More than 60 years after the last time, France is once again defying U.S. dollar hegemony by liquidating its gold reserves held in America—selling all 129 tons.

France has now sold its final batch of gold stored in the United States.

This gold consists of older-style, low-purity bars, totaling 129 tons. The French central bank sold them at a high price point between July 2024 and January 2025. Then, during the subsequent price correction period, the central bank purchased new-style, high-purity gold from European markets and stored it entirely within France. This round-trip transaction yielded a profit of €1.28 billion.

Originally, the French central bank was operating at a loss in the 2025 fiscal year. However, after this transaction, it successfully turned the deficit into a profit, achieving an net gain of €81 million.

To be honest, this move by the French central bank was exceptionally shrewd—not only did it earn a substantial profit, but it also transferred all previously stored gold from the U.S. back to France, eliminating any lingering anxiety about foreign custody.

It's widely known that many Western countries keep significant portions of their gold reserves in the United States, and some have sizable holdings. For example, Germany stores 37% of its gold reserves in the U.S.—a total of 1,236 tons.

The U.S.’s largest gold vault, the Fort Knox Bullion Depository, has not been opened to the public since 1974. No one knows for sure whether gold still remains inside, or how much there is—neither does even Donald Trump.

Last year, shortly after Trump’s return to power, he repeatedly stated his intention for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to audit the Fort Knox gold vault to verify the existence of physical gold and silence public speculation. But the matter eventually disappeared without follow-up.

France isn’t doing this for the first time. Back in Charles de Gaulle’s era, France launched a large-scale “gold repatriation campaign” from 1963 to 1966, moving 1,638 tons of gold back from the U.S.—an action that fired the opening shot in dismantling the Bretton Woods system.

Now, once again, France is leading the charge in challenging U.S. dollar dominance—proving it still holds real influence in this arena.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861801521093764/

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