Happy Sunday, GoldBuzzers!

Last Thursday’s Real Talk, struck a nerve.

The Dragon’s Vault article triggered more responses than anything I’ve yet published. Turns out, a lot of you are having the same uncomfortable realization: the West's financial playbook might be past its expiration date.

Perfect timing, because we've got several hundred new faces joining us today. Welcome to GoldBuzz - you picked a hell of a week to come aboard.

Today's Deep Dive picks up where Thursday left off and I’ll be going even deeper on what China's gold hoarding spree actually means for Western investors.

Ok, let’s dive in.

Gold had a party this week while D.C. burns! Our favorite metal clawed its way back from Friday's dramatic $118 tumble to close the week with a solid 2.1% gain, hovering around $4,080 after kissing $4,239 earlier in the week. That's what happens when Uncle Sam decides to take a 43-day vacation from reality - the longest government shutdown in U.S. history finally ended Wednesday when President Trump signed the funding bill, but not before creating the kind of data disaster that makes traders reach for the Tums AND the gold bars.

It turns out we might NEVER see October's inflation and jobs numbers because federal agencies couldn't finish their homework during the shutdown. The Fed's basically flying blind, with Powell essentially saying "What do you do when you're driving in the fog? You slow down."

That December rate cut everyone was betting their grandmother's jewelry on? Now it's a coin flip at 50% odds, down from 90% just days ago. Meanwhile, central banks keep hoovering up the yellow metal like it's Black Friday at Costco, and junior miners (GDXJ) are still dancing near triple-digit territory despite Friday's pullback.

Silver's still taking a breather near $50, but industrial demand remains white-hot while supply stays tighter than a banker's grip on his wallet. Bottom line: When governments can't even keep the lights on, gold becomes the adult in the room. 🥇

Remember last week when I told you China was rewiring the global gold game? Well, the Financial Times just blew the lid off something even bigger.

China's been lying about their gold purchases. And I don't mean fudging the numbers a little. I mean buying TEN TIMES more than they're telling anyone.

The FT dropped this bomb earlier this week (though it’s paywalled) but it states that China's unreported gold purchases are estimated to be 10 times higher than official figures. While the People's Bank of China claims they're buying a measly 1.9 to 2.2 tonnes per month, Société Générale estimates Beijing could have already vacuumed up 250 tonnes in 2025 alone. That's over a third of total global central bank demand.

Gold analyst Jan Nieuwenhuijs was amongst those who called this back in December, predicting the PBOC was secretly buying at least 10 times their reported amount. Now mainstream media is finally catching up to what some of us have been screaming about for months.

China's true gold reserves? Probably around 5,000 tonnes. Not the 2,303 tonnes they're telling the IMF. That's more than double their official number.

Here’s a data snapshot from Thursday that should make every gold investor's jaw drop. It shows that western vaults are hemorrhaging gold to China.

COMEX registered holdings: DOWN 1.48 million ounces in FOUR WEEKS.

Meanwhile, China's Invesco ETF? UP 1.15 million ounces. That's almost 36 metric tonnes in the same period.

As Ajay Patel puts it: "This is the ONLY major gold entity on earth showing massive inflows... Gold is leaving the West and moving to China."

We've seen this before - in 2008-2011 and 2022-2024. But this time? It's on steroids.

Jeff Currie from Carlyle nailed it in the FT: "China is buying gold as part of its de-dollarisation push. You can't track gold like oil - there's no way to know where it goes."

Beijing's playing a double game here. They need to dump dollars fast enough to protect themselves from sanctions and economic warfare, but not so fast that they spook markets and crater their remaining dollar holdings.

So they're using every trick in the book: routing purchases through state entities like SAFE and the China Investment Corporation, buying through London bullion banks, and keeping their cards so close to their chest that even the IMF only gets a fraction of the real data.

Central banks globally have "officially" added 634 tonnes year-to-date through Q3 2025. Total expectations for the year? 900 tonnes. Poland's leading the official buyers with 67 tonnes in H1, but China's shadow buying likely makes everyone else look like amateurs.

Shanghai Gold Exchange withdrawals are surging. Physical demand in China is absolutely exploding. And Western paper markets? They're sitting ducks.

Every ounce flowing East is an ounce that can't back Western paper gold products. ETFs, futures, unallocated accounts - they're all playing musical chairs with a shrinking pile of actual metal. When (not if) investors demand physical delivery, the music stops. The COMEX has already hemorrhaged 1.48 million ounces in just four weeks. At this rate, the West's ability to suppress gold prices through paper markets is running on fumes.

Translation? If you're holding paper gold thinking it's the same as physical, you're betting the casino has enough chips to cash everyone out - and they don't. China knows it. Poland knows it. The question is - when will Western investors figure it out?

A handful of stories you might have missed this week:

Gold took a breather after its monster rally, dropping over 3% Friday as Fed officials got hawkish and killed the vibe for December rate cuts. CNBC

Silver's having a moment, surging 9% this week and flirting with last month's record highs as the government shutdown ended and traders bet on easier money ahead. Bloomberg

Poland went on another shopping spree in November, adding 21 tonnes to become 2025's biggest gold buyer while targeting 20% of reserves in the shiny stuff. Money Metals

A French guy hit the jackpot while digging his backyard pool, discovering $800K in gold bars and coins that someone buried 15-20 years ago (and yes, he gets to keep it all). CBS News

Portugal's coast is sitting on 8,620 shipwrecks with an estimated 250 containing serious gold treasures, including one Spanish galleon packing 22 tonnes of gold and silver still waiting to be found. ColombiaOne

G Mining Ventures crushed Q3 with record free cash flow of $95.8 million, producing gold at just $721/oz while the metal trades above $4,000 - now that's what we call margins. Investing.com

I want to know what you think. Cast your vote in today’s reader poll and I’ll share the results next Sunday.

That’s all for this week, folks!

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Rick Adams
Founder, GoldBuzz
rick@goldbuzz.com