twice_benny

EU bureaucrats in disbelief that words on paper mean little in exigent times.

This is one of the big problems with the EU when it comes to geopolitical issues and security. Way too dependent on diplomacy and then always get surprised when other entities simply break the rules. I guess maybe the lack of foresight is because they are used to lording it over the EU member states (with a couple of exceptions) and then expect non-EU states to be equally complacent.

Instead of wasting time negotiating on price, they should have built manufacturing capacity within EU borders.

Right, bullshit.

Yes and people can also invest in high yield funds to get just as much with probably much lower exposure to risk. And no, people don't need gold.

People in general don't hold gold though. Tresuries hold gold, but everyday people are not very interested in preserving the value of their 200k in savings. They want a decent yield of at least 3%/annum.

If it stabilizes and does not keep going up. Guess what happens to the 90% of holdings in Bitcoin that are pure speculation? They get moved to other assets with higher prospective yields.