Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, has sounded the alarm over gold’s rapid ascent and its implications for the U.S. dollar’s standing as a global safe haven, according to Bloomberg. Gold futures recently surged past $4,000 an ounce, up more than 50% year-to-date.
The dollar has weakened amid this rally. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the currency against major rivals including the euro, yen, and pound, has fallen roughly 10% in 2025, currently trading near 98.5.
Griffin told Bloomberg, “We’re seeing substantial asset inflation away from the dollar as people are looking for ways to effectively de-dollarize, or de-risk their portfolios vis-à-vis U.S. sovereign risk.” He added, “We’re definitely on a bit of a sugar high in the U.S. economy right now,” citing record equity levels driven by artificial intelligence and high-performance computing sectors.
The “debasement trade” narrative has resurfaced, with investors increasingly flocking to hard assets such as gold, silver, and bitcoin as a hedge against monetary debasement, where excessive money creation reduces a currency’s purchasing power.
The U.S. economic backdrop remains uncertain, with a partial government shutdown ongoing and rate cuts widely anticipated. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets see a 92% probability of a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed’s October 29 meeting, lowering the federal funds rate to 3.75%–4.00%. Additional reductions could bring rates down to 3.50%–3.75% by year-end.
Bitcoin has mirrored the trend in hard assets, rising 9% in October and hitting a new all-time high of $126,000 on Monday.
