When Gold Goes Up, the World Is Uneasy

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - When gold prices surge, it might be seen as a sign of smart investing. But according to CEO and Lead Financial Trainer QM Financial, Ligwina Hananto, rising gold prices often tell a story about the state of the world. At VOI Talk in panel “Worth of Gold” at Jakarta on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, she discussed gold investment, especially as a global citizen.

“Whenever gold is increasing significantly, people are perceiving the world is in turmoil,” Hananto said during the panel. “So we shouldn’t be too happy when gold is at an all-time high.”

Historically, gold has been known as a safe haven asset, a place where people park their money when everything else feels unstable. Gold, with its long history and physical form, becomes a symbol of safety.

A 2025 research titled “The Role Of Gold As A Safe Haven Asset During Financial Crises: Evidence From The Covid-19 Pandemic & The 2008 Global Financial Crises” showed gold’s stable return with low volatility at time of pandemic. In behavioral finance, people experience what is called loss aversion during periods of uncertainty (such as wars, pandemics, political shocks, or financial crises). It is the fear of losing what they already have that feels stronger than the excitement of potential gains. In those moments, investors are less motivated by profit and more driven by protection.

While gold's price is with low volatility, Hananto pointed out that gold prices do increase significantly, and it consistently aligns with moments of global anxiety. “We can see the surge during the pandemic. We saw the spike increase when Trump was elected. We see the price increase whenever Israel seems to conflict with Iran, and Iran was going to strike back,” she explained. “When people do not believing the world is in good shape, gold is increasing.”

Hananto mentioned that gold’s value is because societies across the world agree that it does. When fear dominates public discourse, that shared belief becomes even stronger. Central banks buying gold, headlines about conflict, and social media discussions about economic collapse all reinforce the same message: gold feels safer than uncertainty.

“If a group of people, I mean a large group of people in the whole world believe one commodity has value, then it will still have value. And at the moment, gold is perceived as high value by the entire world, including central banks of a lot of large countries,” she said.

Hananto continued by saying that, unlike stock investors who are reactive to the changes of the world, gold holders tend to be quiet and patient. “Gold investors are very calm when it goes up, and they’re calm when it goes down,” she observed. “They prefer to hold on to their gold.”

Yet she cautioned against misunderstanding this signal. A high gold price does not automatically mean a healthy investment environment. Instead, it may reflect widespread discomfort about the future.

“You're just a small retail investor while there's a central bank of China buying gold every month,” she said. “So we don't want to be swept away in the tsunami of the price volatility.”

In that sense, gold prices act like a global mood ring, quietly reflecting fear, uncertainty, and the human desire for stability when the world feels unpredictable. When gold goes up, it may not be a reason to celebrate, but rather a reminder to pause and ask why so many people are seeking safety in the same place.