The gold market over the past decade has indeed been incredibly fierce.

Just look at these numbers — in 2016, it was only $1,200 per ounce, and now it has broken through $4,700. The increase is nearly threefold, with an annualized return of about 15%. This steady upward trend indicates that there are structural factors supporting it.

Breaking it down, three main drivers have been exerting influence: risk aversion, inflation hedging, and US dollar depreciation. Central banks around the world haven't been idle either; over the past ten years, they have accumulated more than 4,000 tons of gold, with institutional demand supporting the price. When global political and economic uncertainties rise, gold automatically becomes the preferred safe-haven asset for allocation. No need to rush when inflation comes; gold has always been the most direct tool to hedge currency devaluation. Plus, with the cyclical weakening of the US dollar, gold prices tend to rise in tandem.

This logic has implications for all risk assets — when macro conditions change, the allocation weights of traditional assets often adjust themselves.