Bitcoin Near $62K as Central Banks Add 41 Tonnes of Gold in May

Crypto News

Central banks bought a net 41 tonnes of gold in May even as the metal logged its fourth consecutive monthly loss, a divergence that matters for every macro asset including Bitcoin (BTC), the largest non-sovereign store-of-value alternative many treat like a digital altcoin hedge. World Gold Council data shows official-sector demand held firm while gold fell 11.7% in June, following a 1.8% May decline. The buying was led by Poland and China, both accumulating despite falling prices. Our reading of this split is straightforward: sovereign buyers treat weakness as an entry, not an exit, and that conviction is the signal risk-asset desks are watching as the Federal Reserve leans hawkish into the second half.

Gold slid to $3,942 on June 30, its lowest mark since early November 2025, capping a roughly 16% quarterly drop — the worst quarter since Q2 2013. The pressure came from rising expectations of Fed rate hikes and lingering Middle East uncertainty. Major banks trimmed targets accordingly: Goldman Sachs cut its year-end call to $4,900 per ounce, while Deutsche Bank lowered its third-quarter forecast to $4,300 and warned prices could reach $3,800 if the Fed delivers three to four hikes. A hawkish rate path pressures non-yielding assets broadly, and that same tightening backdrop is what has kept Bitcoin capped near $62,000 through the quarter.

Poland led the official buying. The National Bank of Poland added 18 tonnes in May, its fourth straight month of double-digit purchases. That run has lifted Poland's 2026 accumulation to 64 tonnes and pushed total reserves to 614 tonnes. The pattern underlines a deliberate reserve-diversification strategy that has made Poland one of the most aggressive sovereign gold buyers in Europe. For crypto markets, the read-across is the same reserve-diversification logic that periodically surfaces in corporate Bitcoin treasury allocations — the same instinct to hold a hard, non-sovereign asset against currency and rate risk, expressed here through bullion rather than blockchains.

China extended its own streak. The People's Bank of China purchased 10 tonnes in May, its 20th consecutive monthly addition and the largest single-month buy since December 2024. Beijing's official reserves now stand near 2,331 tonnes. Twenty straight months of accumulation reflects a structural, policy-driven shift rather than tactical trading, as China steadily reduces its relative exposure to dollar-denominated assets. That backdrop of de-dollarization is one analysts frequently cite when framing the long-term case for scarce, apolitical assets — a category in which Bitcoin's fixed 21-million supply positions it alongside gold in the eyes of macro allocators.

Smaller central banks joined the bid. The Monetary Authority of Singapore bought 4 tonnes, its first purchase since September 2025, and confirmed plans to launch central-bank gold vaulting services in October 2026. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan added 9 tonnes and 7 tonnes respectively. The breadth of participation — spanning Europe, Asia and Central Asia — signals that official demand is not concentrated in one or two outliers but reflects a coordinated global reserve trend. Singapore's vaulting plan, in particular, points to institutional infrastructure being built around hard-asset custody, the same buildout that spot Bitcoin ETFs represent on the digital side.

Not every sovereign was buying. Turkey and Russia remained net sellers in May, a reminder that reserve strategy diverges with domestic fiscal pressure. Sentiment, however, still tilts strongly bullish among official institutions: in the World Gold Council's 2026 survey, 89% of respondents expected global gold reserves to rise over the next 12 months, and 45% expected their own institution's holdings to grow. The caveat is timing — these figures cover May, before June's steep selloff, so the next monthly report will test whether official conviction survived a double-digit price drop intact.

Taken together, these six threads describe one arc: a hawkish Fed is repricing every hard asset lower even as long-horizon sovereign buyers keep accumulating, and that same tension defines crypto right now. COINOTAG's aggregate market data reads Extreme Fear, with our Fear and Greed Index at 19 out of 100 and total crypto market capitalization at roughly $1.77 trillion. Bitcoin dominance sits at 69.7%, meaning capital is huddling in the majors — the digital analogue of central banks rotating into bullion. The primary-source signal is unambiguous: World Gold Council data confirms official demand persisted through the drawdown, and that same store-of-value conviction is what could underpin Bitcoin once the rate cycle turns.