Gold today surpassed $5,000 an ounce for the first time in history, pushing the precious metal’s market capitalization past $35 trillion.
The rally continued into early Asian trading on Monday, as a heightened sense of risk aversion gripped global asset markets amid ongoing economic and geopolitical tensions.
In recent weeks, escalating frictions, including tense relations between the United States and NATO, debate over the situation in Greenland and fears of possible US military action against Iran, have dominated headlines and increased the appeal of gold.
Markets were also roiled by concerns about the Fed’s independence following revelations from a Justice Department investigation into the central bank.
The administration is expected to announce this week its nominee to succeed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, after appointing Stephen Miran to the board late last year.
Silver also surged against this backdrop. On Monday, silver hit a new record high above $107. The metal’s rally intensified in late 2025 and has since outperformed other asset classes.
Silver is now up about 47% year to date, compared to 17% for gold.
Investor appetite for security has weighed on crypto. The total crypto market cap has decreased by approximately 2% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
Bitcoin has fallen more than 2% over the past day and 7% over the week, sitting near $87,500 at the time of writing.
