Fragmented Liquidity
Gold trades across disconnected venues — COMEX, LBMA, SGE, OTC desks — each with its own rules, settlement cycles, and accessibility constraints.
Custodial Opacity
Paper gold instruments dominate volume, but obscure:
Whether gold is allocated
Whether it is rehypothecated
Whether delivery is realistically available
Settlement Inefficiency
Gold markets operate on limited windows, with slow settlement and jurisdictional friction that prevents global capital efficiency.
Paper–Physical Divergence
In times of stress, paper gold prices and physical availability diverge — undermining trust in the system.
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