Gold in free fall: SpaceX liquidity drain sends prices plunging

Gold in free fall: SpaceX mania is draining liquidity

Just a quarter ago, gold was hitting all-time highs. Now it has plunged nearly 20% and the market is looking for someone to blame. The dominant explanation is not inflation or interest rates, but a tech giant: SpaceX. According to several analyses, Elon Musk's company is absorbing a massive amount of liquidity — $75 billion is the figure cited for its latest funding round — leaving safe-haven assets like gold gasping for air. The analogy doing the rounds: a fat man jumping into a swimming pool; he splashes and stirs up the water, but doesn't drain it. The question is whether the waves will pass or whether the swim will last longer than expected.

SpaceX's vacuum effect

The central thesis is that SpaceX's mega funding round — valued at $75 billion, according to sources in the debate — is diverting capital away from other assets. The argument is that the sheer size of the deal is enough to depress normal investment activity for weeks or months. Some compare it to a temporary pause: once the money rotates back into other markets, gold could recover. But others warn that the effect will overlap with future funding rounds from OpenAI and Anthropic, prolonging the drought. Retail investors' antiestéticar of missing out — the "little fish," in forum slang — could aggravate the bleeding if they rush to buy at artificial peaks.

Real illiquidity or seller panic?

A recurring point of friction is the liquidity of physical gold. While some call it an illiquid asset — with bid-ask spreads of around 5% or more — others argue that at specialist dealers you can sell it for cash in minutes with a 2-3% differential. One concrete data point: on June 13, 2026, in Switzerland, an ounce was bought at 3,563.50 CHF and sold at 3,326.50 CHF (a spread of 6.6%). The discussion takes on conspiratorial overtones: some claim gold dealers are a "honeypot" that harvests personal data. Against that, the practical experience of investors who have traded in Germany or Belgium without problems.

China buys regardless of price

In parallel, a weighty counterbalance is emerging: institutional demand from China, which according to the sources is buying more this year than ever. Beijing doesn't look at the price: it is accumulating gold as a geopolitical strategy. This draws a floor under the metal, though nobody dares to set it. Estimates put the next support level between $3,200 and $2,800 per ounce; if that level is breached, a wave of buying from governments such as India or the Asian giant itself is expected.

Debt bubble or paradigm shift?

Beyond the SpaceX noise, some analysts point to the sovereign debt bubble as the real threat. "Memocracy" — voting for whoever promises the most — would have led to unsustainable public spending. In that scenario, the fall in gold would be just a mirage: what is really depreciating is fiat money. The paradox is served: while some flee paper and buy metal, others see physical gold as a trap of illiquidity and confiscation risk. "None of that has changed its value; the only things that have changed are the little pieces of paper and bits owned by the masters of the euro," sums up one of the most critical voices.

The question that remains open: when the SpaceX hurricane dies down, will gold shine again, or will the market have changed forever?