CNBC: The world's wealthy are massively exporting gold to Singapore due to fears of crises
Photo: The Reserve

In response to economic and geopolitical instability, more and more wealthy people around the world are taking their gold to safe havens abroad. In particular, one of the most popular destinations is Singapore, CNBC reports.

Not far from Singapore Airport, a six-story vault called The Reserve, decorated with onyx and protected by state-of-the-art security, holds about $1.5 billion worth of gold and silver.

From January to April 2025, demand for precious metals storage at this vault increased by 88% compared to the same period in 2024. Sales of gold and silver bars increased by 200%.

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According to the founder of the vault, Gregor Gregersen, 90% of new customers are from outside Singapore. People are afraid of instability, tariffs, economic crises and are therefore increasingly looking for safe places to store their assets.

"The idea of placing physical metal in a safe jurisdiction like Singapore, with parties they can trust, is becoming a big trend today," Gregersen noted.

Gold prices have been rising rapidly in recent months, with bullion prices reaching record highs in a row.

This was partly driven by gold's appeal as a safe haven amid volatility caused by trade tensions between the US and China and the massive sell-off in US assets in April.

Although gold prices have recently fallen after investors' risk appetite improved due to easing trade tensions between the two economic superpowers, some market observers still believe they could rise to $5,000 an ounce next year.

Spot gold prices are currently trading at $3,346.32 per ounce, which is close to historical levels.

According to Gregersen, wealthy people are also increasingly preferring physical gold bars over paper ones because they don't want to have as much counterparty and geopolitical risk.

While holding and owning physical gold is not completely free from price impact, it does limit the impact of certain risks that paper gold carries.

Analysts call Singapore the "Geneva of the East": it is a politically and economically stable state with a high level of security.

In addition, Singapore is a transit hub. This means that it is convenient not only to store, but also to transport or pick up gold. This makes it especially attractive to wealthy clients from all over the world.

Dubai remains Singapore's competitor, but analysts say storage processes there can be too bureaucratic.

  • On April 22, the price of gold reached an all-time high of $3,500.05.
  • Gold prices fell more than 1% on April 25 as China considered exempting certain U.S. imports from its tariffs, weakening the precious metal's appeal as a safe haven.