Dutch Central Bank Moves 86 Tonnes of Gold From U.S. and Canada to London, Citing Crisis Preparedness

The Dutch central bank, known as DNB, announced Wednesday it has spent five months quietly moving a big chunk of its gold reserves off North American soil.

Between March and August, DNB shifted 86 metric tons of gold from its combined holdings in New York and Ottawa to London, according to the bank's own statement, reported by the Associated Press, The Independent, and Dutch News. That's more than a quarter of the roughly 313 tonnes the bank had stashed in those two cities.

The numbers tell the story plainly. Before the move, New York held 31.3% of the Netherlands' gold and Ottawa held 19.7%. Now both sit at 18.5% apiece. London's share jumped from 18.1% to 32.1%, making it the single largest location for Dutch gold, ahead of the Netherlands itself, which still holds 30.8% in the bank's own vault at Zeist. In total, the Dutch stockpile runs 612.4 tonnes, valued at €72.2 billion, about $83.6 billion, at the end of 2025, per DNB's figures.

How they actually did it

Moving gold across an ocean isn't simple, and DNB didn't just load pallets onto planes. According to the bank's statement, carried by CTV News and its sister outlet CP24, roughly 59 tonnes were sold in New York with the proceeds used to buy gold in London, a paper swap that avoids melting down bars or physically hauling them.

The remaining 27 tonnes actually crossed the Atlantic. DNB says that gold was physically transferred from the U.S. and Canada to its heavily guarded vault on a military base near Zeist, in the Netherlands, and then a matching quantity was shipped on from Zeist to London. The bank did not detail exactly how the bars made the trip, according to the Associated Press.

Why London and why now

DNB's governor, Olaf Sleijpen, framed the move as pure logistics. "With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves," he said in a written statement. "We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness."

The bank's reasoning, per Dutch News, is that London is the world's main trading hub for physical gold and "must meet modern international trade standards," making it the fastest place to convert bullion to cash in an emergency. New York and Ottawa, DNB said, "cannot be utilized as quickly and directly in such a situation."

Dutch News also reported something the wire versions of this story downplayed: DNB has repeatedly flagged concerns about the Netherlands' reliance on the United States since President Trump returned to the White House. That's a real and specific detail, not vague hand-waving about "global unrest."

Dutch News also reported the bank explicitly said it is not worried the U.S. would seize the reserves. So this isn't DNB accusing Washington of anything. It's a central bank hedging its logistics, not accusing an ally of theft.

The bigger backdrop

This relocation didn't happen in a vacuum on the price side either. Gold has been on a tear. Spot prices hit roughly $4,644 an ounce on August 24, the highest level in more than three months, up over 17% from a July low near $3,959, according to the Epoch Times, driven largely by Middle East tensions and uncertainty ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole remarks.

That price surge happened well after DNB's transfer began in March, so it's not the reason for the move. But it does mean the Dutch are sitting on a stockpile worth considerably more today than it was when they started shuffling it around.

Whether other central banks follow the Dutch lead in shifting gold out of North American vaults and into London remains an open question. DNB hasn't said whether it plans further transfers, and no other G7 central bank has announced a comparable move as of this writing. What's confirmed is that one NATO ally just made its gold easier to sell fast, and said plainly why it wanted that option on the table.