The reason why gold is valuable has never been because it shines and looks good, but rather based on a certain collective consensus in human society. However, this consensus is not fixed; it constantly evolves with the global economic landscape, policy environment, and understanding of monetary credit.

To understand why gold has become a hot commodity again, we need to clarify the three levels supporting the monetary system: physical currency, credit currency, and virtual currency.

**The Era Under the Rule of Credit Currency**

Currently, we mainly use credit currency—that is, paper money backed by taxes and national credit issued by governments. This system has been in operation for decades with decent results. But since the 2008 financial crisis, central banks and governments around the world have embarked on rounds of money printing. To stimulate the economy and maintain growth, debt expansion and liquidity flooding have become the norm.

It appears that there is more and more money. In reality, the gold content of money is continuously decreasing.

**Decay of Credit, This Is the Key**

Printing money essentially dilutes the value of currency. As central banks and governments keep increasing the money supply, the actual purchasing power of each banknote shrinks. This not only means inflation but also a deeper issue: the credit of the nation itself is being overdrawn. Banknotes are the physical manifestation of credit; devaluation of banknotes equals credit decay.

So, in this context, what can truly preserve value? The answer is simple: assets with a hard supply cap.

**Common Points Between Gold and Virtual Assets**

This is why central banks around the world (including the US, Europe, and emerging markets) have been hoarding gold crazily in recent years. Because gold’s supply is physically limited; the amount mined each year is fixed and cannot be increased infinitely like paper money. In an era of credit currency devaluation, gold has instead become a real currency in the context of "de-globalization."

A similar logic applies to certain virtual currencies with a fixed supply—their value proposition is to benchmark gold, using cryptography rather than physical scarcity to guarantee the supply cap.

**Why Do Prices Still Feel Like They Haven’t Exploded**

Some may ask: If money is so worthless, why do I feel that prices haven’t risen much?

The reason is that over the past thirty years, global productivity has increased too much. Industrialization, automation, and the optimization of global supply chains have made the total supply of goods and services far exceed total demand. In other words, the oversupply has offset the inflationary pressure caused by money printing.

But how long this dynamic balance can last is uncertain. Once supply chains break, geopolitical risks rise, or a black swan event occurs, this seemingly stable situation could collapse. That’s why more and more institutions and individuals are reconfiguring their assets, increasing exposure to gold and other scarce assets.

Ultimately, it’s not that gold or virtual assets are becoming more valuable, but that mainstream currencies are depreciating. In this process, assets with limited supply and clear scarcity naturally become new anchors of value.