Ken Griffin Flags “Sugar High” in U.S. Economy as Investors Flee the Dollar

Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, expressed deep concern this week over gold’s soaring price and its implications for the U.S. dollar’s role as a global safe haven, according to Bloomberg. Gold futures just breached $4,000 an ounce, marking a gain of more than 50% so far in 2025.

The U.S. dollar, measured by the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) which tracks the value of the dollar against a basket of major foreign currencies including the euro, yen, and pound has lost around 10% of its value this year and currently sits near 98.5.

Griffin told Bloomberg, “We’re seeing substantial asset inflation away from the dollar as people are looking for ways to effectively de-dollarize, or de-risk their portfolios vis-à-vis U.S. sovereign risk.” Griffin added, “We’re definitely on a bit of a sugar high in the U.S. economy right now,”. U.S. equities are at all-time highs amid a boom in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

The “debasement trade” narrative has resurfaced, referring to investors turning to hard assets such as gold, silver, and bitcoin as hedges against monetary debasement, a process in which excessive money creation reduces the purchasing power of a currency.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government remains in a partial shutdown and rate cuts are widely expected. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets are pricing in a 92% chance of a 25 basis point cut at the next meeting for Oct.29, which would lower the federal funds rate to a range of 3.75%–4.00%. Additional cuts are expected by year-end, bringing the rate down to between 3.50% and 3.75%.

Bitcoin has surged 9% in October, hitting a new all-time high of $126,000 on Monday.