During the second week of August 2026, the international gold market once again captured the attention of global investors. After spot gold climbed above the $4,200/oz mark on August 5, it briefly broke through the $4,300 integer level during intraday trading on August 6; Vietnam's domestic market followed suit, with SJC gold bar prices briefly rising to around 143.3 million VND/tael, the highest level since late July. In the same period as gold prices surged, the World Gold Council released a new research report offering a meaningful assessment: gold is undergoing a shift from a traditional "safe-haven asset" to a "strategic allocation," becoming the "new base holding for a multipolar era."
For ordinary investors, what does this mean? After the sharp volatility of a surge and pullback at the beginning of the year, why is gold still worth including in a household asset portfolio? Drawing on the latest central bank gold purchase data and industry analysis, this article unpacks the core logic behind the current "why buy gold" question.
From 'Safe Haven' to 'Base Holding': A Major Upgrade in Gold's Status
For decades, the market has been accustomed to defining gold simply as a "safe-haven asset" — buying gold when geopolitical conflicts escalate or stock markets plunge, and shelving it when conditions are calm. But the World Gold Council's latest report argues that this traditional positioning is being rewritten as the global landscape shifts from unipolar to multipolar.
The report points out that global supply chain restructuring, frequent geopolitical conflicts, unilateral financial sanctions, and trade restrictions are gradually breaking the old anchor of international rules. Meanwhile, the continued rise in U.S. debt and growing policy uncertainty have weakened market expectations for the stability of the dollar system. In this context, gold — issued by no single country, free of sovereign credit risk, and highly liquid — is no longer limited to being a short-term "crisis hedging tool" but is upgrading to a "strategic base holding" in asset portfolios.
The report identifies four core rationales. First, gold serves as a strategic base holding in periods of frequent geopolitical risk. Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began in 2022, the world has entered the third phase of elevated geopolitical risk since the end of the Cold War, and historical experience shows that geopolitical risk tends to cluster — once in a high-risk phase, it is often difficult to return to the mean in the short term. Second, gold requires no sovereign endorsement, and continued accumulation by global central banks is the best proof of this attribute. Third, gold provides steady long-term returns and acts as a ballast asset amid the long-term decline in interest rates. Fourth, gold has low correlation with traditional assets such as stocks and bonds, effectively hedging the impact of systemic risk on portfolios.
Behind 288.9 Tons of Net Purchases: Central Banks Are 'Buying More on Dips'
The strongest evidence supporting this view comes from the actions of global central banks. According to data disclosed by the World Gold Council, central banks globally net purchased 288.9 tons of gold in Q2 2026, a 62% year-on-year increase and a record high for the second quarter. In the first half of the year, total central bank gold purchases reached 345 tons, still above the ten-year average of 317 tons. Among them, the People's Bank of China has increased its gold holdings for 20 consecutive months, adding 33 tons in the second quarter alone, the largest scale since Q4 2023.
It is worth noting that international gold prices underwent a notable phased correction in the first half of the year, yet central bank gold demand did not shrink — it remained strong. This asymmetric buying behavior of "adding positions against the trend during price pullbacks" precisely reflects central banks' urgent need for diversification and risk dispersion in reserve assets, and also implies the continued rise in gold's appeal as an allocation at the current stage.
Industry analysts point out that central bank gold buying is essentially a strategic choice focused on asset safety and risk diversification, not a move that chases rises and sells off like speculative funds. Such buying does not produce short-term pulse-like surges, but it can genuinely raise the bottom range of gold prices and compress the space for deep declines — a key reason gold has remained resilient even amid high interest rates in recent years. Central bank purchases act as a "safety cushion" for the market, defending the price floor.
Reasons to Buy Gold in Numbers: Dual Validation of Long-Term Returns and 'Downside Resilience'
For ordinary investors, "why buy gold" ultimately comes down to the two dimensions of return and risk.
In terms of long-term returns, gold has performed on par with or better than mainstream financial assets. Data shows that from the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971 to June 2026, the annualized return of the dollar gold price was approximately 8.8%, exceeding the returns of global stocks and bonds over the same period. Gold priced in RMB also achieved a compound annualized return of 9% over the past 20 years, outperforming domestic stock and bond indices. With interest rates trending lower over the long term, the opportunity cost of holding gold continues to decline, further highlighting its value as a "ballast asset."
In terms of risk hedging, gold has a low correlation with traditional assets such as stocks, bonds, and currencies. Historical statistics show that during periods when geopolitical risk indices surged, gold's average return significantly outperformed most major asset classes; when stock and bond portfolios experienced notable drawdowns, gold mostly delivered positive returns, smoothing portfolio volatility and stabilizing risk-adjusted returns. In other words, gold's "downside resilience" is not psychological comfort but an empirical conclusion supported by long-term historical data.
Vietnam Perspective: Narrowing Domestic-International Price Gap and Rising Local Buying Demand
Turning to the Vietnamese market, this round of global gold price increases has also caused visible ripples. On August 6, domestic gold prices in Vietnam were adjusted sharply upward, with most brands raising prices by 2 to 2.3 million VND per tael; SJC gold bar prices briefly rose to around 143.3 million VND per tael, the highest level since July 22. More notably, as international gold prices strengthened, the gap between Vietnam's domestic gold prices and international prices has narrowed significantly, reflecting to some extent the local market's growing alignment with global trends.
In terms of demand structure, the gold buying behavior of Vietnamese residents is also changing. Facing dong exchange rate fluctuations and inflationary pressures, more and more ordinary households regard gold as an important tool for preserving value and passing on wealth, with growing interest in investment products such as gold bars and coins. For Vietnamese investors, gold is not only "hard currency" against the decline of local currency purchasing power but also a practical choice for diversifying risk and preserving wealth amid rising global uncertainty.
How Should Ordinary Investors 'Buy Gold the Right Way'?
However, professionals also caution that buying gold is not a matter of "blindly chasing highs." Gold prices once soared to nearly $5,600 per ounce at the start of the year before sharply retreating, and the dramatic swings in the first half demonstrate that gold's core value lies in stabilizing assets, hedging inflation, and navigating cycles — not short-term wealth.
- Avoid chasing rises and selling off: buying at highs when sentiment is overheated and gold prices are surging often means buying at temporary peaks; a more rational approach is to buy in batches and deploy on pullbacks.
- Stick to long-term regular investing: for ordinary working families, regular gold investment is an effective way to reduce market timing difficulty and average out holding costs; discipline and persistence are key.
- Control allocation ratios: the industry generally recommends gold account for 5% to 15% of household financial assets, which provides hedging without overconcentration.
- Know product differences: physical gold bars, gold ETFs, and bank accumulated gold each suit different scenarios; investors should understand their liquidity, premiums, and storage costs before investing.
- Beware leverage risks: gold futures and leveraged contracts are highly volatile and unsuitable for inexperienced small and medium investors.
Conclusion
Looking back from August 2026, the pricing logic of the gold market is undergoing profound change: in the short term, expectations of Federal Reserve policy, oil prices, and dollar trends will continue to dominate phase fluctuations in gold prices; in the medium to long term, the "safety cushion" formed by global central bank purchases, the reshaping of the dollar credit system, and the normalization of geopolitical risk together provide the underlying support for a long-cycle bull market in gold.
The World Gold Council's definition of gold as the "new base holding for a multipolar era" is essentially a reminder to investors: in an uncertain world, gold's significance lies not in how much excess return it brings, but in guarding the bottom line of your wealth when storms arrive. Understanding this is the true key to understanding "why buy gold."
