Finance News

Story: Wall Street’s Big Gold Bets Are Pushing Russian Retail Buyers Into Overdrive

By Jean-Luc Maracon

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Moscow Exchange Volumes Tell the Real Story. The Moscow Exchange reported gold trading volume of 42.6 tonnes in March 2026 alone.

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Diversification Advice and the Physical vs. Digital Debate. Rais Ismagilov of AVI Capital thinks investors shouldn't pick just one format.

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Retail Demand Holds Despite the Headwinds. None of those pressures seem to have scared off Russian retail buyers so far.

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Gold is having a moment. A big one. JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and UBS have all put out price targets for gold that would have looked absurd even two years ago — and…

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JPMorgan sees gold hitting $6,300 per ounce by end of 2026. Deutsche Bank sits at $6,000. UBS put out $5,900. Goldman Sachs, slightly more cautious, landed at $5,400.

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Right now gold trades around $4,548. That's actually down about 16% from where it peaked in January, which sounds alarming until you remember that dips inside bull markets are…

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The Moscow Exchange reported gold trading volume of 42.6 tonnes in March 2026 alone. That's more than triple the volume from the same period the year before.

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Russian investors have several ways to get into gold. Unallocated metal accounts, known locally as OMS, sit at the more traditional end.

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Oleg Reshetnikov from BCS World of Investments said the most convenient route for Russian investors runs through "Gold for Rubles" and "Silver for Rubles" with next-day settlement.

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For smaller investors, the barrier to entry is basically nothing. Alexander Ryabinin from SF Education pointed to apps like Tinkoff Gold, where someone can buy gold for as little…

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Read also: Dune Cuts 25% of Staff as CEO Haga Bets Big on AI and Institutional Crypto

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Rais Ismagilov of AVI Capital thinks investors shouldn't pick just one format. He backs a mix — digital, exchange-traded, and physical gold together — to spread risk across the…

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And there are real moving parts. U.S. inflation hit 3.8% in April, the highest reading in a year.

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India raised its gold import tariffs to 15%, which has cooled physical demand there. India is one of the world's largest gold consumers, so any drop in appetite from that market…

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Then there's Russia's own central bank, which has been a net seller. The Bank of Russia offloaded 22 tonnes of gold in 2026 to cover budget shortfalls.

The Currency Analytics

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