France has brought all its official gold reserves back home, in a move that netted more than 12 billion euros in profits -- and underscored growing unease about the world's heavy dependence on the U.S. dollar amid rising geopolitical tensions, according to a French economist.
Between July 2025 and January 2026, the Bank of France completed the transfer of the final 129 tons of gold, clearing out all holdings previously stored in the United States.
Older, non-standard bars held in New York were sold, and an equivalent amount of new, internationally standardized bars was purchased on the European market and stored in the central bank's underground vault.
The operation required no large-scale physical shipment of gold and generated approximately 12.8 billion euros in gains.
The move comes as central banks around the world continue to increase their gold holdings, with some countries choosing to bring reserves home for greater security.
"What are the reasons behind this recent goal policy of France? As I said, the official reason was just to adjust the quality standard. But then we can see two other reasons. The other reason is a kind of geopolitical reasons, for sovereignty reasons. Central banks now are reconsidering the importance of gold because today the dominant currency in the world is still the U.S. dollar. But a lot of countries now think that there might be confidence problem in the U.S. dollar because of current U.S. policies," Eric Monnet, a professor at the Paris School of Economics.
France pulls all gold from US amid mounting geopolitical concerns: expert
France pulls all gold from US amid mounting geopolitical concerns: expert
