In 2022 alone, central banks purchased 1,136 tons of gold[1]. The us government holds over $500b in gold[2]. Gold is still valuable as a reserve asset because it’s highly liquid, demanded by every economy, and has low inflation. Central banks frequently do settle balances between each other by transferring gold (often just involve moving the gold from one part of a warehouse in London to another part). Gold hasn’t gone away, and it’s not fading out either.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/central-banks-bo... [2] https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/reports-statements/gold-repo...