Everyone is talking about gold right now.
So instead of chasing headlines, I went back and studied how gold has actually behaved across history.
What stands out is simple but powerful:
Gold never moves in a straight line.
It moves in long cycles.
Big multi-year bull markets → followed by long cooling or bearish periods.
And this pattern has repeated again and again.
First Major Bull Cycle: 1970 – 1980
Duration: ~10 years
This cycle began after the U.S. abandoned the gold standard. Money printing increased, inflation fears exploded, and trust in fiat currencies weakened.
Gold slowly transformed into the ultimate safe haven.
• Price rose from ~$35 to nearly $850
• Massive public belief that gold could only go higher
But once the peak was in… the story changed.
🔻 1980 – 2001: The Forgotten Years
~21 years of pain
Gold entered one of its longest bear/sideways markets in history.
Gold went from “must-own” to completely ignored.
Second Major Bull Cycle: 2001 – 2011
Duration: ~10 years
The next cycle started quietly around 2001 and accelerated after the 2008 financial crisis.
• Banks collapsed
• Central banks printed aggressively
• Fear returned
Gold surged from ~$250 to nearly $1,900.
Once again, the narrative became:
“Gold is the ultimate asset forever.”
And once again… the cycle ended.
The Current Cycle (The Important Part)
The real bottom formed around 2015.
From there:
• Slow accumulation phase
• Calm, steady uptrend
• Little public excitement
The real acceleration came after 2020:
• COVID money printing
• Currency debasement
• Wars and geopolitical risk
• Central banks aggressively buying gold
Gold shifted from a quiet uptrend into a powerful bull phase.
⏱️ Why Time Matters
Let’s compare durations:
• 1970 → 1980 bull market: ~10 years $XAU
• 2001 → 2011 bull market: ~10 years $PAXG
• 2015 → 2025/26 current cycle: ~10 years
That symmetry matters.
Markets move in cycles, not emotions. And time is often the most ignored indicator.
