How sanctions have changed national asset reserve strategies based on gold flows

[BitPush] Reuters, citing customs data, outlined an interesting phenomenon: between 2013 and 2016, a South American country shipped 113 metric tons of gold to Switzerland, worth approximately 4.14 billion Swiss francs (equivalent to $5.2 billion). This batch of gold came from the country’s central bank — at that time, the government was actively selling off gold assets to sustain the economy.

But starting in 2017, the story took a turn. After the EU sanctions were implemented, such gold exports completely stopped. Data shows that from 2017 to 2025, this country has not exported any gold to Switzerland.

This case is worth pondering: gold, as the hardest asset, was once the last resort for the country’s central bank to support its economy. But sanctions changed the rules of the game — even with gold in hand, without smooth international trade channels, assets lose liquidity. This provides a real-world reference for understanding national asset allocation strategies, the deep impact of sanctions on the economy, and the constraints on global capital flows.