A fact about gold that surprises most new traders: the biggest single driver of gold in the past 2 years hasn't been retail sentiment or US inflation — it's been central bank buying. According to the World Gold Council, central banks purchased over 1,000 tonnes of gold in both 2022 and 2023 — levels not seen since the 1960s. The main buyers: China, India, Poland, Turkey, and several Middle Eastern nations. This matters for traders because: 1. It creates a structural price floor. Every significant dip gets bought by institutions with multi-year mandates. 2. It de-correlates gold slightly from its traditional USD relationship — gold has risen even when the dollar was strong. 3. It signals a shift in the global monetary order — a slow move away from USD-denominated reserve assets. For short-term traders, this means "shorting gold" has structural headwinds. Do you factor central bank flows into your gold analysis?