Gold fell more than 10% over the week, marking its steepest weekly decline since March 1983. According to the source material, the metal plunged more than 5% from its intraday high on March 21, broke below the key $4,500 level, touched a low of $4,317, and was later quoted at $4,426. Crypto analyst AshCrypto said on March 23 that gold and silver together erased $1.5 trillion in market value within three hours, a figure larger than Bitcoin’s total market capitalization.
Rune added a leveraged gold long during the sell-off
Onchain tracking platform Onchain Lens reported that Sky, formerly MakerDAO, co-founder Rune Christensen opened a 20x leveraged long position in gold while the market was sliding. At the same time, he was actively closing part of his S&P 500 short exposure and continued to execute trades through TWAP orders, showing that his positioning was still being adjusted in real time.
This was not Rune’s first large commodities trade in recent weeks. The report said that on March 7 he opened a $5.7 million long in crude oil, including CL and BRENT contracts. Even with an unrealized loss of more than $500,000 so far, he has not exited that position. Based on the figures cited in the article, Rune has deployed roughly $20 million across commodities and index markets, built around one central macro view: the global economy is moving into a stagflation cycle.
Analyst sees a correction rather than a new downtrend
Duan Endian, a precious metals researcher at Dayou Futures, said the current drop may still have room to extend, but described it as a correction rather than the start of a fresh bearish trend. In his view, markets are repricing the Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer rate stance. Rising Treasury yields and a stronger dollar are the most direct sources of pressure on gold, and prices may revisit important support levels.
He also argued that the decline is unlikely to be open-ended. Ongoing geopolitical tensions are acting as a backstop for the metal, and sharp rate-driven sell-offs could draw in strategic buying. His near-term view is that gold is more likely to remain in a broad trading range, with resistance above and support below.
The stagflation trade now faces a tight margin for error
The source notes that gold gained 64% in 2025 and first broke above $5,000 in January 2026, only to reverse sharply with this week’s decline of more than 10%. Rune’s decision to buy into that weakness with 20x leverage reflects a bet that high rates will eventually weigh on growth, lift inflation expectations, and revive a stagflation setup that favors gold.
Whether that thesis works will depend on the indicators highlighted in the report: employment data, inflation trends, and the Fed’s next moves. If gold stays trapped in a wide range, a 20x leveraged long leaves very little room for error. If stagflation expectations begin to materialize, the trade could start to recover from the current drawdown.