Flight from precious metals gathers pace

Gold, silver and bitcoin under pressure. Is the market pricing in a more hawkish Fed?

Investor sentiment towards assets previously seen as beneficiaries of uncertainty is clearly shifting across global financial markets. Gold, silver and bitcoin have come under selling pressure, while capital has increasingly moved towards the US dollar and US government bonds.

One of the main reasons for this change is rising expectations of a more restrictive Federal Reserve policy stance. Markets have started to price in the possibility that interest rates could remain high for longer, while speculation around Kevin Warsh potentially taking a more prominent role at the Fed has strengthened the narrative around a tougher approach to inflation.

Warsh has long been regarded as one of the more hawkish economists associated with the Fed. In financial markets, he is associated with higher interest rates, a stronger dollar and a firm stance against inflation. The very possibility of his influence increasing has been enough to trigger a clear repricing across asset classes.

Source: own research, as of 26 June 2026.

As a result, capital has started to flow out of assets that do not generate current income. This applies to gold and silver, as well as bitcoin, which despite frequent comparisons with “digital gold” is once again behaving like a higher-risk asset.

At the same time, rising US Treasury yields are increasing the appeal of the bond market. For many investors, the ability to generate a relatively high return with a much lower level of risk is becoming a more attractive alternative to holding precious metals or cryptocurrencies.

Why do gold and bitcoin react to the Fed?

The mechanism is relatively simple. Higher interest rates increase the appeal of bonds and strengthen the US dollar. That usually weighs on gold and silver prices, because these assets do not pay interest and are generally priced in dollars.

A similar mechanism is increasingly visible in the bitcoin market. Although cryptocurrency supporters treat bitcoin as an alternative to the traditional financial system, during periods of rising bond yields it often behaves more like a risk asset than a safe haven.

The latest correction shows that for large institutional investors, bitcoin remains primarily a higher-risk asset rather than a classic defensive investment.

Are markets reacting more to rumours than decisions?

The current situation highlights the self-fulfilling nature of financial markets. The mere possibility of personnel changes at the Federal Reserve can trigger stronger market moves than actual interest-rate decisions.

Kevin Warsh has become a symbol of a more restrictive monetary policy stance. Even if formal decisions have not yet been made, investors are already trying to adjust their portfolios to a potentially new macroeconomic environment.

For CFD traders and investors watching gold, silver, bitcoin and the dollar, this points to elevated volatility remaining in place over the coming weeks.

European and US session summary

Investors in Europe are still looking for direction for the region

All major indices ended the day higher. The DAX rose the most, gaining 1.03%, while the FTSE MIB added 0.28%.

Caution continued to dominate on Wall Street. The Dow Jones rose 0.14%, the S&P 500 ended the day almost unchanged at -0.01%, and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.46%.

Red dominates in Asia

Today

Rising US Treasury yields could limit capital inflows into equities while increasing volatility across global stock markets.

Turnover across the broad market reached PLN 2.3bn.

• WIG: +0.95%

• WIG20: +1.26%

• WIG20fut: +0.79% (3,583 pts)

• mWIG40: +0.25%

• sWIG80: -0.17%

The zloty starts to weaken, but technically remains in a broad sideways trend

GBP/PLN – 4.97

EUR/PLN – 4.28

USD/PLN – 3.76

CHF/PLN – 4.65

PLN/JPY – 42.91