330 billion. BTC dropped by 6.9% over the last week due to the weekend’s downturn. This downturn in the crypto market is largely attributed to the Iran-Israel conflict, and it is expected to have some impact on U.S. equities on Monday. Compared to BTC and ETH, precious metals experienced only minor losses.
The price of gold on Sunday, April 14, 2024.
Despite a 1.18% decrease in the last 24 hours, gold remains 0.6% higher for the week. Silver has declined by more than 2% in the past day, but weekly figures show that it is still up by 1.36%. Over the past six months, both precious metals have climbed more than 21%, while bitcoin has experienced a downturn but still posted a 124% gain over the same period. The Kitco News Weekly Gold Survey for this week reveals that investors in Wall Street and Main Street remain bullish on precious metals, noting that “geopolitical risks” may support gains rather than hinder them.
The day before the attack, Frank McGhee from Alliance Financial spoke to Kitco about the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, stating, “The best component that I can see now is that the market is finally paying attention to geopolitical, and as the threat of an Iranian attack on Israel looms, the market has finally just decided to take notice.” During the cryptocurrency downturn on Saturday, metrics indicate that traders sought refuge in U.S. dollar stablecoins and also showed interest in gold tokens such as Tether’s XAUT and Paxos’s PAXG, both of which experienced notable increases.
Specifically, PAXG soared to $2,855 per coin on Saturday, gaining considerable interest following the public announcement of the drone airstrike at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Although the substantial premium on PAXG has decreased, it still maintains a $100 premium over the current gold spot prices. Meanwhile, the premium observed with XAUT was less noticeable, but it still stands at $25 above the gold spot price as of Sunday afternoon.
What are your thoughts on gold and silver weathering the storm amid the Middle East conflict between Iran and Israel? Share your opinions in the comments section below.
