MILAN (AP) — On a night of American comebacks at the Milan Cortina Games, Alysa Liu delivered the U.S. its first women’s figure skating Olympic gold medal in 24 years.
The 20-year-old Liu performed a near-flawless free skate Thursday to upstage Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai. She finished with a career-best 226.79 points. Nakai and Sakamoto each made a mistake on a combination sequence.
Liu had walked away from the sport after the 2022 Beijing Games only to launch a remarkable comeback.
It was the first individual gold medal for an American woman figure skater since 2002, when Sarah Hughes won in Salt Lake City, and it was the second gold for Liu at these Games. She helped the Americans win team gold.
Sakamoto scored 224.90 points to earn a silver. Nakai finished third with 219.16 points.
Liu was third after the short program two nights earlier, though within range of gold.
US beats Canada in OT for women’s hockey gold The U.S. women’s hockey team delivered an Olympic comeback for the ages by beating Canada 2-1 in overtime to win the gold medal.
With her team trailing 1-0, American captain Hilary Knight forced overtime by tipping in Laila Edwards’ shot with 2:04 remaining in regulation.
Megan Keller then scored 4:07 into overtime to hand the U.S. its third Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey.
It was the seventh time the two powerhouses faced off for Olympic gold since women’s hockey debuted at the 1998 Nagano Games. In the 2022 Beijing final, Canada beat the Americans in the final.
With the sides playing 3-on-3 in overtime, Keller broke up the left wing and pushed past Claire Thompson. Driving to the net, Keller got off a backhander that beat Ann-Renee Desbiens.
Kristin O’Neill scored a short-handed goal for Canada in the second period.
Earlier Thursday, Alina Muller scored the bronze medal-winning goal in overtime in Switzerland’s 2-1 victory over Sweden. It came 12 years after Muller scored the clinching goal to deliver the Swiss their first Olympic medal in women’s hockey — a bronze at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Jordan Stolz stunned in 1,500 meters U.S. speedskater Jordan Stolz’s late push wasn’t enough.
The American star settled for silver in the 1,500 meters, missing a chance to secure a third gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games.
China’s Ning Zhongyan won Thursday’s race in an Olympic-record time of 1 minute, 41.98 seconds. The 21-year-old Stolz, who won gold medals in the 500 and 1,000 at these Games, crossed 0.77 seconds later.
As Stolz glided by, hands on his knees, Ning raised his country’s flag aloft with both hands and started a victory lap.
Stolz, a Wisconsin native, will participate in the mass start on Saturday.
Dutch skater Kjeld Nuis, who won the 1,500 at the past two Olympics, took bronze.
Eileen Gu advances to halfpipe final despite fall Defending Olympic champion Eileen Gu shook off a fall during her opening run to advance to Saturday’s final in freeski halfpipe. The 22-year-old Gu was born in the United States and competes for China.
She clipped the lip of the halfpipe on the third trick of her first run, knocking her left ski off and sending her skittering to the bottom of the course.
That set up a pressure-packed second attempt that run earned 86.50 points, good enough to place fifth among the 12 skiers who advanced to the final.
US and Canada reach women’s curling semifinals The United States and Canada advanced to the women’s curling semifinals.
The Americans, skipped by Tabitha Peterson, beat Switzerland 7-6 in a match that went to an extra end. The teams will square off again in Friday’s semifinals.
Peterson threw the decisive rock and her teammates swept it into position, just a hair closer to the button than the Swiss’ nearest stone.
Canada beat South Korea 10-7 and will play Sweden on Friday.
LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) – As American and European policymakers know well, global currency dominance and exchange rate movement are different things. But there’s a decent argument that Europe’s push to widen euro usage necessarily involves some revaluation of the single currency.
As Transatlantic ties fray and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned of lines that “cannot be uncrossed” after President Donald Trump’s bid for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, European Union leaders and finance chiefs this past week have launched another push to bolster the bloc’s economic clout and reposition its defense.
With the Munich Security Conference as the backdrop, an informal EU summit last week brought renewed impetus to deepen European capital markets integration. Leaders also discussed possibly expanding joint euro debt sales and – led by the European Central Bank on Saturday – widening euro access, liquidity and financing worldwide.
Some of this has been on the table before. But the urgency for action is now evident in a willingness for a two-speed advance with six core countries – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland – in the vanguard if agreement among the 27 is too cumbersome or slow. An EU6 summit is due early next month.
The plans are likely necessary, even if not yet sufficient, to expand the role of the euro and allow it to absorb some of the nervousness about the world’s overexposure to dollars at a time of enormous U.S. political and economic upheaval.
Whether that greater global role brings a less welcome appreciation of the euro’s value is another question.
As finance chiefs on both sides of the Atlantic ponder the potential for at least some shift in the scale of dollar dominance in reserves, trade, invoicing and commodity pricing, they have differing takes on any related exchange rate fallout.
Trump’s administration sees a “strong dollar” primarily in terms of the currency’s reach and pervasive use in cross-border finance – an extension of American power unrelated to the ebbs and flows of the exchange rate itself. The presumption is that the Trump team sees an unwinding of the dollar’s overvalued exchange rate as an integral part of its global trade reset.
Currency experts, such as Cornell professor and former IMF official Eswar Prasad, think a gradual weakening of the dollar’s exchange rate is possible without damaging its international dominance.
But Prasad, in a new book published this month called The Doom Loop, says this dominance, even though durable for reasons of inertia and scale, may well be at the heart of mounting global economic instability. And if that reaches a crescendo, the search for adequate alternatives inevitably rises, as gold’s parabolic recent price gains attest.
“While dollar dominance might prove a saving grace at times of crisis, it is that very dominance which has a destabilizing effect worldwide,” he wrote. “It exposes other countries to the mercurial and often undisciplined economic and financial policies of the United States.”
Europe, on the other hand, clearly wants to lift the euro’s role but is far less keen on the exchange-rate appreciation that may follow, mainly because it would hurt export competitiveness at a time of great global trade uncertainty and further dampen inflation in the slower‑growth region.
Much like its U.S. counterparts, it would like the “exorbitant privilege” of being a bigger reserve currency but not the bloated exchange rate valuation that might go with it.
But if the U.S. side were happy with gradual dollar slippage on the exchanges and only a modest reduction in the dollar’s usage per se, would the Europeans be happy with the flipside of that scenario?
AXA Group Chief Economist Gilles Moec argued this week that disentangling the exchange rate impact from global usage was theoretically correct, but it would be hard to see any significant one-off shift not affecting the euro’s value.
Moec makes the point that during the last transition between dominant reserve currencies over a century ago, between the two world wars, when sterling ceded prominence to the dollar, the dollar appreciated on trend.
Even though the U.S. unsuccessfully tried to resist that rise by devaluing the dollar against gold at the time, he points out, demand from global investors for the new reserve currency mechanically won out.
“Our point here is that the European Central Bank cannot completely disconnect its support for an upgrade in the euro’s global role from monetary policy,” he concluded.
The plus side is that a “more assertive role” for the euro could be positive for the EU by triggering regular inflows from foreign investors into euro assets at a time when Europe needs it. What’s more, a stronger euro could aid a shift from an export-led economy to a domestically led growth mode.
“To ease the transition, though, a flexible monetary policy would be necessary to avoid a too brutal decline in competitiveness,” Moec concluded.
If Europe now feels it also needs to cross lines that cannot be uncrossed, then maybe it just has to take all that on the chin.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.
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Sofia Goggia had a key role in securing the hosting rights of the Milan Cortina Olympics for Italy.So it seemed fitting that the Italian downhiller lit the cauldron in Cortina to conclude Friday’s opening ceremony, while retired Olympic skiing champions Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni performed the honors simultaneously in Milan.In 2019, Goggia and snowboarder Michela Moioli made a joint speech and dabbed in unison before nearly 100 members of the International Olympic Committee at the voting session for the 2026 Games. Their presentation was later considered vital for Milan Cortina’s successful bid — winning over voters with their positive energy to overcome a rival candidacy from Sweden.Goggia won gold in the downhill at the 2018 Olympics and took silver four years later in Beijing weeks after crashing in Cortina.She’ll race for more medals in the women’s downhill on Sunday in Cortina.Goggia has had a series of highs and lows in Cortina. She’s won four World Cup downhills on the mountain but missed the 2021 world championships at the Alpine resort because of injury.It was a big night for Italian Alpine skiers, with defending overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone one of the host country’s flag bearers in Cortina. Olympic curling champion Amos Mosaner, Italy’s other flag bearer in Cortina, held Brignone on his shoulders when the Azzurri paraded through the town center.”I’m heavy,” Brignone said, “so I wasn’t sure he could carry me.”
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy —
Sofia Goggia had a key role in securing the hosting rights of the Milan Cortina Olympics for Italy.
So it seemed fitting that the Italian downhiller lit the cauldron in Cortina to conclude Friday’s opening ceremony, while retired Olympic skiing champions Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni performed the honors simultaneously in Milan.
In 2019, Goggia and snowboarder Michela Moioli made a joint speech and dabbed in unison before nearly 100 members of the International Olympic Committee at the voting session for the 2026 Games. Their presentation was later considered vital for Milan Cortina’s successful bid — winning over voters with their positive energy to overcome a rival candidacy from Sweden.
FRANCK FIFE
Italian alpine skier Sofia Goggia holds the Olympic torch under the Cortina cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, northern Italy, on February 6, 2026. (Photo by Franck FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)
Goggia won gold in the downhill at the 2018 Olympics and took silver four years later in Beijing weeks after crashing in Cortina.
She’ll race for more medals in the women’s downhill on Sunday in Cortina.
Goggia has had a series of highs and lows in Cortina. She’s won four World Cup downhills on the mountain but missed the 2021 world championships at the Alpine resort because of injury.
It was a big night for Italian Alpine skiers, with defending overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone one of the host country’s flag bearers in Cortina. Olympic curling champion Amos Mosaner, Italy’s other flag bearer in Cortina, held Brignone on his shoulders when the Azzurri paraded through the town center.
“I’m heavy,” Brignone said, “so I wasn’t sure he could carry me.”
Both precious metals plunged in the past few trading days.
The broader market correction continues in crypto, as bitcoin just slumped below $75,000 for the first time in almost a year, with ETH dumped beneath $2,200.
While this sounds bad, because it is, it’s also worth looking for a different perspective, which might show that ‘we are still early’ in crypto.
The Crypto Calamity
Bitcoin traded above $90,000 just a few days ago. The asset challenged that resistance on Wednesday before the first FOMC meeting for the year. However, it failed there perhaps due to the Fed’s decision to pause the interest rate cuts or the growing tension in the Middle East.
Since then, the cryptocurrency plummeted to $81,000, rebounded slightly to $84,000 on Friday, and fell below $76,000 on Saturday. Monday morning began with another nosedive to a fresh multi-month low of $74,400 (on Bitstamp). This meant that BTC had lost over $15,000 in less than a week, and almost $10,000 in 36 hours.
Naturally, most altcoins followed suit, with many amplifying bitcoin’s losses. The total crypto market cap shed around $300 billion since Saturday and $500 billion since Wednesday. Over-leveraged traders were wrecked for more than $2.5 billion during the weekend, while another $800 million, mostly from longs, has been liquidated in the past 24 hours.
Gold and Silver Drop Hard(er)
Bitcoin is often blamed for being too volatile. And, that’s not entirely untrue, as explained above. However, the current market environment across all financial fields is highly atypical. Whether it’s the geopolitical uncertainty, the behavior of certain country leaders, or something else, even the oldest safe-haven assets have behaved irrationally lately.
Gold has been the largest non-real estate asset for decades. It was joined by silver in the past few months as it skyrocketed to fresh peaks of over $120 in a matter of weeks. At the same time, gold tapped $5,600 to register yet another all-time high. On Friday, though, something broke in the precious metal market.
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Silver went from over $121 to $72 on Friday and $70.5 today, while gold dropped from $5,600 to $4,400 earlier today. This meant that both of those assets erased $10 trillion from their combined market caps in just a couple of days.
BREAKING: Gold falls below $4,500/oz and Silver falls below $72/oz as selling pressure builds.
From a crypto perspective, it’s clear that the ‘we are still early’ narrative is valid. After all, gold and silver shed $10 trillion – with a T. That’s more than three times the size of the entire cryptocurrency market. And, even with this massive drop, silver alone is bigger than the market caps of bitcoin and all altcoins combined.
What about gold, you might ask? Well, the yellow metal’s market cap is over 10x larger than BTC and the alts. So yes, we just might be still early.
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After breaking $5,000, bullion bulls are eyeing $10,000 as macroeconomic and political risks intensify. Unsplash
Gold has climbed roughly 90 percent over the past year, and many see the rally as far from over. After breaching $5,000 for the first time on Monday following Trump’s threat of 100 percent tariffs on Canada, some analysts believe bullion could hit $10,000 by the end of the year. Gold is expected to gain further as inflationary pressures, the possibility of larger-than-expected interest rate cuts, and growing political turmoil weigh on the dollar.
What’s behind gold’s recent surge?
Beyond sticky inflation and lingering fears of a U.S. recession—now compounded by fresh concerns over a potential government shutdown—the weakening dollar has prompted investors to sell Treasury bills in favor of gold. At the same time, central banks around the world are hoarding bullion amid rising fears that Washington’s worsening fiscal deficit—and similar problems in other countries—could undermine governments’ ability to service their ballooning debt.
As of last November, top buyers, including Poland, Kazakhstan, Brazil, and China, had purchased a combined 297 tons of gold, according to the industry lobby group the World Gold Council (WGC). Meanwhile, the U.S.’s increasingly volatile foreign policy, most recently punctuated by its campaign to acquire Greenland, is fueling what some investors describe as the “Sell America” trade.
“Unchecked fiscal debt creation continues to erode confidence in fiat currencies, while the U.S. dollar has weakened as U.S. exceptionalism fades and capital begins to rotate elsewhere,” Denmark’s Saxo Bank said in a note Wednesday.
Could gold reach $10,000 this year?
In its Outrageous Predictions report last December, Saxo outlined two technological and macroeconomic tailwinds that could drive gold to $10,000. First, it suggested quantum computers could eventually become powerful enough to crack Bitcoin’s encrypted wallets—what the bank calls “Q-Day”—allowing thieves to steal billions. “Imagine what happens if Q-Day suddenly arrives in 2026…Crypto collapses, gold screams to five figures; every bank and government scrambles to rebuild trust…,” it said.
Second, if U.S.-China tensions escalate, China may “test the monetary order” by rolling out a “gold-linked” offshore yuan for international trade settlements, effectively ditching the dollar as its reserve currency and sending it to new lows, the bank said.
Mark Connors, an independent consultant who studies the relationship between digital assets and gold, said the second scenario is already playing out to some extent—at least among countries hit by U.S. sanctions that are increasingly using bullion to pay for trade.
“I see [the possibility of gold reaching] $7,000 to $8,000 this year as non-G10 countries continue to buy gold and nations already using it for settling trade continue to do so,” he told Observer. “Russia, China and African countries like Nigeria are already using gold to settle sanctioned oil purchases.”
Connors also expects institutional investors to begin accumulating gold as they seek higher and more stable returns. “Endowments and pension funds have liabilities,” he said. “A 4 percent return on your dollar investments (through Treasury bonds) is not great.” These institutions typically invest in U.S. government bonds, such as the 10-year Treasury, to fund educational initiatives or retirement payouts. But with the 10-year yielding around 4 percent and inflation running near 3.5 percent annually, real returns are shrinking.
Connors said gold could eventually reach $10,000, though not because of Q-Day, which he does not expect to materialize anytime soon “as quantum computers don’t yet have the processing power” to hack Bitcoin.
“It’s possible because we have more than doubled [gold’s price] since March of 2024 and the same tailwinds—geopolitical uncertainty, central bank buying, ‘Sell America’—have accelerated,” he explained.
Gold and silver have gone on a record-setting tear in recent months, ripping through fresh all-time highs, while Bitcoin has been stuck grinding sideways in a tight $84,000–$94,000 box since mid-November. In a January 27 video posted to X, Anthony Pompliano argued the gap is less about a single catalyst and more about shifting demand drivers, market structure, and a new fight for attention and risk capital.
Pompliano framed the disconnect with blunt scorekeeping. “We have gold, which is up 80% in the last year. Silver’s up 250%, copper’s up 40%, and platinum’s up nearly 200% over the last 12 months,” he said, before turning to the contrast: “At the same exact time, Bitcoin is down 16% over the last year.”
In his telling, the metals aren’t moving as a monolith, they’re responding to different sources of demand. Gold, he said, is benefiting from central banks accumulating reserves and what he described as “a definitization of the global economy,” where flows rotate out of dollars not into other fiat, but into gold.
Silver, by contrast, is less about store-of-value positioning and more about industrial pull. Pompliano pointed to defense equipment, AI hardware, and self-driving cars as examples of end-demand, arguing that “the world is building things again” and that re-industrialization makes silver a direct beneficiary.
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Copper and platinum, in his framework, are even cleaner industrial stories. Copper rides electrification (EVs, grid buildouts, renewables) and “significant industrial demand.” Platinum’s move, he argued, is supply constrained, describing “very, very low supply” that creates a market structure favorable to holders. Pompliano also highlighted what he called a rotation within metals where gold led, then silver, and more recently copper and platinum, a sequence he dubbed “the metals mania.”
So Why Hasn’t Bitcoin Joined The Run?
Pompliano’s first answer was structural: Wall Street’s adoption is changing who holds Bitcoin and how it trades. He described an “IPO moment of Bitcoin,” (referring to Jordy Visser’s theory), where long-term holders have been handing coins off to institutional players.
In Pompliano’s view, some early holders owned Bitcoin precisely because it was “outside the system,” and the asset’s migration into mainstream finance may reduce enthusiasm from that cohort. He also pointed to public comments from Peter Thiel and others suggesting Bitcoin’s future may be less “asymmetric” than its early years.
The second structural shift is the proliferation of financial instruments around BTC. “It used to be really hard to short Bitcoin. Well, now you can do it very simply,” Pompliano said, arguing that options and shorting change the market’s plumbing and dampen volatility. “Bitcoin used to be an 80 vol asset. Now it’s more like a 40 vol asset,” he added, positioning the trade-off as fewer parabolic upside phases but also fewer catastrophic drawdowns.
From there, Pompliano moved to narrative demand — specifically, the idea that Bitcoin had been treated as a “chaos hedge.” He argued that recent perceptions of rising geopolitical stability have reduced the perceived need for that insurance bid, while central banks, with far larger pools of capital, continue to express their hedge preference through gold. “It seems like there is not as much of a bid for Bitcoin coming as this insurance hedge,” he said, stressing he viewed it as a flow and narrative issue rather than a loss of utility.
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He made a similar point about inflation hedging, claiming disinflation has undercut one of Bitcoin’s most effective recent narratives. Citing Trueflation, Pompliano said the metric showed 1.2% inflation, “150 basis points lower than it was just 90 days ago,” and argued that AI and tariffs are deflationary forces. If investors don’t expect inflation to run hot, he reasoned, some capital simply won’t reach BTC.
Finally, he argued Bitcoin is losing mindshare and speculative oxygen to AI and to a broader set of “risk-taking” outlets. “There is simply more competition,” Pompliano said, extending the idea beyond markets into an attention economy where every asset competes when users open a financial app and decide where to allocate leftover cash. In that framing, Bitcoin is no longer the default high-upside wager for younger participants; it’s competing with AI equities, prediction markets, and sports betting.
Why is bitcoin lagging while gold, silver, copper, and platinum continue to go higher?
I break down the forces driving the metals rally, how Wall Street adoption has reshaped Bitcoin’s market structure, and why inflation expectations, global stability, and AI are influencing… pic.twitter.com/VzATl6ZCYi
Pompliano’s closing message was that laggards can catch up and that he sees Bitcoin as “more interesting sitting at $87,000 than it was at $126,000.” But he also cautioned that a lower-volatility, more institutional Bitcoin may demand a different temperament from holders. “If you actually get impatient, you’re going to be disappointed. You’re going to get shaken out,” he said, arguing that the trade increasingly resembles a waiting game rather than a yearly sprint.
Gold shone brightly today, racing to a new high while crypto took the back seat, and the gap between the two assets opened wide.
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On Monday, the precious metal moved past the $5,000 mark, registering a price point market sentinels had not witnessed before. Bitcoin, by contrast, failed to keep pace and traded well below its recent highs.
Gold Hits Record Levels
Safe-haven demand pushed gold sharply higher. Prices were up above $5k an ounce and inked roughly $5,110 at the peak. Silver, for its part, did not go unnoticed, jumping to fresh peaks near $107/ounce.
Traders pointed to simmering geopolitical friction and talk of tougher trade moves led by US President Donald Trump as fuel for the rally.
A weaker greenback made metals more attractive to customers overseas, and central bank buying provided steady backing. Liquidity in some corners were thin as investors rushed to shift cash into things that feel stable when risk elevates.
Bitcoin Falls Behind
Market numbers show Bitcoin hovering in the mid-$80,000s range, retreating from peaks seen late last year. Reports note the alpha crypto is roughly 30% below the highest level it hit reached in October 2025, leaving some holders quite jittery.
Volatility was another factor. Where bullion is being sought for safety, Bitcoin is viewed more as a growth or speculative play, and that difference in investor application becomes clear when markets tighten. Some funds slashed their crypto exposure, signaling a short reroute away from high-risk gambits.
BTCUSD currently trading at $87,832. Chart: TradingView
Why Investors Are Shifting
Analysts and traders described a simple choice: shelter or swing for gains. When headlines push worry, money flows into assets that are widely trusted across markets and governments.
Metals fit that ticket. Based on market chatter, fears of a US government funding clash and fresh tariff announcements stacked pressure on stocks and added a sense of urgency to safe-haven acquisition.
Options and futures trading hinted at a more cautious perpective, with volatility indexes rising and bond yields behaving in ways that made the yellow metal look more appealing by comparison.
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What Traders Are Watching
Market watchers said eyes will be glued on a few key metrics: The dollar’s path, moves by major central banks, and any sign that US politics escalates could keep metals elevated.
For Bitcoin, network activity, large wallet flows, and regulatory headlines will likely set the tone. Some traders expect swings both ways. Others caution that when risk appetite is back, crypto may bounce hard, but that outcome is not a sure thing and will be dependent on a string of policy and macro moves.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Despite its slow momentum over the past few weeks, XRP is still on analysts’ radar as they look beyond its dollar price action and into its performance against gold. One analyst has said that the long-term XRP/Gold ratio has just reached a historical support zone, signaling a familiar technical setup that could determine its next move.
XRP/Gold Ratio Arrives At Critical Support Level
Market expert ‘Steph is Crypto’ hasreleased a fresh analysis focusing on the XRP to gold ratio and its historical behaviour. In his post on X this Tuesday, he stated that the ratio has returned to a long-standing support zone around $0.0004, which has consistently marked major turning points in XRP’s price action relative to gold.
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According to the analyst, this same area previously preceded powerful upside moves in the XRP/gold ratio. Each prior visit to this zone was followed by a sharp reversal higher, as highlighted by the circled lows and steep advances that followed. The chart shows rallies of more than 800% in 2020, over 120% in 2022, and about 530% in 2024.
Steph is Crypto also pointed to momentum conditions, noting that the Relative Strength Index (RSI) was oversold in the past when the XRP/gold ratio hit the historical support. In the current 2026 cycle, the RSI sits around 33.38, reflecting a similar oversold setup to previous cycles. According to the analyst, this suggests downside momentum is fading.
The general outlook of this analysis suggests that if past trends repeat, the XRP/gold ratio could experience another strong rally this cycle. This time, Steph is Crypto predicts a rally from the support around $0.0004 to over $0.0018, representing a gain of more than 350%.
Analyst Links XRP Trajectory To That Of Gold And Silver
In a subsequent post, Steph is Crypto shared another analysis comparing the historical price movements and expansion phase of gold and silver with XRP. He presented parallel charts for each asset, highlighting distinct phases preceding major price rallies in the precious metals while illustrating the potential path for XRP based on gold and silver’s past performance.
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The chart showed that gold and silver experienced a major distribution phase in 2021, followed by a compression phase in 2023 and an expansion in 2026. In Gold’s case, its price reversal was sharp and vertical, with minimal pullbacks before reaching an all-time high near $4,700. Silver’s movement was more muted, showing significant volatility from 2023 to 2025 before accelerating in 2026 to peak above $91.
Based on these performances, Steph is Crypto predicts that XRP could follow a similar trajectory. The cryptocurrency has completed its distribution phase above $3 and its compression stage near $2.3, and the analyst now expects it to enter an expansion phase, with a projected ATH target of $32.
XRP trading at $2.14 on the 1D chart | Source: XRPUSDT on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Freepik, chart from Tradingview.com
Jalen Gough was born on the slopes. The oldest child of professional mogul skiers, her mother Patty is *** 3-time X Games champion. One of the first Americans to qualify for the games in Italy, Jalen is one of the favorites to win gold. But before we talk about her skiing, let’s talk about her dancing. Last year, Cough and her US mogul’s teammates went viral after performing the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader’s famed thunderstruck routine. Impressed by her moves in ski boots, America’s sweethearts invited her to dance with them pregame last fall. I was very nervous. I was like shaking, meeting the cowgirls and dancing with them. Um, I mean, I feel like the nervous competing is, you know, you get the jitters, but like. I know that run. I know how to ski it. I’m nervous to like dance with professional dancers is like I don’t know how to dance. This is like not so out of my comfort zone, but um it was really cool to be able to do that. Something else that’s. Last March, she won the Mogul’s World Championship, conquering the course in Lavino, where she’ll be skiing during the Olympics. Like I feel really great with where my skiing is at right now. Prepared, focused, and ready to earn her first Olympic gold. And to indulge *** bit on some of the food at the games. I’m going to be eating *** lot of pizza and pasta the whole time. I could never get sick of either of those foods. So Kough’s longtime boyfriend Bradley Wilson is also *** mogul skier, *** three-time Olympian. He retired from the sport after the 2022 games in Beijing. On the road to Milan Cortina, I’m Fletcher Mackle.
Born on the slopes, moguls skier Jaelin Kauf favorite to win gold medal at Milan Cortina Olympics
Originally called “hot dogging,” freestyle skiing became an Olympic sport at the Calgary games in 1988, and for one American skier, freestyle is a family affair.Jaelin Kauf was born on the slopes, the oldest child of professional mogul skiers. Her mother, Patti, is a three-time X-Games champion.One of the first American athletes to qualify for the games in Italy, Jaelin is one of the favorites to win gold, but before we tell you about her skiing, let’s talk about her dancing.Last year, Kauf and her U.S. moguls teammates went viral after performing the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ famed thunderstruck routine.Impressed by her moves in ski boots, America’s Sweethearts invited her to dance with them pregame last fall. “I was very nervous. I was, like, shaking, meeting the cowgirls, dancing with them. I mean, I feel like skiing, I get nervous competing, you know, you get the jitters, but, like, I know that? I know how to see it. I’m nervous to, like, dance with professional dancers, I don’t know how to dance, so it’s like, so out of my comfort zone, but it was really cool to be able to do that,” Kauf said. Something else that’s cool, last March she won the moguls World Championship, conquering the course in Livigno where she’ll be skiing during the Olympics. “I feel really great with where my seeing is out right now,” Kauf said.Prepared, focused, and ready to earn her first Olympic gold, and to indulge a bit in some of the food at the games.”I’m going to be eating a lot of pizza and pasta the whole time. I could never get sick from either of those foods,” Kauf said. Kauf’s longtime boyfriend, Bradley Wilson, was also a moguls skier. A three-time Olympian, he retired from the sport after the 2022 Games in Beijing.
Originally called “hot dogging,” freestyle skiing became an Olympic sport at the Calgary games in 1988, and for one American skier, freestyle is a family affair.
Jaelin Kauf was born on the slopes, the oldest child of professional mogul skiers. Her mother, Patti, is a three-time X-Games champion.
One of the first American athletes to qualify for the games in Italy, Jaelin is one of the favorites to win gold, but before we tell you about her skiing, let’s talk about her dancing.
Last year, Kauf and her U.S. moguls teammates went viral after performing the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ famed thunderstruck routine.
Impressed by her moves in ski boots, America’s Sweethearts invited her to dance with them pregame last fall.
“I was very nervous. I was, like, shaking, meeting the cowgirls, dancing with them. I mean, I feel like skiing, I get nervous competing, you know, you get the jitters, but, like, I know that? I know how to see it. I’m nervous to, like, dance with professional dancers, I don’t know how to dance, so it’s like, so out of my comfort zone, but it was really cool to be able to do that,” Kauf said.
Something else that’s cool, last March she won the moguls World Championship, conquering the course in Livigno where she’ll be skiing during the Olympics.
“I feel really great with where my seeing is out right now,” Kauf said.
Prepared, focused, and ready to earn her first Olympic gold, and to indulge a bit in some of the food at the games.
“I’m going to be eating a lot of pizza and pasta the whole time. I could never get sick from either of those foods,” Kauf said.
Kauf’s longtime boyfriend, Bradley Wilson, was also a moguls skier. A three-time Olympian, he retired from the sport after the 2022 Games in Beijing.
Bitcoin (BTC) and the stock market have experienced sharp price swings and declines since 2025. Because of this volatility, a crypto analyst has warned that the market correction could intensify further in 2026. In a detailed analysis, he outlines a bearish scenario for Bitcoin, suggesting the flagship cryptocurrency could soon face another price crash amid persistent downward pressure in the broader stock market.
Analyst Warns Of Major Bitcoin And Stock Market Plunge
Market analyst Doctor Profit has raised concerns about the direction of the crypto and traditional markets, warning that both Bitcoin and stocks are currently in a severe bear market. In a technical breakdown on X this Monday, the expert highlighted three major bearish setups forming simultaneously in Bitcoin.
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He highlighted a massive Bearish Divergence on the weekly and monthly charts, a clear bearish flag signaling a potential drop toward $70,000, and a possible Head and Shoulder pattern that could still play out. While he acknowledged that Bitcoin could still experience short-term price increases and briefly rise toward the $97,000-$107,000 range due to strong liquidity, he said that the ultimate target remains $70,000.
Doctor Profit emphasized that Bitcoin’s potential decline to $70,000 could go two ways. It could either break out of the bearish flag to that downside target or complete the Head and Shoulders pattern before reaching $70,000. He stated that he will not add new short positions at current prices but plans to increase them aggressively from $115,000 to $125,000 if Bitcoin moves into the $97,000 to $107,000 range.
The analyst painted a similarly grim picture for the stock market. He said he was “ultra-bearish” on both Bitcoin and the financial system. He also noted that the banks are stressed and that forced liquidations in precious metals like Silver are creating ripples across the broader market.
Additionally, Doctor Profit noted that insider activity shows clear signs of panic among investors, with record levels of selling since August 2025. Because of this, the analyst believes that the market is heading for a 2008-style crash. Consequently, he has concluded that the current market conditions are too extreme.
On the bright side, Doctor Profit said that although he maintains short positions on stocks and Bitcoin, he remains bullish on Gold and Silver. He explained that any upside to the $97,000-$107,000 range will prompt him to increase his short exposure and roll spot profits for BTC from $85,000 into these positions.
Crypto Markets Brace For Key US Decisions
Toward the end of his analysis, Doctor Profit discussed upcoming events that could influence Bitcoin and the broader financial markets this week. He stated that the US CPI inflation forecast of 2.7% will be released this Tuesday. Other than this, the rest of the week is expected to have few market-moving events.
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Doctor Profit has also highlighted January 15 as an important date because US lawmakers will vote on the CLARITY Act. He explained that if the bill passes, it will move closer to becoming law, setting clear rules and oversight for the crypto market.
BTC trading at $92,333 on the 1D chart | Source: BTCUSDT on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
Olympic medallist Jessica Hull has anchored Australia to victory in the mixed relay event at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.
Hull teamed up with Oliver Hoare, Linden Hall and Jack Anstey to win gold, with the Australians recording a time of 22 minutes and 23 seconds across the four 2 kilometre legs of the race.
Australia stopped the clock three seconds ahead of France, with Ethiopia third (22:34).
It is Australia’s fifth medal in World Athletics Cross Country Championships history.
Hull and Hoare helped Australia win bronze in the same race at the 2023 world titles, which were held in Bathurst.
“We’re all pretty proud of that one,” said Hull, who won silver in the 1,500m on the track at the Paris Olympics.
“There’s been a belief that we cannot just medal, but we can probably win it, and we all carried that into today because we weren’t afraid to try and run to win.”
In the individual events, Lauren Ryan was the best-placed Australian in the women’s 10km race, finishing in 13th position.
Ryan ran a time of 33:47, while fellow Australian Leanne Pompeani was six seconds behind in 15th place.
Kenya’s Agnes Jebet Ngetich won gold in 31:28.
Ky Robinson was 24th in the men’s 10km race, one place ahead of Australian teammate Edward Marks.
Robinson clocked 29:56, two seconds quicker than Marks, with Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo winning in a time of 28:18.
A large crypto wallet that recently took a sharp loss on Ethereum has restructured its holdings, moving away from volatile tokens and increasing exposure to stablecoins and tokenized gold, according to on-chain tracking data.
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The address drew attention after an aggressive Ethereum purchase late last year went wrong. Between November 3 and November 7, 2025, the wallet spent about $110 million to acquire 31,005 ETH at an average price of $3,581.
As prices slid, the position was unwound. Nearly the entire holding was sold for roughly $92.19 million, locking in a loss close to $18 million within two weeks. At current prices near $3,020, that same Ethereum stack would now be valued at around $93.6 million.
Shift Away From Ether After Costly Exit
Based on reports from blockchain monitoring platforms, the sell-off marked a clear change in behavior. The wallet, once heavily tied to Ethereum, no longer holds a large directional bet on the asset. Instead, balances have been spread across cash-like tokens and commodities. The move reflects caution rather than an attempt to quickly recover losses.
An unknown whale, who lost $18.8M on $ETH in just 2 weeks, has abandoned $ETH and rotated into #gold.
According to on-chain records, the address began building a position in Tether’s tokenized gold product, XAUT. Starting on Friday, the wallet spent $14.58 million in USDT to buy 3,299 XAUT across several transactions.
The average purchase price came in near $4,421 per token. This was not the first gold buy. A smaller XAUT acquisition was made on December 13, roughly three weeks earlier. As of the latest data, the wallet holds 3,386 XAUT tokens worth about $14.92 million.
The broader portfolio now totals close to $91 million. About $58 million sits in USDT, another $18 million is held in USDC, while the remainder is split between XAUT and a reduced Ethereum balance. The composition points to capital protection rather than high-risk positioning.
Metals Outperform Crypto In 2025
Returns from last year help explain the change. Reports have disclosed that Bitcoin fell by 6% in 2025, while Ethereum dropped 11%. Over the same period, gold surged over 60%, and silver rose an even steeper 147%.
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Major stock indexes such as the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 also posted stronger performance than much of the crypto market. With those results in view, some investors appear more comfortable holding assets linked to metals or cash.
Meanwhile, analysts at asset manager VanEck have pointed to 2026 as a possible recovery year for the crypto market. Their view contrasts with the current behavior of large wallets moving into stablecoins and gold-linked tokens.
The divide shows how uncertain sentiment remains after a year when metals and traditional assets delivered stronger gains than major cryptocurrencies.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Gold and silver reaching new highs again is being framed as a liquidity signal rather than a risk-off warning.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading near $87,000 in late December 2025 after sliding by over 30% from its October peak above $126,000, while gold and silver continue to post record-breaking gains.
However, some analysts are arguing that this divergence is not a warning sign but a familiar setup that previously led to one of Bitcoin’s strongest rallies.
According to this view, the current pause in BTC mirrors mid-2020, when precious metals rallied first after a major market shock, before capital rotated into crypto months later with dramatic results.
Gold and Silver Lead Again as Bitcoin Consolidates
In a post shared on X on December 29, Bull Theory pointed to striking similarities between today’s market and the aftermath of the March 2020 crash.
Back then, heavy central bank liquidity flowed first into gold and silver, with gold climbing from about $1,450 to $2,075 by August 2020, while silver jumped from roughly $12 to $29. On its part, Bitcoin stayed range-bound around $9,000 to $12,000 for nearly five months before breaking to $64,800 in Q2 2021, a 440% jump in price from its August 2020 level.
Fast forward to 2025, and precious metals are once again setting the pace. Gold recently reached a new all-time high of around $4,550, while silver climbed to a new peak of its own below $84 hours ago, after an explosive final quarter. Bitcoin, by contrast, is still stuck below $90,000 as it tries to shrug off the effects of the October 10 liquidation event that wiped out more than $19 billion in leveraged positions.
Bull Theory argued that the metals moving first have historically signaled that risk assets are next, not that the cycle is ending. The analyst also noted that, unlike 2020, multiple tailwinds could line up in 2026, including continued rate cuts, renewed liquidity injections, looser bank leverage rules, clearer crypto regulation, and broader ETF access beyond Bitcoin.
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“Last cycle, Bitcoin rallied mainly because of liquidity. This time, liquidity plus structure is coming together,” stated Bull Theory.
Price Action and What it Could Mean for 2026
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at just under $90,000, up about 2% on the day but down nearly 6% year-to-date. Over the past week, price action has been tight, moving between the high $86,000s and just above $90,000, with low momentum across shorter timeframes. Monthly performance remains slightly negative, reflecting hesitation rather than panic.
This muted movement contrasts sharply with the broader metals market, where gold is up roughly 75% this year, and silver has gained more than 170%. That gap has pushed BTC-to-gold and BTC-to-silver ratios to multi-year lows, feeding the argument that Bitcoin looks undervalued on a relative basis.
If the 2020 playbook repeats and metals stall while liquidity rotates, Bull Theory estimates Bitcoin could rise more than fourfold into 2026.
“The current sideways action in BTC is not the start of the bear market, but rather a calm before the storm,” the market watcher noted.
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Semilore Faleti is a cryptocurrency writer specialized in the field of journalism and content creation. While he started out writing on several subjects, Semilore soon found a knack for cracking down on the complexities and intricacies in the intriguing world of blockchains and cryptocurrency.
Semilore is drawn to the efficiency of digital assets in terms of storing, and transferring value. He is a staunch advocate for the adoption of cryptocurrency as he believes it can improve the digitalization and transparency of the existing financial systems.
In two years of active crypto writing, Semilore has covered multiple aspects of the digital asset space including blockchains, decentralized finance (DeFi), staking, non-fungible tokens (NFT), regulations and network upgrades among others.
In his early years, Semilore honed his skills as a content writer, curating educational articles that catered to a wide audience. His pieces were particularly valuable for individuals new to the crypto space, offering insightful explanations that demystified the world of digital currencies.
Semilore also curated pieces for veteran crypto users ensuring they were up to date with the latest blockchains, decentralized applications and network updates. This foundation in educational writing has continued to inform his work, ensuring that his current work remains accessible, accurate and informative.
Currently at NewsBTC, Semilore is dedicated to reporting the latest news on cryptocurrency price action, on-chain developments and whale activity. He also covers the latest token analysis and price predictions by top market experts thus providing readers with potentially insightful and actionable information.
Through his meticulous research and engaging writing style, Semilore strives to establish himself as a trusted source in the crypto journalism field to inform and educate his audience on the latest trends and developments in the rapidly evolving world of digital assets.
Outside his work, Semilore possesses other passions like all individuals. He is a big music fan with an interest in almost every genre. He can be described as a “music nomad” always ready to listen to new artists and explore new trends.
Semilore Faleti is also a strong advocate for social justice, preaching fairness, inclusivity, and equity. He actively promotes the engagement of issues centred around systemic inequalities and all forms of discrimination.
He also promotes political participation by all persons at all levels. He believes active contribution to governmental systems and policies is the fastest and most effective way to bring about permanent positive change in any society.
In conclusion, Semilore Faleti exemplifies the convergence of expertise, passion, and advocacy in the world of crypto journalism. He is a rare individual whose work in documenting the evolution of cryptocurrency will remain relevant for years to come.
His dedication to demystifying digital assets and advocating for their adoption, combined with his commitment to social justice and political engagement, positions him as a dynamic and influential voice in the industry.
Whether through his meticulous reporting at NewsBTC or his fervent promotion of fairness and equity, Semilore continues to inform, educate, and inspire his audience, striving for a more transparent and inclusive financial future.
As markets reopened Friday after the Christmas holiday, U.S. stocks were little changed, but precious metals saw plenty of action.
Silver prices jumped 9.6% to top $78 per ounce for the first time ever. Gold rose 1.3% to a fresh record of $4,561 per ounce, and platinum surged 10.5% to its own high, while palladium leapt 13%.
So far this year, silver has spiked 169%, platinum has shot up 172%, and palladium has soared 124%—all easily beating gold’s year-to-date gain of 73% as well as Nvidia’s 42% pop and the S&P 500’s 18% advance.
Earlier in the week, the Trump administration continued to pile on more pressure on Venezuela by targeting additional oil tankers, squeezing a key source of revenue for the Maduro regime.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon sent large numbers of special-operations aircraft, troops and gear into the Caribbean, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
The extra military assets join a flotilla of Navy ships that has been building up in the region for months, while President Donald Trump hints that U.S. attacks will soon expand from suspected drug boats to targets on land.
With the threat of a new regional conflict breaking out, investors have sought out safe-havens. At the same time, debt worries have made precious metals appear safer than other assets like the dollar and yen.
Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said in Substack post on Sunday that the so-called debasement trade has roared back, pointing out that precious metals began galloping higher after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at rate cuts over the summer.
“First, this trade is clearly triggered by Fed easing and related worries about debt monetization,” Brooks wrote. “After all, Chair Powell’s dovish speech at Jackson Hole on Aug. 22 and the latest Fed rate cut on Dec. 10 were big catalysts for precious metals to take off.”
As the U.S. and other top economies hurtle toward increasingly unsustainable levels of debt, investors fear that those governments will let inflation run hotter and erode the value of their bonds to lighten the burden, rather than reining in deficits.
This debasement trade isn’t just showing up in precious metals, Brooks added, noting that countries with low levels of public debt such as Switzerland or Sweden have seen their currencies move in tandem with gold and silver prices.
“It’s noteworthy that Sweden is so much in focus. The Krona has traditionally been a highly volatile currency that didn’t have safe haven attributes. The debasement trade is changing that,” he explained.
Similarly, market veteran Ed Yardeni attributed the surge in precious metals to concerns about excess stimulative effects of U.S. monetary and fiscal policies next year.
That’s as Wall Street expects more rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, which is also buying bonds again, while consumers will start to notice Trump’s tax cuts. Trump has also teased the possibility of “tariff dividend” checks, though Congress would have to approve them.
“In any event, the federal budget deficit could balloon significantly during the first four months of 2026, which might prompt the Bond Vigilantes to raise Treasury bond yields, causing a stock market correction,” Yardeni said in a note on Monday.
That guide, however, left out one important new entrant. Wealthsimple has since launched direct physical gold trading, and it arrived with a splash. The rollout included a promotional giveaway featuring a one-kilogram gold bar, 10 one-ounce coins, and 50 one-tenth-ounce coins for eligible clients who deposited funds and completed a survey. The promotion wrapped up on December 5.
Wealthsimple has a history of shaking up the Canadian financial services landscape. It moved ahead of the big banks on features like zero-commission options trading, direct indexing, and now physical gold access inside a brokerage account. On paper, that combination of simplicity and novelty is appealing.
The question is whether it holds up beyond the headline hype. Here’s my analysis on how Wealthsimple’s physical gold trading works, and how it stacks up against gold ETPs.
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Wealthsimple Physical Gold Trading explained
Wealthsimple’s physical gold offering is not a stock or fund. When you buy it, you are purchasing a fractional, Canadian dollar-denominated digital interest in physical gold reserves. The gold itself is stored at the Royal Canadian Mint and Brinks, and it is held at the “program level on a segregated basis.” In plain terms, your gold is held in trust alongside other Wealthsimple clients’ gold and is kept separate from Wealthsimple’s assets.
You can access this offering through all of Wealthsimple’s self-directed accounts. That includes registered as well as non-registered, taxable accounts.
Trades are executed at CAD spot prices and carry a 1% transaction fee on both buys and sells. That means buying and immediately selling would result in a 2% round-trip cost. However, there is no ongoing storage fee and, like Wealthsimple’s crypto platform, gold trading is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Physical redemption is where the constraints and costs become apparent. Redemption for bullion is only available from non-registered accounts, and it is not cheap. Redeeming a one-ounce coin costs 2.25%, while redeeming a one-tenth-ounce coin costs 11%. These fees cover minting, insurance, and delivery, with fulfillment handled through Silver Gold Bull, one of the largest online bullion dealers. If physical delivery is the goal, the economics clearly improve when redeeming larger amounts rather than small denominations.
Wealthsimple Physical Gold Trading vs. gold ETPs
Right off the bat, the major gold ETPs are generally cheaper to trade and own over short and medium holding periods. To make the comparison concrete, it helps to look at the three Canadian-listed gold vehicles that actually offer physical redemption: the Purpose Gold Bullion Fund (KILO), the Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS), and Canadian Gold Reserves (MNT).
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To approximate total cost of ownership, I combine each product’s management expense ratio (MER) with its most recent 30-day median bid-ask spread. This gives a reasonable estimate of the cost of buying and holding the product, assuming no sale.
KILO is among the most cost-efficient options. It carries a 0.28% MER. At the December 12 market close, it traded with a bid of $61.88 and an ask of $62.00, implying a $0.12 spread, or roughly 0.19%. Compared with Wealthsimple’s 1% upfront fee, KILO remains cheaper for roughly the first three years of holding. Only after that does Wealthsimple’s lack of an ongoing fee begin to offset its higher entry cost.
PHYS is more expensive. Its MER is 0.39%, and on the same date it showed a bid of $45.18 and an ask of $45.40, a $0.22 spread, or roughly 0.49%. In this case, Wealthsimple’s 1% gold trading fee breaks even sooner, but still only after about 1.3 years of holding.
MNT sits in the middle on fees with a 0.35% MER, but its trading costs are meaningfully higher due to poor liquidity. At the December 12 close, MNT had a bid of $64.29 and an ask of $65.00, a $0.71 spread, or roughly 1.10%. In this case, Wealthsimple is cheaper immediately on entry, even before considering MNT’s ongoing MER.
Putting it all together, Wealthsimple’s physical gold offering is not the low-cost choice for short holding periods. Low-MER products like KILO and PHYS are usually cheaper for investors with shorter or medium-term horizons. Wealthsimple only begins to make economic sense over longer holding periods, where avoiding an annual MER eventually outweighs the higher up-front fee. MNT is the main exception, where wide spreads tilt the comparison in Wealthsimple’s favour almost immediately.
But what about redemption?
If your plan is to eventually take possession of your Wealthsimple digital gold, the process is relatively intuitive. You make the request directly through the app, and Wealthsimple states that delivery is handled by insured courier, typically arriving within seven to 10 business days. By comparison, physical redemption of exchange-traded products is far more restrictive.
KILO, for example, only allows redemptions in one-kilogram increments. For context, Silver Gold Bull currently prices a one-kilogram bar at roughly $193,631 CAD, which puts redemption well out of reach of most retail investors.
PHYS is not much more flexible. Its redemption rules require investors to hold enough shares to correspond to a standard London Good Delivery bar, which weighs around 400 troy ounces. That represents a very large capital commitment.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is a fount of the kinds of conspiratorial and inflammatory content that you’d expect to be popular with people who buy gold off late night TV commercials. Now, in a turn of events that just makes sense, Carlson has purchased a company that sells gold.
Carlson recently partnered with a gold wholesaler to launch a firm called Battalion Metals. Battalion says it is “Bringing Integrity Back to the Precious Metals Industry.” The company’s founder and CEO, Chris Olson, recently appeared on an episode of Carlson’s show. On the same episode, Carlson explained how he had decided to go into business with Olson, calling Battalion “a truly honest gold company” that “gives ordinary people…full transparency and the lowest markups possible.” Olson, who is a veteran, previously worked for Treasure Island Coins, a coin and bullion business owned by his father, Battalion’s website states.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Carlson seemed to imply to the Journal that the instability of the modern era encouraged him to invest in something of lasting value. “We’re clearly watching the end of the postwar order, and a lot of things we took for granted as secure, no longer are,” the media figure told the newspaper.
Gold typically rises in value during periods of economic or political turbulence and uncertainty. We seem to be living through one of those periods currently, as gold has been doing particularly well this year, and, according to Goldman Sachs, prices are expected to rise next year as well.
In a quote posted to Battalion’s website, Carlson says: “When you realize the central banks are a scam, you buy gold. But what do you do when you realize that a lot of big gold companies are a scam? You buy from Battalion.”
“Most people feel it on a gut level. They sense something is off about the economy and the money they’re told to trust,” Olson says, in a quote on Battalion’s website. “When customers come to us, they’re looking for a way out – a way to recover sovereignty – and they turn to gold because it represents stability and truth.”
Gizmodo reached out to the Tucker Carlson Network and Battalion Metals for more information about the recent partnership involving Carlson.
Carlson has managed to be immensely successful at building a particular brand and courting a certain kind of audience. As of June, Carlson’s podcast was ranked #5 on YouTube’s weekly podcast rankings, CNN previously reported. As of last week, it was #10—slightly behind Kill Tony and the top ranking show, The Joe Rogan Experience. Carlson’s most loyal listeners seem like they could accurately be characterized as deeply individualistic, with a desire for self-reliance and autonomy. In that sense, selling those same people the specter of financial self-reliance (which gold always seems to afford) just makes good business sense.
Bitcoin has tumbled more than 30% from its all-time high of $126k and is trading around $85,500 after briefly falling to $82K, according to market reports. Traders warn that recent moves by long-term holders are changing how the market reacts to stress. Liquidity has thinned, and that makes price swings larger than usual.
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Schiff Issues A Stark Warning
According to gold investor Peter Schiff, Bitcoin is “finally having its IPO moment.” He said that when veteran holders turn into sellers, supply at the top of the market rises and future selloffs can become deeper.
“This much Bitcoin moving from strong to weak hands not only increases the float, but also means future selloffs will be bigger,” Schiff said on Saturday.
His view has been repeated by bearish voices for years, but this time the comment lands against clear on-chain moves and big ETF outflows.
Traders note that when confident, long-term holders prune positions near local peaks; when many do it at once, price action often becomes more violent.
Some argue that after all these years Bitcoin is finally having its IPO moment now that there’s enough liquidity for the OGs to cash out. I agree, but this much Bitcoin moving from strong to weak hands not only increases the float, but also means future selloffs will be bigger.
Based on reports, whales and early wallets moved over 400,000 BTC in October, activity linked with large selling pressure. One early investor, Owen Gunden, reportedly liquidated his entire 11,000 BTC stake across October and November.
High-profile retail figures also sold: Robert Kiyosaki announced a sale worth roughly $2.25 million, saying he bought when BTC was about $6,000 and sold near $90,000, and that he plans to redeploy proceeds into income businesses.
Analysts at Bitfinex point to two key drivers of the recent drop: long-term holder sales and leveraged liquidations in derivatives markets. When margin positions unwind, prices can cascade lower before the market finds support.
BTCUSD trading at $86,550 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView
ETF Flows And Retail Sentiment
According to Bloomberg and fund filings, investors pulled nearly $1 billion from Bitcoin ETFs in a single session, the second-largest daily outflow among the group of 12 funds.
BlackRock’s IBIT led with $355 million, while Grayscale’s GBTC and Fidelity’s FBTC each saw about $200 million leave.
Over the past month, ETF products have recorded roughly $4 billion in net outflows. Citi Research figures cited by market watchers place every $1 billion withdrawn at roughly a 3.4% negative swing in Bitcoin’s price.
Still, there was a counter-move: reports show ETFs posted $238 million of inflows yesterday, underlining how flows can reverse quickly.
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Schiff’s warning shows that Bitcoin can still be shaken when big holders sell. Even with some institutions buying, moving coins from long-term owners to casual investors could make future price drops bigger and faster.
People watching the market will likely pay close attention to what these veteran holders do, because their actions could decide how steep the next crash might be.
Featured image from Born Free Foundation, chart from TradingView
LA CIÉNEGA, Mexico — Barreling down the highway at 100 mph, a convoy of state police vehicles blew through speed bumps as it entered a small town in the Sonoran desert. Blasting over them was hell, but Alejandro Sánchez knew that slowing down was too risky: Here, locals call them “death bumps,” because reducing your speed gives cartel snipers a better chance of taking you out.
Sánchez and the officers protecting him had left Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora, before sunrise on June 23 and by 7 a.m. had arrived in Altar. There’s not much pedestrian traffic because the town sits in the heart of a cartel war zone, and anyone who walks the streets risks being caught in crossfire.
Still, it was a place to gather reinforcements, so the convoy stopped under the town’s welcome arch and officers wielding AR-15 semiautomatic weapons found high ground to watch for threats. Within minutes, four more patrol trucks raced up to join the security detail.
Their destination: a gold mine. Sánchez, the officers knew, was key to the mine’s future and keeping it out of the hands of a major cartel.
For three years, Sánchez had worked to revive the mine, encountering corrupt officials and cartel operatives. He once had to dive for cover during a firefight. But now he was close to resuming operations at the mine with deposits worth billions.
“Let’s go!” Sánchez said. And they were off.
A cigar lounge in Newport Beach
Four years ago, Sánchez was enjoying a Cuban cigar in an elegant cigar lounge in Newport Beach when the manager introduced him to a friend, Nicah Odood, who had a problem. The manager knew Sánchez had contacts in Mexico — top businessmen and politicians. Maybe he could help.
Alejandro Sánchez, at La Ciénega in June, sometimes carries a U.S. flag to remind people he is an American. He was hired to help reclaim the gold mine from a cartel.
(Félix Márquez / For The Times)
Odood was partial owner of a gold mine in Mexico that had been taken over by the four sons of the notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Odood wanted to hire Sánchez to be his fixer — to persuade the police and military to drive out the sons known as “Los Chapitos.” Sánchez declined. He had no interest in mining and no experience confronting the Mexican underworld.
But Sánchez did have a personal connection to Sonora, where the mine is located. He was mostly raised in an orphanage in Hermosillo.
Odood then made an offer: Help reclaim the mine and the orphanage would reap 1% of the profits.
“The orphanage really helped me a lot in many ways,” Sánchez recalled. “And it just dawned on me, ‘What is it that I have done in return to repay them?’” He told Odood he’d do it. Sánchez set to work in January 2022.
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“I thought it would just take a few phone calls and the problem would be resolved,” he said. By his own admission, Sánchez went into the job incredibly naive. What Sánchez didn’t realize was that the mine lay in the path of a key narcotics-trafficking route into the United States, and that taking back the mine also meant cutting off the Chapitos not just from the gold, but millions in drug profits.
The orphanage
Sánchez was born in 1971 in Mexicali, Baja California, to the maid of a wealthy banker. As a single mother, she couldn’t afford to raise him, so she sent him first to an orphanage in Mexicali, but she didn’t like how he was treated there. Then the wife of the banker recommended the Kino Institute in Hermosillo, where Sánchez’s mother sent him when he was 5.
At the orphanage, Sánchez was especially fond of the prefect, Francisco Fimbres. “He gave me that affection that I was lacking because I never had a father figure,” Sánchez said.
Sánchez sits inside the Kino Institute, an orphanage in Hermosillo, where he lived as a boy because his mother could not afford to raise him on her own.
(Koral Carballo / For The Times)
When Sánchez’s mother couldn’t afford to buy him shoes, Fimbres would give him a pair. Fimbres taught him how to pray the rosary and Sánchez remains a devout Catholic. From Fimbres and other teachers, he developed a strong sense of right and wrong.
“He was strict with me,” Sánchez recalled. “But not as strict as with the other kids.”
It was a painful time in Sánchez’s life. He felt abandoned by his mother and didn’t know his father. He was lonely during those years, especially when the other boys left to visit relatives. Sometimes, Fimbres would invite him over for dinner, and Sánchez remembers the home-cooked meals vividly. Fimbres’ wife made the best wheat tortillas and black beans.
It was during those summer breaks when Sánchez missed his mother most. She sometimes visited him in Hermosillo — or had him come to Mexicali, where she then lived. But such visits were rare.
The priest had told him he could talk to God in time of need, so the boy would walk down to the chapel, kneel in the pews and ask why he couldn’t be with his mother. God didn’t give him an answer. Still, it felt good to talk to someone about it.
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1.Children play at the Kino Institute.2.Students line up in the dining room at the orphanage, which can house 200 boys.3.Sánchez, with students at the institute, joined the effort to reclaim the mine when told some of the profits would go to the orphanage.(Koral Carballo / For The Times)
His mother later married an American citizen, and when Sánchez was 17, she secured U.S. citizenship for herself and her son.
Sánchez would eventually settle in Newport Beach and study business administration at Rancho Santiago Community College, but he dropped out and hawked perfume, enticed by promises that he could get rich quickly. Sánchez soon realized he couldn’t make ends meet.
Disillusioned but undaunted, Sánchez determined he would one day live the American dream. And he did. He married the daughter of Cuban exiles and they had a son. An introduction from his brother-in-law led to a job with a company selling mortgages.
To his new job, he brought the discipline and perseverance he had learned at the orphanage. He rose through the ranks quickly, thanks in part to his personality; he can be firm and direct one moment, and crack a joke at his own expense the next. Eventually, he struck out on his own, representing U.S. companies launching ventures involving debit cards in Latin America.
Sánchez traveled to some of Mexico’s biggest cities and met powerful bankers, senators and tycoons as he promoted the debit cards. But until he joined the fight for the mine, Sánchez had not returned to Hermosillo in 38 years. The cartels weren’t so prominent back then. “Now you see guns, drugs. I didn’t grow up in this Mexico,” he said.
The gold and narco road
As Sánchez would learn, Spaniards discovered gold in 1771 in a desolate area 50 miles south of what is now Arizona. They called the place La Ciénega, a corruption of an Indigenous word and an incongruous name — the swamp — in a desert wasteland.
Though “mine” implies tunnels, the prospecting at La Ciénega took place over a vast area — about 14,000 acres — largely near the surface. The mine shut down in 1905 when it appeared the surface gold reserves had been exhausted, but later owners would try to extract La Ciénega’s hidden riches.
Sánchez and mine workers in La Ciénega inspect the remnants of a sluicing operation, where a cartel used water to wash away soil and reveal gold nuggets.
(Félix Márquez / For The Times)
A mine worker points out the location of La Ciénega on a map left by cartel members. (Félix Márquez / For The Times)
Sánchez walks near a backhoe the cartel used to dig for gold. (Félix Márquez / For The Times)
Odood, a real estate agent from California who had been investing in mining in Mexico for a few years, entered the picture in 2015. He negotiated with the mine’s owner to purchase mining rights to La Ciénega.
The region at that time was dominated by the Caborca cartel, run by the infamous narco-trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, but soon, rival cartels were battling to control parts of Sonora. Los Chapitos invaded Caborca territory and, in time, more than 3,000 people would be killed in the war.
By 2022, when Sánchez agreed to help Odood, the Chapitos had forged an alliance with yet another criminal organization, the ultra-violent Deltas, famed for their paramilitary tactics and penchant for .50-caliber weapons firing rounds the size of cigars. The Deltas took the mine from a weakened Caborca cartel at gunpoint.
The Deltas also commandeered at least 200 ranches in the region, driving out families and transforming their homes into outposts and lookouts. They stole thousands of head of cattle, slaughtering some for food, selling the rest to fund their war. They now controlled not only the mine, but also a crucial drug-trafficking route to the U.S.
The general’s warning
Sánchez made his first trip to Mexico City on Odood’s behalf in 2022 and met with a few retired generals he knew from his business dealings. Over dinner in a wealthy neighborhood — he picked up the tab — Sánchez made his pitch. “I need you to connect me with the local general so we can kick these guys out,” he said. The generals weren’t so sure.
“You’ll not only need the Minister of Defense, you’ll also need the Marines,” one told him. The cartel forces, he warned, were “literally an army.”
“Holy moly,” Sánchez later recalled thinking. “So it’s not that easy.”
A family enjoys the sunset at La Campana, the lookout point in Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora.
(Koral Carballo / For The Times)
Traffic moves along the highway in Hermosillo. The city was Sánchez’s base of operations as he worked to reclaim the gold mine. (Koral Carballo / For The Times)
This playground in Hermosillo was one of the places Sánchez’s mother would take him when she returned to the city to visit him while he lived at the orphanage. (Koral Carballo / For The Times)
Sánchez traveled to Hermosillo, around 100 miles from La Ciénega, and saw a geologist who had worked at the mine. He was even more pessimistic than the generals.
But to Sánchez, there had to be a way. He was divorced by now and threw himself entirely into the project, spending most of his time in Hermosillo. He quickly built up a network of people who knew about the mine.
He next met the general who commanded the regional battalion, and persuaded him to provide a military escort so Sánchez could see the mine for himself. He brought along anxious shareholders who had invested in Odood’s project.
Sánchez and his team rode in a convoy of around 12 Humvees, accompanied by soldiers in tactical gear armed with high-powered weapons.
The convoy stayed away from the main base of cartel operations and, to their relief, faced no resistance. Perhaps the Deltas didn’t feel threatened, or didn’t dare defy the show of force. The investors walked around the property and a geologist collected soil samples.
Then, in November 2022, an apparent breakthrough. The husband of a powerful Sonoran politician introduced Sánchez to a top police commander over a steak dinner in Hermosillo. Sánchez laid out his conundrum.
“Don’t worry,” the commander replied. “I can take care of your problem for you.”
The next morning, the commander laid out the solution: All the cartel needed was a cut of the profits, and a percentage for himself, for the trouble.
Along with his deep-rooted belief in the rule of law, Sánchez had adopted a motto: Never negotiate with terrorists, and to him the Chapitos were terrorists.
He thanked the commander and left.
A new owner
Sánchez would later learn that Odood was not the only one with mining rights to La Ciénega.
The other owner was Jonathan Cooper, a Colorado entrepreneur of diverse ventures who had bought into the mine in 2020. Cooper had kept a hands-off posture, leaving the Mexican side of operations to Odood.
By winter of 2022, Sánchez was becoming disillusioned with the project. Though the Chapitos controlled the mine, there was still planning and research to be done for when operations could resume. Bills went unpaid, Sánchez said, and his lobbying was getting nowhere. He decided to track down Cooper.
Entrepreneur Jonathan Cooper, at his home in Broomfield, Colo., teamed up with Sánchez to win back the gold mine from “Los Chapitos.”
(Benjamin Rasmussen / For The Times)
“You don’t know me, but I am working on your mine in Mexico,” Sánchez told Cooper. The operation was in disarray, he said, and most important, a cartel had seized the mine. Cooper had heard none of this.
At this point, Cooper and Sánchez believed they would be able to get on-site because the military seemed prepared to help. They just needed food and lodging at the mine to do it.
There would be much back and forth between Cooper and Odood, and before the year was out, the owner of the mining rights before Odood took them back. (Odood could not be reached for comment.) Cooper then bought the entire rights to the mine. He made Sánchez a part owner, and Cooper said he too would donate to the orphanage.
Sánchez soon discovered that he and Cooper shared a visceral disgust of corruption. Cooper had heard some police in Mexico were crooked, but he never imagined the government would ignore the takeover of a gold mine. What would it take to get the Mexican military to act?
A kilo of gold a day
As 2023 unfolded, it became clear to Sánchez that the military barracks near Hermosillo lacked basic technology needed to gather intelligence on the cartels, so the company donated 15 drones — at $15,000 each — along with night-vision goggles, satellite phones and even a large flat-screen for a war room.
Still, no progress. But one night in Hermosillo, over yet another of the meals expected for any business to be conducted, came a possible lead. A Sonoran politician told him he had arranged a meeting with the generals in charge of northern Mexico. On one condition.
“For the meeting to happen,” he said. “The generals will need a million dollars.”
A gold nugget from Cooper’s mine.
(Benjamin Rasmussen/For The Times)
Sánchez, furious, declined. He began to wonder if there were any clean officials in the country. By then, Sánchez had developed a network of informants who told him the cartel had strengthened its presence at the mine. About 50 workers were extracting up to a kilo of gold a day, guarded by 150 sicarios, or hit men.
In December, Cooper flew to Mexico City to see a Mexican entrepreneur who wanted to invest in La Ciénega.
He told Cooper he had done him a huge favor. The entrepreneur had spoken to cartel leaders, he said, and Cooper’s crew could move onto the mine immediately, provided he gave the cartel 15% of his profits.
“You don’t even need the military,” he said, beaming.
“I will absolutely not accept,” Cooper said.
“You’re an idiot,” the flummoxed entrepreneur replied. “This is how things are done in Mexico.”
The torture chamber
Again and again, just when it seemed Mexican authorities might intervene, complications arose. More demands for bribes. More equipment needs. More reasons not to act.
Troops couldn’t launch a raid that December because of Christmas. March 2024 was out because soldiers were needed to patrol beach towns filled with American spring breakers. But perhaps in April.
That month, Sánchez texted Cooper saying there was no money left for salaries and he was getting desperate. “I am right there with you, brother,” Cooper replied. “I am literally selling a part of my wine collection.” Already, he had taken a $600,000 loan, using as collateral a signed Michael Jordan jersey the basketball great wore when he played on the U.S. Olympic “Dream Team.”
This all played out as the Chapitos and their allies, the Deltas, battled other cartels to control Sonora. “You have six cartels fighting for territory plus fighting for your gold project,” Sánchez texted Cooper.
A convoy of state police vehicles pauses at the entrance of Pitiquito, one of the desert villages between La Ciénega and Hermosillo.
(Félix Márquez / For The Times )
Near the mine was a hamlet, also named La Ciénega, and overrun by the cartel. At least one home had been turned into a torture chamber. Sánchez was with authorities when they later found bloodstains on the walls and pieces of fingers on the floor.
By June, Sánchez’s informants told him the mine was operating 24/7. Using more than 30 backhoes and bulldozers, miners dug up 1,500 metric tons of earth a day, leaving in their wake a trail of environmental destruction.
Dump trucks carried the soil to an immense sluicing operation, where water from two reservoirs washed away dirt to reveal gold nuggets.
“Just received news that the bad guys pulled in the month of April a little over 17 kilos of gold,” Sánchez wrote Cooper. “They are taking all your gold.” It was worth $1.4 million.
Then, Sánchez met an informant who changed everything.
The informant and the sex workers
The informant was an ex-military commander who had developed his own network of informants. Their tips had helped authorities arrest various drug traffickers. Introduced to Sánchez by a law enforcement official, the informant said he would turn his attention to La Ciénega.
“We’re going to totally eliminate the cartels,” he told Sánchez. “Trust me.”
The informant began sharing intelligence that Sánchez passed on to Sonoran state police.
By then, an enterprising police chief, Víctor Hugo Enríquez, had taken the reins of the state police at the behest of the governor of Sonora, Alfonso Durazo. The governor, who has made a broadside effort to reduce crime in his state and attract U.S. investment in the region, brought Enríquez on board to root out drug traffickers and restore safety for the hundreds of ranchers near the mine.
Enríquez got to work, taking down drug lords, one after another, sometimes guided by information Sánchez passed on from the informant.
He was soon texting Sánchez about cartel strongholds, sometimes attaching Google Maps images of buildings marked with red crosshairs.
“The base for the Deltas armed forces,” he wrote to Sánchez of a site near the mine. “They’re the top target. There are five sicarios here, armed with .50-caliber Barretts.”
The informant’s secret weapon: sex workers the cartel had brought to La Ciénega pueblo to service mine workers. He paid the women $100 each to learn all sorts of things: names, where cartel members lived, what cars they drove. The Chapitos had installed a furnace, the sex workers said, to melt the gold into ingots.
One sex worker identified the mine manager as Erick Cabrera, who also led a special forces team for the Chapitos. His wife managed the gold shipments to the states of Jalisco and Sinaloa, the sex workers said. In September, the informant sent Sánchez a video of Cabrera, dressed in a military-style uniform, firing a Kalashnikov. After squeezing off 10 rounds, he flashes a peace sign.
The informant also sent Sánchez a video of a Cessna landing on a rudimentary airstrip near the mine. It was dropping off AK-47s and picking up a load of gold bars.
The informant provided more information on yet more targets, firing off dozens of texts in the space of a few minutes. “I expect you’ll act on it as soon as possible,” he wrote.
Within days police arrested a Delta assassin, who filmed himself smoking a joint and wearing a gold chain from which hung a gold-encrusted Saint of Death, who is believed to provide safe passage to the afterlife.
Three days later, police arrested two more sicarios. But the informant became increasingly impatient for the military to act.
“You have to move faster,” he wrote Sánchez.
The raid
By the fall of 2024, the Mexican government finally agreed to move on La Ciénega. The operation would involve scores of troops, similar to U.S. Marines, and more than 100 Sonoran police.
“I am preparing everything for the move-in,” Sánchez texted Cooper. “Waiting for another helicopter to arrive from the south.”
On Sept. 24 officials told Sánchez the operation would launch the next day at 2 a.m.
“Safe journey, my friend,” Cooper texted. “Amazing job getting us here.”
Sánchez tried to get some sleep, but it was a fitful rest. At 1:30 a.m. he donned a uniform to blend in with the troops and joined the 70 tactical vehicles, patrol trucks and armored vehicles.
The governor ordered that Sánchez be taken in an armored truck. The convoy took off, accompanied by two helicopters — one of them a Black Hawk — and a T-6 Texan warplane.
A convoy of state police vehicles, staffed by heavily armed officers, transports Sánchez through the Sonoran desert to La Cienega. (Felix Marquez/For The Times)
The forces blasted through the mine’s front gate and agents jumped out of their vehicles, weapons drawn. They fanned out across the property, searching a small cave for a weapons cache and cautiously casing sleeping quarters. But there was no bloodshed, no sicarios — just a few frightened dump truck drivers.
Sánchez would later learn why the mine was nearly deserted. The Chapito in charge of the mine, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, had been tipped off. Guzmán is a top target of U.S. law enforcement, which learned he had called the mine manager, from his hideout, around the time Sánchez was putting on his uniform.
“The government’s coming with everything it’s got,” Guzmán said. “Don’t confront them. Get out.”
Sánchez texted Cooper that the mine was once again his.
The reveal
The governor established a police base, with 30 officers and an intrepid commander at the helm. Word spread to Cooper’s investors and new capital started rolling in. That evening Cooper texted Sánchez. “Just got $40k committed.”
Two weeks after the raid, the informant approached Sánchez. “It’s time to sit down with the jefes,” he said. The bosses. Sánchez was confused.
That’s when the informant revealed that he had been working for the Salazar cartel. “It’s time,” he said, “to pay the new bosses in exchange for security.”
Sánchez thought back over his relationship with the informant. He had shared useful intelligence, but it was almost always about the Deltas or Chapitos. He rarely mentioned the Salazar cartel, one of the region’s oldest criminal organizations.
Thanks in part to the informant and his stream of tip-offs, the Salazares had regained territory they had lost to the Chapitos. The cartel wanted 15% of the mine’s profits.
Sánchez gave him a flat no.
The Salazares later sent a threat to Cooper through an intermediary: Give us a cut or else.
“I need you to relay the following message to them verbatim.” Cooper told the messenger. “Go f— yourself.”
State police officers pause outside an abandoned ranch house near the mine. Many ranching families fled the region when it was overrun by cartels.
(Félix Márquez / For The Times)
The firefight
Though the Chapitos had surrendered the mine, they had not abandoned the region, so in November, about a month after the raid, the Ciénega base commander warned a convoy with six officers and Sánchez to stay alert as they headed toward a nearby ranch. “Keep your eyes peeled,” he radioed.
An officer prepared Sánchez for the worst. “If we get shot at,” he said. “Get out of the truck, leave the doors open and get behind the back wheel well.”
Minutes later they heard gunfire. The convoy stopped and fired back.
“Get out!” the officer yelled at Sánchez, who reached fruitlessly for his helmet. He had forgotten it. Sánchez jumped out and crouched behind the back left tire.
Sánchez heard a whistling sound pass above him, and 10 more after that. A sniper was firing a .50-caliber weapon, capable of taking down a helicopter, from a hilltop lookout.
When the shooting finally stopped, the commander had killed one sicario and captured four others. Two more sicarios fled in an armored car.
A state police truck keeps watch at the gold mine.
(Félix Márquez / For The Times)
Return to the mine
On the day they blew through the “death bumps,” June 23, Sánchez’s convoy rolled through the mine’s front gate. The base police commander walked up to greet him.
“The narcos are terrified of this man. They surrender just looking at him,” Sánchez said, grinning as he put his hand on the shoulder of the chubby-cheeked cop. The officer chuckled.
That afternoon, the commander and officers went to scout lookouts still used by the cartel. On one hilltop they found empty tuna cans and .50-caliber shells strewn about a fire pit.
1
2
3
4
1.Graffiti in a trailer, with “GNZ” referring to “Gente Nueva Salazar,” the Salazar cartel.2.Sánchez inspects the remains of a makeshift camp set up by cartel members at the mine.3.A state police patrol comes across the remnants of a battle between rival cartels.4.The truck incinerated in the battle was riddled with bullet holes.(Félix Márquez / For The Times)
On some nights the Salazar cartel sent drones to surveil the base, and cartel members recently scrawled their acronym on a camp trailer.
The Salazares and other cartels continue to war on each other. The police patrol came across remnants of a recent battle — a truck and a Toyota 4Runner, both incinerated. Bullet holes riddled the vehicles. It was a crime scene no one would investigate.
There were about 30 workers preparing the mine for production, including a 17-year-old Sánchez hired from the orphanage. In the fall, Sánchez is sending him to college. Sánchez also hired a former valet from his favorite Hermosillo restaurant; it turns out the young man studied engineering and is a whiz at electrical work.
Another recent hire had just been deported from Phoenix, where he worked as a chef. He runs the mess hall.
Workers pause at the end of the day at La Ciénega. Thirty workers were preparing the mine to resume production.
(Félix Márquez / For The Times)
Since the Chapitos were expelled, a number of ranchers returned to the area, but at least one refused. He doesn’t believe peace will hold. And he may be right.
In May, Enríquez, the relentless security chief, had resigned abruptly after a lack of coordination from other law enforcement agencies, according to people close to him. Days later, his replacement reduced the number of officers on the base from 30 to six, and then a month later ordered they abandon the mine base altogether. Sánchez staved off the departure with a call to the governor. Cooper is building a private security force to eventually protect the mine.
Mining recently resumed, and as new investors come on board, their contracts specify that 1% of their profits go to the orphanage.
A chapel without bells
In Hermosillo the evening after visiting the mine in June, Sánchez stopped at a convenience store on his way to the orphanage to buy the kids drinks and cookies.
The facility, once in immaculate condition, was now in disrepair. Funds had dried up, and it showed. The bathrooms smelled of sewer, and the boys used the same bunk beds Sánchez slept in more than 40 years before.
The chapel where Sanchez had prayed was gutted, and an iron gate blocked the entrance. Thieves had stolen the church bells.
Sánchez looks at the old chapel where he prayed as a child while he was a boarder at the Kino Institute.
(Félix Márquez / For The Times)
Sánchez says he’ll work at the mine until the orphanage is renovated and funded. He’s doing it for the boys, but also for himself and a need to reconcile his past, both his indebtedness to the place, and the painful memories it stirs.
“We all have a mission,” he said, looking through the iron bars to the chapel. “Maybe mine is to find myself, close those doors to the pain and suffering that I experienced, and then continue on with my life.”
This article is based on government documents and extensive interviews with U.S. and Mexican government officials, mine workers, Jonathan Cooper and Alejandro Sánchez. Fisher is a special correspondent.
Gold’s reign as the dominant hard asset of 2025 could be nearing its end.
The precious metal is having its best year in five decades with a roughly 54 percent return. In breaking record after record, gold has easily outpaced its digital counterpart in bitcoin, which has gained “just” 22 percent over the same period.
But as investor Anthony Pompliano pointed out in a note earlier this week, a “great rotation” from gold to bitcoin could be upon us. He highlighted that, historically, bitcoin’s trajectory trails gold by about 100 days.
An Inc.com Featured Presentation
That was a prescient call, according to the latest price action.
Gold has marched higher over the last three months while bitcoin has fallen as much as 10 percent.
“We may be on the doorsteps of the great rotation from gold to bitcoin,” Pompliano said on Monday. “If that theory comes true, bitcoin will likely have a fireworks ending to the year.”
The move becomes more clear when you zoom in on the chart.
