American journalist and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson urged his followers to buy gold and bury it in their yard. The advice came in response to a post by Battalion Metals, a precious metals trading company co-founded by Carlson himself.

The gist of the call

In a post on the X platform, the journalist wrote: "Buy gold. Bury it. Thank us later." He made the comment on a Battalion Metals post that reminded readers that hackers can cut a person off from their bank account, but they can't get to gold buried in the yard.

In the same post, the seller made a price argument. According to its data, the metal is currently about 30% cheaper than its historical January peak.

What explains the bet on gold

Carlson founded Battalion Metals together with Christopher Olson, a precious metals dealer from North Dakota. The company sells gold, silver and platinum, which customers can take home or leave in its vault. The founders offer several arguments in favor of the metal:

  • security — a bar in hand does not depend on banks and is inaccessible to hackers;
  • distrust of the financial system — Carlson has called central banks a scam and warned about the weakening of the dollar;
  • price — according to the company's estimate, gold has fallen noticeably in price since its January record.

Christopher Olson claims that more than half of clients take their purchase home. That way, the owner does not depend on an intermediary who stores the metal. Carlson describes gold as protection against the "end of the post-war world order."

According to the journalist, he opened his firm after an offer from another gold seller. He was promised up to $20 million a year for advertising, and that made him think about markups in the industry. Battalion Metals sells one-ounce coins at 2–5% above the price of futures, that is, exchange-traded gold contracts.

Cryptalist analysis: A public call for physical ownership of the metal reflects a growing demand among some investors for assets outside the banking infrastructure and digital channels. For the market, this is more of a marketing signal than a price driver: retail demand for coins is sensitive to markups, and gold's dynamics are still determined by macroeconomics and interest rates. Cryptalist assesses such initiatives as an indicator of the strengthening of the "de-dollarization" narrative in the retail environment.