Fort Knox, the fortified complex in the state of Kentucky where about half of the US government's gold reserves are held, is a byword for security. To be "like Fort Knox" means to be extremely secure and well-guarded. Yet the perception of the United States as a whole as a secure location to store gold is clearly on the wane.
The decision by the Dutch central bank recently to move about 86 tonnes (95 US tons) of gold from New York to London highlighted growing concerns among some governments over storing strategic assets in the US and whether they could be readily accessed in a crisis. The De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) cited "geopolitical unrest" and said moving its gold across different jurisdictions would improve its "crisis preparedness." France also removed its remaining gold exposure from the New York Federal Reserve between July 2025 and January 2026, although Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau said at the time that it was not politically motivated. Several politicians in Germany and Italy — which hold the world's second- and third-largest gold reserves, respectively — have called for their countries' gold to be also taken out of the US amid concerns about the Trump administration's unpredictable policymaking and its growing antipathy toward the European Union, including threats to annex part of Greenland.
Sebastien Tillett, an analyst with Oxford Economics, told DW the outright seizure of assets is an "extremely remote risk" for European central banks. However, he said, there are growing concerns about ease of access in an age of geopolitical uncertainty. "The more relevant concern is that assets held in another jurisdiction could become temporarily inaccessible in an extreme sanctions, legal or geopolitical scenario," he said.
In general, said Krishnan Gopaul, of the World Gold Council, central banks around the world have been buying more gold since the 2008 global financial crisis and are increasingly focused on where and how they store it. As a result, gold prices have soared to record highs. A recent survey by the World Gold Council found that central banks have accumulated an average of 1,000 tonnes of gold over the past four years, up from the 500-tonne average over the preceding decade.
Because the 2008 global financial crisis was followed by the euro sovereign-debt crisis and then a variety of political crises, a pandemic, and sustained geopolitical upheaval and conflict, gold has come into sharper focus as a safe haven asset, Gopaul said. "As we've gone through the last two decades, there have been questions and concerns around the global financial system and the state of geopolitics in one form or another," he said. The decisions by the Dutch and French to move their gold out of the United States and back to Europe highlight the new focus on where exactly the gold is held so that it can be easily and quickly leveraged in the event of a new crisis.
Central banks, governments and sovereign wealth funds hold physical gold in different locations. Moving it can be extremely complex, risky and costly, while the ease of selling it or trading it for currencies or other assets depends on the location. "Central banks are paying greater attention to where reserves are held as well as what assets they hold, mainly to maximize resilience and flexibility of reserve holdings," Tillett said.
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