The author of “Black Swan” linked the growing popularity of gold and the blocking of Russian assets

Gold is becoming a reserve currency as the dollar's reliability declines. The growing popularity of the precious metal was associated with the blocking of Russian assets by the author of the book “Black Swan” and Universa Investments scientist Nassim Taleb, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Speaking at the Greenwich Economic Forum, the economist who predicted the 2008 crisis said that this was due not only to the actions of the American government, but also to the freezing of the assets of people associated with the Russian authorities.

According to Taleb, states are increasing their gold reserves to avoid finding themselves in a situation where their assets could be frozen. At the same time, the economist believes that gold currently has no obvious alternative as a reserve asset.

“The story of gold becoming a reserve currency still holds true, and in fact it has become an even bigger reserve currency. You see, there is no alternative to gold. The Chinese currency cannot replace the dollar because people have a habit of transacting in dollars, and it would irritate someone in Washington if transactions were transacted in another currency,” he explained.