Gold climbed above $4,600 per ounce as concerns over U.S. debt, the dollar, and inflation sparked another round of buying across hard assets, reinforcing Peter Schiff’s view that investors should prefer bullion over Bitcoin.

Comex gold finished Friday at $4,624.10, up 5.6% for the week and more than 14% over the past three weeks. Silver rose to $69.466, while Bitcoin traded near $78,000 after its own sharp weekly rally.

Schiff, a longtime gold advocate and persistent Bitcoin critic, described Bitcoin’s move above $72,000 as a “fakeout, not a breakout” and told holders to sell BTC and buy gold. He linked both rallies to the same shift in U.S. financial conditions, while arguing that easier money ultimately strengthens the case for precious metals.

Treasury Buybacks Lift Gold and Bitcoin Together

The cross-asset move accelerated after the U.S. Treasury doubled the maximum size of long-term liquidity-support buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation for 10-to-30-year securities beginning September 9.

The operations target older, less-liquid “off-the-run” bonds, returning cash to dealer balance sheets and easing trading conditions in the long end of the market. Treasury only relaunched regular buybacks in 2024, its first such program since 2002, so the enlarged cap marks a significant expansion of a still-young operation.

The announcement initially pushed long-term yields lower and weakened the dollar, directing capital toward assets often used as hedges against currency debasement and fiscal stress.

Bitcoin reacted first with a violent leveraged breakout. BTC surged past $74,000 as more than $3 billion in crypto shorts were liquidated, before extending the move above $77,000.

Gold then followed with its strongest weekly advance in several weeks. The move also brought back levels CryptoAdventure tracked earlier this year, when bullion was trying to reclaim the $4,600 area before another run toward $5,000.

Central Banks Continue Adding Gold

The rally comes on top of a longer shift in global reserve management. Gold has overtaken U.S. government bonds as the leading reserve asset held by central banks, returning to that position for the first time since 1996.

Reserve managers and analysts have frequently cited the 2022 freezing of Russia’s foreign-currency reserves as a turning point in how central banks view assets held in other jurisdictions, since bullion stored at home carries no foreign counterparty.

Central banks have accumulated an average of roughly 1,000 tonnes annually over the past four years, about twice the pace seen in the previous decade. A record 45% of reserve managers expect their own gold holdings to rise over the next 12 months, while 89% expect global central-bank reserves to increase.

Private crypto companies are also joining the same trade. Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, has built physical gold holdings approaching 150 tonnes after buying 27.1 tonnes in the first half of 2026.

Gold, Silver and Oil Reflect Inflation Pressure

The hard-asset rally has broadened beyond bullion. Silver ended the week just below $70, while Brent crude moved above $94 per barrel as renewed tensions involving Iran kept pressure on global energy markets.

Schiff has repeatedly framed gold as the stronger monetary hedge during periods of fiscal and geopolitical stress. He made a similar argument during the spring selloff, when he urged investors to buy gold and silver weakness as oil, yields, and war risk moved higher.

Comex gold finished Friday at $4,624.10, silver settled at $69.466, and Bitcoin entered the weekend trading near $78,000.