The only reason for the new $600+ reporting requirement to the IRS is for the government to effectively have “gold registration”. And the only reason for that is the possibility of gold confiscation.
So gold is a great investment, if you can smuggle it out of the US with your high tech US passport, and find a buyer who will give you a small percentage of its worth, and then probably rat you out to the US as well.
It’s called a “no win scenario”.
They are registering gold buyers now? Reporting to the government? Sellers too?