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In August 2020, the gold market witnessed its biggest drop in the last seven years. With the number of Coronavirus cases reaching an all-time high in the USA, major businesses were forced to shut down and traders started panic-selling their stocks.

There are a few misconceptions when it comes to the gold lending market and central banks’ role in it. This is because the gold lending markets are over-the-counter (OTC) markets where transactions between two parties are direct and a broker or central exchange entity is not present to oversee the deals made. Therefore, the process of gold leasing is generally obscure.

Gold’s value as a strategic asset has been on the incline in the past few years, as central banks increase their gold holdings. Many central bankers are still unsure about managing their gold holdings due to a lack of transparency in terms of pricing. It doesn’t help that the gold lending market is primarily an over-the-counter (OTC) market, which raises transparency concerns, partly because details about starting price and intra-round prices are not revealed.

Gold prices have hit record highs in 2020 as investors scurry towards it amidst negative-yielding debt. Meanwhile, gold mining companies have been ramping up production to keep up the pace with the growing demand. JPMorgan and Chase Bank lifted their estimates on the outlook for gold to $2000 an ounce. The point is, 2020 is looking great for the bullion.

Gold is commonly regarded as the best safe haven asset out there. It’s definitely stood the test of time – come what may. So why the growing interest in gold stocks, again?