By the end of 2023, foreign central banks held 22% of US Treasuries—down from 35% in 2014. In 2022 and 2023, central bank gold purchases hit record highs: 1,136 tons and 1,037 tons. The buyers were China, India, Turkey, Poland—states watching what happened to Russia's $300 billion in frozen reserves.
Working backward through the case reveals this wasn't an unintended consequence. Treasury modeled this exact scenario in November 2021. The origin is in the Patriot Act infrastructure built in 2001 and expanded incrementally for twenty years until dollar access became explicitly conditional on political alignment.
Complete backward chronology with Treasury memo sourcing and Section 311 designation history: https://thedominancereport.beehiiv.com/


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