International News
Gold, ‘Non-traditional reserve currencies’ eat into U.S. dollar’s reserve dominance: Wolf Richter
Gold and other reserve currencies – but not the euro or renminbi – are steadily eroding the U.S. dollar’s position as the world’s preeminent reserve asset, according to Wolf Richter, analyst and publisher of Wolf Street.
“The status of the US dollar as the dominant global reserve currency has helped the US fund its twin deficits, and thereby has enabled them: the huge fiscal deficit every year and the massive trade deficit every year,” Richter wrote in an article published Monday. “The reserve currency status comes from other central banks (not the Fed) having purchased trillions of USD-denominated assets such as Treasury securities, other government securities, corporate bonds, and even stocks. The dollar status as the dominant reserve currency has been crucial for the US, and as that dominance declines ever so slowly, risks pile up ever so slowly.”
Total holdings of USD-denominated securities by other central banks (not the Fed) fell by $59 billion to $6.63 trillion at the end of 2024, from $6.69 trillion at the end of 2023,” he noted. “And the dollar’s share declined to 57.8% of total allocated exchange reserves at the end of 2024, the lowest since 1994, down by 7.3 percentage points in 10 years, as central banks have been diversifying their holdings for years to assets denominated in currencies other than the dollar, and into gold.”
DiamondBuzz
De Beers cuts Sightholder list by a third in landmark restructuring
More than 20 clients dropped as the miner reshapes its rough-diamond distribution network
De Beers has notified more than 20 of its 69 sightholders that their client relationships will not be renewed when new contracts take effect on 1 July 2026 — a reduction exceeding one-third of its trading roster and the deepest single-cycle cut in the company’s recent history.
The revised sightholder list stands at approximately 45 companies, varying slightly depending on how firms with multiple trading divisions are counted. New contracts will replace agreements originally signed.
The restructuring reflects a strategic pivot toward a leaner, more concentrated distribution model. Industry analyst Edahn Golan has noted that at least one new sightholder from India has been added to the roster, signalling a continued shift in rough-diamond purchasing toward South and East Asian cutting centres.
De Beers declined to confirm the full list of retained or terminated clients, stating through spokesperson David Johnson that the updated sightholder directory will be published on the company’s website when the new contracts commence in July.
At its peak in the 1970s, De Beers maintained a sightholder list of over 350 companies. The move to sub-50 clients marks a structural consolidation that mirrors broader pressures on the natural diamond trade, including sustained demand softness, competition from lab-grown stones, and margin compression across the midstream.
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