Gold drops 5%, erasing $3 trillion after record high

Gold crashed by five percent on Thursday, wiping out around $3 trillion from the market amid Iran-U.S. tensions, after touching a record high.

During the session, the precious yellow metal surged past $5,500 per ounce. Experts believe that the sudden drop was caused largely by profit-taking despite heightened geopolitical tensions.

However, many social media users claimed that it was the largest liquidity swing in history and “pure market manipulation”. Silver dropped by eight percent, whereas copper and nickel also saw price declines.

One user wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “Wow…$3+ trillion wiped out from Gold and Silver in minutes. This is the biggest liquidity swing in human history. This is complete manipulation.”

Another expressed, “Money worth the entire market cap of crypto wiped out in 30 minutes.”

Despite the selling spree for profit-taking by investors, gold and silver remain on track for their best month on record since the 1980s. Several investment portfolios suggest continued confidence in precious metals.

Tether CEO announced plans to allocate 10-15 percent of its investment portfolio to physical Gold. The SPDR Gold Trust also showed precious metal holding at a four-year high.

The market uncertainty comes amid increasing geopolitical tensions between Iran and the United States as President Trump has asked the Middle Eastern country to negotiate a nuclear deal or face his “beautiful armada”. Meanwhile, Iran has threatened unprecedented retaliation.