By ACB News 

Editor’s Note

This interview was conducted by ACB News (澳华财经在线) as part of its exclusive IMARC 2025 coverage in Sydney. ACB News is an award-winning bilingual financial media platform established in Australia in 2012. Over the past thirteen years, it has become a trusted source of professional financial and securities market news, serving high-net-worth Chinese investors across Australia and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Half a century after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the world’s monetary architecture is once again in transition. As geopolitical and trade realignments accelerate, the long-standing dominance of the US Dollar is now being openly – and successfully challenged, with China leading the way. As a result gold, the oldest form of money, is regaining its monetary and strategic relevance.

At IMARC 2025 in Sydney, Alexander Scanlon, Managing Director and CEO of Barton Gold (ASX: BGD), shared with ACB News his perspective on the evolution of the global financial order — tracing how post-1971 monetary expansion, geopolitical competition, and shifting trade alliances are driving a gradual but structural re-monetisation of gold.

Drawing upon both history and current market dynamics, Scanlon emphasises that gold’s resurgence is not simply a financial trend but a systemic, structural correction.

As he observes, “it would be more accurate to say not that gold is being redefined, but rather that the world’s monetary framework is being rebalanced around gold in revived multi-currency markets. Put another way, the past 50 years have been a monetary aberration, with all markets and trade flows distorted around an artificially strong US Dollar — and this is now unwinding.”

About Alexander Scanlon 

Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Barton Gold Holdings Ltd (ASX: BGD)

Alexander Scanlon is the founder of Barton Gold and a financial economist with around 20 years of experience in financial analysis, structured finance, and resources investment management.

He previously served as Managing Director of PARQ Capital Management and as Director with Lusona Capital, specialising in corporate advisory and principal investments in the natural resources sector. 

Earlier in his career, he worked in the Principal Investments division of Barclays Capital. 

He holds dual BSc Finance (Honours) and a BSc Economics (Honours) from Santa Clara University, an MSc (Financial Economics) from the University of Oxford and an MPhil (Management) from the University of Cambridge.

The following is an edited transcript of the interview

I. Geopolitical Transitions and the Re-Monetisation of Gold

ACB News: You’ve previously observed that we’re still in the early years of gold’s “re-monetisation.” How are global developments — including shifts in trade alliances, BRICS initiatives, and broader geopolitical realignments — shaping this process? And over what kind of time horizon do you see this transition unfolding?

Alexander Scanlon:

“These processes are steadily adjusting the balance of power in global financial markets, eroding the dominance of the US Dollar in global commodity transactions. This process began – quite strategically – with the de-dollarisation of energy. Energy is the ‘base layer’ of the global economy; it is by far the largest market in terms of the aggregate value of all energy produced and traded, and as energy markets go, so too will go every other market.”

“Approximately two-thirds of global energy is produced and consumed by ‘BRICS++’ and emerging economies, who are also its largest importers and exporters. It is therefore an obviously convenient leverage point for the coordinated de-dollarisation of global commodities, once a large enough group of participants has aligned in this goal.”

De-Dollarisation Accelerates

“We have now seen de-dollarisation accelerating and it is now spreading to other markets, including quite recently iron ore – the second largest global commodity by trade value – with the recent news that BHP will accept payment for 30% of its sales in yuan. This is a seismic shift that many Western financial observers do not yet adequately understand, and it confirms a sustained, successful and growing erosion of the US Dollar’s role in commodity markets.”

Erosion of the Dollar’s Reserve Status

“The declining relative value of the US Dollar in international trade will further erode the Dollar’s previously ‘exclusive’ reserve status. If economies require fewer Dollars to acquire commodities, they will store less of their surpluses or reserves in Dollars or US Treasuries. To the extent that de-dollarisation is accelerating – and holding Dollars has become less attractive due to concerns of weaponisation – this trend will likely continue for a long time.”

A ‘Competitive’ Dollar and Its Consequences

“In the face of increasing geopolitical competition for strategic commodities, the United States is now adopting industrial policy financed by the Federal Reserve. This will catalyse commodity prices, but – in the absence of capital controls – it effectively requires the end of the post-1971 US Dollar reserve status as the Dollar becomes a ‘competitive currency’ issued to acquire commodities.”

“Where the Fed buys Treasuries no longer desired by foreign purchasers, and the US Government uses those dollars to purchase commodities globally, the United States is effectively printing and distributing money.”

The Two Horizons of Re-Monetisation

“If the US Dollar has lost its hegemonic reserve status, countries now require less exposure to it, and as it is being ‘competitively printed,’ the value of the Dollar must fall considerably over time. It will be far less attractive to trade and store value in Dollars, and surplus nations will direct more reserves into other assets including – at least in part – gold.”

“I think in terms of two time horizons for gold’s re-monetisation and continuing revaluation. The first is a ‘re-balancing’ horizon, where gold must rediscover its equilibrium participation in global trade, in terms of nominal value and share of net settlements for trade imbalances … we may see some approximation of this during the next 10 years. The second is the ‘inflation’ horizon … likely a perpetual trend.”

II. Gold as a Strategic and Geopolitical Hedge

ACB News: In an era of growing geopolitical fragmentation, where sanctions and currency rivalries are tools of statecraft, how do you see gold’s role evolving? Is it being redefined – not just as an investment hedge, but as a form of strategic security for governments and central banks?

Alexander Scanlon:

“The key element to consider here is the re-emergence of gold in net trade settlement, and as a store of reserves, as the world reverts to a pre-1971 multi-currency market for all trade, led firstly by commodities as the input to all global production.”

“This outcome is the natural conclusion of the ‘BRICS++,’ or the ‘Global South’s,’ desire to no longer be subject to United States foreign policy by merit of US Dollar dominance. This is being driven by fears of currency weaponisation and the safety of one’s reserve assets. The sanctioning of Russia’s US Treasuries – as opposed to Russia itself – made clear to the world that US Treasuries are now subject to geopolitical conflict and competition.”

“Any move away from US Dollars as the internationally accepted reserve asset requires a move to another, or several other, assets as a substitute. It is only possible to hold so much physical oil … Therefore a ‘new’ high-density store of value is required … and universal confidence in this ‘new’ store of value requires that it be geopolitically neutral.”

“The rapid re-emergence of gold to fulfil this role reflects its key characteristics – rare, high-density, universally accepted, fungible in all currencies, and most importantly not subject to the control of any one government. It is therefore the only true geopolitically neutral reserve asset available to fulfil this role.”

“It would be more accurate to say not that gold is being redefined, but rather that the world’s monetary framework is being rebalanced around gold in revived multi-currency markets. Put another way, the past 50 years have been a monetary aberration … and this is now unwinding.”

III. Structural Optimism in the Gold Market

ACB News: Many leading institutions — from Goldman Sachs to Deutsche Bank — remain constructive on gold’s long-term trajectory. Does this optimism reflect a deeper structural shift, where gold is again valued as part of a changing global monetary order rather than just a cyclical safe-haven asset?

Alexander Scanlon:

“I believe that much of the ‘early optimism’ from major ‘Western’ institutions is in fact 10 years late to recognise trends that were increasingly apparent from at least 2016. Therefore, this can only reflect an incomplete understanding of the dynamics discussed above.”

“The simple reality is that people tend to ignore patterns of fact that are generally inconvenient to their world view, until these facts become impossible to ignore. In this case, we refer to market participants favourable to a ‘US Dollar-centric’ ecosystem, as they have benefitted enormously from the printing, distribution and trading of that money.”

“The fact that they are now beginning to recognise de-dollarisation is confirmation that it has well and truly occurred in a structural sense. However, I suspect the broader appreciation of what this means for gold will take some time to mature.”

“We have a very long way to go to ‘normalise’ global markets to a pre-1971 multi-currency system of trade, and we expect plenty of short-term volatility in views about gold and gold prices, even as the long-term trend remains clear and intact.”

About Barton Gold (ASX :BGD)

Barton Gold Holdings Ltd (ASX: BGD) is a South Australian gold development company with over 2.2 million ounces of gold and 3.1 million ounces of silver resources across the Central Gawler Craton. The company is advancing its Stage 1 Definitive Feasibility Study at its existing, fully permitted Central Gawler Mill, and Reserve conversion drilling for its ‘Stage 2’ Tunkillia development project. Barton is targeting first production by late 2026, with the development of the Tunkillia project thereafter lifting Barton to long-term production of 150,000 – 200,000 ounces gold per annum, making it South Australia largest pure play gold producer and Australia’s next mid-tier gold producer.

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