Blurs

The Dutch central bank has moved 86 tonnes of gold from its North American holdings to London — and says growing geopolitical unrest is one reason it wanted its reserves easier to access in a crisis. Something unusual has happened to the Netherlands' gold reserves. Between March and August 2026, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch central bank, reallocated approximately 86 tonnes of gold from its holdings in the United States and Canada to London. The gold was worth billions of euros. And while DNB insists that this was not a withdrawal of trust from the United States or Canada, its explanation is nevertheless significant. The bank explicitly cited “increasing geopolitical unrest” and a desire to strengthen its ability to access and trade its gold during a crisis. So why has the location of Dutch gold suddenly become important? The Netherlands still has a lot of gold. DNB holds approximately 612.4 tonnes of gold, valued at around €72.2 billion at the end of 2025. For decades, th...