Everyone's watching Venezuela's oil reopening like it's the only game in town. But there's another asset sitting quietly in the background that might be more interesting: gold. A lot of gold.
Venezuela holds roughly 161 metric tons of the stuff, according to The Kobeissi Letter, making it the largest sovereign gold holder in Latin America. With gold trading north of $4,400 an ounce, those reserves are suddenly worth over $22 billion. And here's the kicker—every time gold ticks higher, Venezuela's balance sheet gets meaningfully stronger without the country doing anything at all.
In a world where geopolitical leverage increasingly ties back to monetary power, that's a detail worth paying attention to.
Why Peter Schiff Thinks This Is Just Getting Started
Enter Peter Schiff, who's been making the case that gold isn't just having a nice run—it's in the early innings of a structural bull market. On his year-end podcast, Schiff pointed out that gold climbed roughly 64% in 2025, finishing above $4,300 and briefly touching record highs near $4,550.
But he's not calling this a speculative bubble. He's calling it fundamentally driven: weakening fiat currencies, renewed monetary easing, and central banks pivoting away from U.S. Treasuries toward hard assets. The kind of shift that doesn't reverse quickly.
Venezuela's Gold Suddenly Looks Strategic, Not Symbolic
That's where Venezuela comes back into focus—not just as an oil producer trying to restart production, but as a gold-backed wildcard. Market estimates suggest that every $100 rise in gold prices adds more than $500 million in value to Venezuela's reserves.
In Schiff's framework of declining dollar trust and rising appetite for tangible assets, those reserves look less like a relic and more like a strategic advantage. Unlike oil, gold doesn't require pipelines, spare parts, or foreign operators. It just needs trust and price momentum—and right now, it has both.
Gold Rising While Bitcoin Stumbles
Schiff also drew a sharp line between precious metals and crypto. While gold surged, Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs finished the year in the red—despite what he described as "wall-to-wall bullish narratives." His read: markets that can't rally on good news are already fully priced. Assets climbing a wall of skepticism? Those often have room to run.
And according to Schiff, skepticism still surrounds gold.
What Happens If Venezuela Gets Full Market Access
If Venezuela's political reset restores access to both oil and gold markets, the country becomes more than an energy story. In a weakening dollar regime, gold-rich nations gain real leverage—and Venezuela's stash gives it optionality that oil alone can't provide.
Oil matters, sure. But in this market, bullion might matter more.