In this critical, 24-minute Gold Matters discussion, VON GREYERZ Partners – Matthew Piepenburg & Jonny Haycock – fight the summer heat to squarely address the factors and market explanations behind mid-year declines in the current gold price. They also speak to the longer-term directional forces behind the metal.
Haycock opens the conversation as to the primary forces and market narratives behind gold’s downward moves, including a rising dollar in the backdrop of rising yields. He specifically addresses how positive real rates in a rising yield setting affect gold pricing. In addition, Haycock speaks to the impact of the 2026 gold selloffs in both the retail ETF space and the forced selling of gold by sovereigns seeking emergency liquidity during the ever-fluctuating Iran conflict.
Piepenburg adds further perspective by reminding that the so-called “positive” real yields in USTs are, in fact, a misleading and mathematically incorrect narrative, as actual inflation far exceeds current UST yields. Piepenburg speaks to what he sees as the true forces at play, which is not a rising dollar but an openly tanking UST market. The otherwise “boring” (and hence misunderstood) bond market is the real indicator at play today. As trust in Uncle Sam’s IOUs falls globally, US debt costs (which rise alongside spiking yields) become unsustainable in a rising yield setup. What we are seeing today is remarkably similar to the 2022-23 era, which preceded record highs in gold in the subsequent years as dollar debasement became the only tool left to inflate away debt and support USTs.
Timing this inevitable setup for gold is, of course, a mug’s game. But seeing (and preparing for) its secular direction, North is not. This is why central banks are buying discounted gold at record levels as retail buyers are deliberately shaken out of the trade and missing an historical buying signal in 2026.
Source: Vongreyerz
