Last year at this time, I attended a market seminar. Gold was at $3,200, and everyone was debating whether it could break through $3,500 — the on-site discussion was indeed lively, with everyone sticking to their own judgments.

Looking back now, that $3,500 level feels like a past that can never be revisited. Gold prices have been rising steadily northward, just like after a breakup when you really won't look back — you want to apologize, wishing you hadn't missed the opportunity back then, but there's no chance now. As of today, gold has surpassed $4,600.

This is not to prove how wrong the initial judgment was, nor to regret not catching up in time. The key point is that the previous cognitive framework has completely failed. The increase in gold prices has broken through the original structural limits, and a new analytical model must be established to understand it.

On the surface, the reasons for gold's rise seem quite clear: escalating geopolitical risks, rising trade tensions, slowing economic growth, emerging debt crises, and pressure on the US dollar credit system... These are all real factors, but they are only superficial causes. The more fundamental change is that the market structure has shifted, and the consensus has been rewritten.

The crucial transformation is that gold's role is evolving from a 'currency anchor' to a 'credit anchor.' This is not just a name change but an update to the entire financial paradigm.

Gold prices are setting new historical records every day, and we are all part of this process. Wealth itself has never disappeared; it has only been redistributed. Making money is no longer harder, but the old routines have become ineffective — the golden age of rapidly accumulating wealth through information asymmetry and real estate has come to an end. New wealth creators are emerging in the financial markets.

What we need to think about now is no longer how much gold will be worth in 2026, but how to reposition ourselves under the new market logic.