Gold rose nearly 1% on Monday, while risk assets—including crypto and equities—slipped amid macro uncertainty. Gold futures traded at $4,262.35, just 2.95% below the all-time high of $4,381.44—a mere $119 from a new record.

Overnight Bitcoin selling slashed total crypto market cap by over 6% today, from $3.191 trillion to $3.016 trillion. BTC declined 6%, now trading below $86,000, per CoinGecko. The S&P 500 also dipped 0.5% in pre-market trade, reflecting broad risk-off sentiment.

Gold’s November rally stems from “rising investor caution and heightened expectations of a December rate cut,” said Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst at CEX.IO. Speculation that the next Fed Chair will adopt a dovish stance further boosted gold’s appeal as a safe haven.

Though the probability of a 25-bps December cut stands at 88% (CME FedWatch), investors remain cautious due to the post-shutdown data vacuum. Prediction market Myriad assigns an 86% chance of a cut—and just 9% odds of Powell’s departure before year-end.

“Many are sidestepping risk or adopting a wait-and-see stance,” Otychenko added, citing Wednesday’s ADP report and Friday’s core PCE data as key catalysts.

He also highlighted the Fed’s quantitative tightening (QT) wind-down: “Extra liquidity from ending QT takes time to permeate markets—so risk assets now appear weak.”

VECS Commentary
This rotation to gold is no accident—it’s a natural response to monetary policy uncertainty. Gold and crypto often compete as hedges, but in a data vacuum, gold wins on liquidity, history, and lack of technical dependency. Caution is warranted: gold–BTC negative correlation may deepen short-term crypto pressure—especially if inflation data reaccelerates. Yet this isn’t the end: historically, after gold peaks, capital flows into assets with yield and growth potential—like fundamentally sound crypto. What matters isn’t when you enter—but whether you stay when panic peaks.

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**This news was obtained and summarized from various sources on the internet.